July 17, 2013

For NSF Awardees: Improvements Coming to Research.gov this August



Dear NSF Awardees,
Thank you for your patience as the National Science Foundation has launched the new project reporting service on Research.gov. Since the October 2012 pilot start date, over 31,000 annual, final, interim and project outcomes reports have been submitted successfully. Since launching the service to all awardees, we received feedback to help us prioritize fixes and enhancements. This August, improvements are coming to Research.gov that will advance project report submission, including:
·                     Easily Check Report Completeness: Research.gov will soon permit you to click a “check report completeness” link to easily determine the section(s) of a project report that are incomplete.
·                     Accurate Character Counter: Character count will only include visible characters.
·                     Unlimited Products & Participants:  Enter an unlimited number of products and/or participants to project reports. Currently, Research.gov prevents you from entering more than 127 products and/or participants.
·                     Pre-Populated PI/co-PI Role: You are currently not permitted to delete a participant if you inadvertently label them as a PI or a co-PI. Research.gov currently pre-populates the report with the PI and co-PIs based on the information from the award. With the upcoming improvements, the system will no longer allow you to add new participants with the PI or co-PI role. This change will eliminate errors from occurring. 
·                     Updated Publication Information: Currently, Research.gov requires you to enter a publication day, month, and year on all publications, regardless of their status.  The system will change so that:

§     Publications listed as “published” will require the year only.
§     Publications listed as “under review, awaiting publication, submitted, accepted, or other” will not require a date. 
§     Finally, Research.gov will no longer require you to enter volume or page number.  

In addition to these enhancements, NSF is currently conducting a usability assessment in order to enhance Research.gov navigability in order to improve user experience.
Annual Report vs. Final Report:  Also, we realize there has been some confusion over the content requirements of final reports.  Please remember that final reports are not cumulative; rather, they are considered the last annual report of the project, and should be written specifically for the most recently completed budget period.
We appreciate all feedback, from both awardees and NSF staff, so we can continuously improve Research.gov.  All feedback is reviewed and the following actions are taken:
·                     Enhancement requests are documented and considered for future releases.
·                     The Research.gov Help Desk assists PIs with any technical issues that may prevent them from completing project reports.
Thank you again for your involvement throughout the transition of project reporting to Research.gov. We look forward to continuing to serve the research community in the future.
Where do I go for help with my project report?
·                  Online Help
·                  Project Report Informational Page
·                  Research.gov Help Desk

Where can I share feedback on Research.gov?
Please send feedback or questions pertaining to this email to feedback@research.gov.