Last week the National Science Board (NSB) issued new draft criteria for the peer review of proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The two “merit review” criteria of the last 14 years – intellectual merit and broader impact – remain, but they are now framed by a preamble that offers a set of principles that relate the criteria to a set of national goals. The proposed changes are significant and should draw the attention of both the scientific and policy communities: balancing the competing demands of autonomy and accountability.
Read more about the new draft criteria.