We provide editing services for single-project grant proposals. For effective grant planning, we encourage authors to contact us well in advance of the submission deadline, and to submit their initial Specific Aims page (or equivalent) 1–2 months before the deadline.

When authors are able to provide this information at least 2 months before the deadline, we also encourage them to let us help them organize a Grant Planning Forum – with our staff and local (and if possible, outside) faculty who have related research interests.

Submission of the remainder of the grant within a month of the deadline typically ensures that we have time to go through all documents at least once. However, because our editors can get busy before grant deadlines, we recommend that you contact us in advance to let us know by what date you'll send us your grant.

SERCC editors are available to assist with large-scale grant proposals (i.e., those that include multiple cores and projects). We have experience working on NIH Program Project/Center Grants (e.g., P01, P20, P30, P42, P50), Cooperative Agreements (e.g., U54) and Training Grants (e.g., T32). These applications are complex and typically include multiple projects and/or multiple cores, although their structures can vary depending on the funding mechanism and sponsor.

SERCC editors can work with the principal investigator(s), the administrator/grant manager, and others on the research team to ensure that the proposal meets the program’s requirements with regard to both scientific content and application format. Specific activities that SERCC editors can undertake are outlined below.

• Edit the proposal
  • Correct mistakes related to grammar and mechanics. 
  • Provide suggestions to enhance the clarity and presentation of the proposed science and ideas.
• Identify gaps and present solutions
  • Provide an outsider’s perspective and identify gaps in the logic that might not be obvious to a writer bogged down in the details of the project.
  • Identify potential red flags for reviewers based on past experience and information in a Summary Statement, if available.
  • Assess the instructions and review criteria described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and ensure that the proposal meets the funding agency’s purposes and objectives, eligibility criteria, and requirements.
  • Provide templates tailored to sponsor instructions for grant sections (e.g., Biosketch, Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEPD), Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan) and boilerplate text for non-scientific sections (e.g., facilities descriptions).
• Ensure that the project is presented as a synergistic whole
  • Align components with one another (e.g., ensure consistency in organization and content across Overall, Administrative, Project, and Core components).
  • Develop custom templates for grant components based on any specialized application instructions.
  • Create and maintain a style guide for the writers and editor(s) to ensure that terms and formatting are consistent throughout all components.

SERCC Expectations for Working on Large-Scale Grant Proposals

To take advantage of the above activities, the PI(s) must bring the SERCC editors in early during the grant planning and writing processes. The sooner we are involved, the better we are able to help shape the proposal so that it is clear, concise, consistent, complete, and compelling; e.g., with a few months’ notice we can likely provide a full level of service. With a few weeks’ notice we may be able to provide only limited editing. 

For work on large-scale grant proposals (i.e., those that include multiple cores and projects), we require the following:

• an initial meeting involving one or more SERCC editors, in which the PI outlines the scope of the project and specific services that are needed, and
• a timeline specifying when documents will be submitted to SERCC editors and when they need to be returned (to be developed in collaboration with SERCC editors).

To set up an initial meeting with a SERCC editor, please Schedule an Editing Project (choose Large-Scale Grant Proposal). For questions, please send us an email at com-ScientificEditing@uiowa.edu.

We can assist you with your next research article. We strive to ensure that the significance of your research is immediately clear to the reader. 

As time permits, we work on other projects, including:

Note about Theses

We typically do not work on theses, as our focus is on scholarly output of CCOM faculty and trainees; the needs of authors working on grant applications and research manuscripts are our top priority. We highly recommend that students take advantage of our scientific writing courses and workshops early in their graduate careers to improve their writing skills.

Additional resources are available to help students with their writing projects:

• Writing Center of the UI Department of Rhetoric
• UI Graduate College (fellowship applications, career materials).