Other Support Reporting for NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submission requirements for Other Support reporting. Keep in mind the following when submitting your NIH proposal, Just-In-Time (JIT) materials, or Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). These changes may require additional time on your part.

Document Requirements

  1. Follow the format and instructions outlined in NIH Guidance 
  2. Disclose ALL active and pending sources of Other Support, including:
    • Sponsored projects/proposals
    • External consulting, when an investigator will be involved in the design, conduct, or reporting of research as part of the consulting activities (e.g., work that may result in publication in an academic journal, designing a protocol, data analysis, serving on a steering committee for a clinical trial)
    • In-kind (i.e., non-monetary) resources that meet all the following criteria:
      • Are uniquely available to the researcher
      • Were provided by a non-EU entity (either domestic or foreign), and
      • Were provided in the past three years, and
      • Are not being used on the proposed project, and
      • Aside from the proposed project, are being actively used in support of any of an investigator’s other research endeavors.
      • Examples of In-kind resources include, but are not limited to:
        • Personnel (e.g., visiting scholars, visiting students, supported by a non-EU entity)
        • Space
        • Equipment
        • Materials
        • Supplies
      • Note: In-kind resources intended for use on the proposed project should be included as part of the 'Facilities and Other Resources' or 'Equipment' section of the application and not 'Other Support'
  3. Active/pending sponsored project total award amount
    • Note: For subawards, only the total subaward amount needs to be included
  4. Flatten Other Support PDFs after signature.
  5. Supporting documentation in the form of English-language versions of any Other Support from entities outside the United States, including, but not limited to:
    • contracts
    • grants, and
    • any other agreements specific to appointments, affiliations, and/or employment with an institution or entity outside the U.S.
    • Note: Google translations, or similar, are acceptable but certified translations may be required upon request.

Training Requirements for Senior/Key Personnel

NOT-OD-25-133

This Guide Notice announces a new policy that requires NIH recipients to provide training to all faculty and researchers identified as Senior/Key Personnel on the requirement to disclose all research activities and affiliations (active and pending) in Other Support (see Other Support form). The new requirement to train researchers to comply with other support disclosure requirements adds to the current policy (see NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS), Section 2.5.1 "Just-in-Time Procedures") in order to provide a comprehensive plan in the area of disclosure requirements for recipients.

Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs (RCRA) is excited to bring you a training series on Other Support Disclosure! Join us to learn, discuss, and ask questions about the disclosure process. 

Please register in advance. Click the image below to view the full flyer and register for your desired date(s).

Previous Sessions:

Click the link to view the video and slides from previous sessions 

Frequently Asked Questions

For general support and guidance see NIH-Guidance

Any active appointments must be included in an investigator's Biosketch, including a VA appointment.

An international entity is one located outside of the United States.

"International" in this context does not refer to an entity that does business internationally, but rather to an entity that is formed outside the United States.

If an investigator signs a contract/agreement with a U.S. subsidiary of an international "parent" company, the U.S. subsidiary is not considered an international entity.

 for external consulting activity to be included in Other Support, it must:

  • Involve the design, conduct, or reporting of research; and
  • Be current or ongoing; and
  • Contribute tangible work to the research.

Examples include:

  • Developing a research protocol
  • Analyzing data from a research project
  • Serving on a steering committee for a research project
  • Work that results in publication of research (e.g., in an academic journal, at conferences, etc.) such that your contribution is cited in the publication.

High-level activity, such as a one-time phone conference to discuss the feasibility of a research concept or to provide subject matter expertise, is not considered an activity that needs to be reported as Other Support.

In General

Investigators should not list “0.0” Person Months (calendar or academic/summer) for projects/proposals listed in Other Support. If an investigator is an active member of a project team, then some value greater than 0 should be indicated for the project, even if no salary support is directed to the investigator’s participation on the project.

  • For a project with a No Cost Time Extension (NCTX), if the Principal Investigator (PI) is the person reporting Other Support, then they should have some measurable effort on the project. For other types of senior/key personnel on the project, if their work is complete, they should not list the project on Other Support.
  • For K (Career Development) awards where all the effort is reported on the K award, but the concurrent projects are benefitting from the work, the concurrent projects may be listed on Other Support with 0.0 effort, including a note referencing the K award in the project description.

Exceptions

  • Per the NIH, list any external consulting that involves the design, conduct, or reporting of research on the invesigator's Other Support with 0.0 person months.
  • If a clinical trial is “dormant” (i.e., not enrolling), senior/key personnel may list “0.0” person months if they are not actively working on the trial.

No, regardless of the value, if the in-kind resource meets the criteria, it should be reported in Other Support.

Yes, if the trainee is supported by a non-EU entity (e.g., their home institution), and the trainee is contributing to any of the EU faculty member's research endeavors, then the EU faculty member would need to include the trainee as a type of "in-kind" resource on their Other Support document.

Yes, when you are the career-development recipient. If you are serving as a mentor without specified effort, it does not need to be included in your Other Support.

If there is no overlap, you can simply state: “None of the active/pending projects listed above represents an overlap of science, budget, or committed effort.”

A digital signature is required, using an electronic signature software application.

  • A scanned copy of an ink signature is not acceptable.
  • A typed name name of an investigator is not acceptable.
  • A .jpg, .png. or other type of image of an investigator's signature is not acceptable.

Yes, but with qualifications. Use Adobe's Prepare Agreement option under the Sign menu and the Insert Digital Signature function to ensure the required audit trail is assigned.  Do not use Adobe's "Fill & Sign" or "Sign Yourself" options.

NIH requires that "[a]pplicants and recipients maintain supporting documentation to reasonably authenticate that the appropriate individual signed the [Other Support] form."  In this case, supporting documentation is interpreted to mean an audit trail associated with each application of an electronic signature.  The individual is responsible for locating and providing a signature's supporting documentation upon request from NIH or others.  When using Adobe, the PDF file, electronic signature, and audit trail are stored locally (e.g., on an individual's computer drive).

Contact Us

For questions or additional guidance, please contact the Research Security Office: researchsecurity@emory.edu