Learn more about the new requirements for the Common Forms, resources to identify the impact of publication and Generative AI tools.
NIH Biosketch and SciENcv
The NIH recently announced new requirements for applicants: Implementation of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2026. Applications, RPPRs, prior approval requests and JIT submissions on or after January 25, 2026 must use the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement.
Requirements
- NIH will require the use of SciENcv to complete Common Forms (i.e., Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support) and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement to produce digitally certified PDF(s).
- NIH will require applicants to obtain an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID iD), link their ORCID iD to their eRA Commons account, and confirm that their ORCID iD is displayed in the Persistent Identifier (PID) section of the Common Forms.
Becker Library is offering a Zoom session: NIH Biosketch and NCBI SciENcv, on Friday February 6, 2026, 10-11 am. See the registration page for details and to register.
Slides and the recording from a session held on January 9, 2026 are available on WashU Box.
To learn more about the Common Form for Current and Pending (Other) Support, see Current and Pending (Other) Support from the WashU Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
To learn more about ORCID, see the ORCID library guide and recording from October 2025: ORCID: What it is and how to use it.
Looking for ways to report on the impact of a publication?
One tool from Becker Library to identify the impact of a publication is Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (WoS) database. WoS has filters for publications found in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database, an analytical tool that identifies highly cited papers in WoS using two metrics: Hot Papers and Highly Cited Papers. Hot Papers are papers that were published in the past two years and received enough citations in the Essential Science Indicators database to place them in the top 0.1% of papers in its academic fields. See WashU Hot Papers here.
WoS also has Highly Cited Papers. Highly Cited Papers have received enough citations in the Essential Science Indicators database to place them in the top 1% of their academic fields based on a highly cited threshold for the field, and publication year. See WashU Highly Cited Papers here.
Another tool for identifying the impact of a publication is Elsevier Scopus which provides an Impact module for publications. The Impact Module provides additional information as to the paper such as citations, percentile rankings and a Field-Weighted Citation Impact score. The FWCI is the ratio of citations received relative to the expected world average for the subject field, publication type, and publication year.
The PlumX Metrics page in Scopus provides additional citation details, captures, mentions and social media activity for publications such as mentions of the paper in news and blog postings, citations in PubMed Central, and activity in Mendeley.
Related Reading:
- Arabi S, Ni C, Hutchins BI. Most researchers would receive more recognition if assessed by article-level metrics than by journal-level metrics. PLoS Biol. 2025 Dec 16;23(12):e3003532. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003532. PMID: 41401134.
Interested in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools?
Per WashU Information Technology (WUIT), Generative AI is a: “type of artificial intelligence that can learn from and mimic large amounts of data to create content such as text, images, music, videos, code, and more, based on inputs or prompts.”
A listing of Generative AI tools is available from Ithaka S+R: Ithaka S+R GenAI Product Tracker. The list contains generative AI products that are targeted towards postsecondary instructors, researchers or students for teaching, learning or research activities.
Per WashU Information Technology (WUIT) policy:
The university supports and encourages the responsible and secure exploration of AI tools. When using any publicly accessible, non-protected AI tools, it is vitally important that you do not enter any Washington University or secure data, including deidentified healthcare data of any kind, into these platforms.
WUIT maintains a WashU AI Application Chart for a list of approved generative AI tools.
Readings
Agaimy A. Fictional biomedical bibliographies in the Era of ChatGPT: Don´t revive Dr. O. Úplavici (1887-1938). Virchows Arch. 2025 Apr;486(4):647-649. doi: 10.1007/s00428-025-04100-x. PMID: 40232380.
Marcus A, Oransky I, De Cassai A. Please don’t cite this editorial. J Clin Anesth. 2026 Jan;108:111741. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2025.111741. Epub 2025 Jan 8. PMID: 39779384.
Al Hadidi S, Mian H, Chakraborty R, Mohyuddin GR. Abstract Factory-Research Culture Harming Medical Education. JAMA. 2025 Dec 18. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.23320. PMID: 41410929.
Kohane Z. The H-Index of Suspicion: How Culture, Incentives, and AI Challenge Scientific Integrity. NEJM AI. December 18, 2025. DOI: 10.1056/AIe2501273.
Allen L. et al. Nature. A ten-year drive to credit authors for their work – and why there’s still more to do. November 24, 2025.
Gesel F, et al. Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among physician-authors in leading US psychiatry journals: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2025 Nov 12;15(11):e104955. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-104955. PMID: 41224314.
Zhao C. A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI. ScienceInsider. December 10, 2025.
Retraction Watch. Journal removes funding statement from hormone therapy paper without issuing correction. December 12, 2025.