The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have policies that describe what is allowed to be included as Appendix materials in funding applications. Generally, an Appendix material is not allowed if it is not specifically listed as allowed in the Notices or in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).
Examples of allowable NIH Appendix materials include:
- Blank informed consent/assent forms
- Simple lists of interview questions
- Blank surveys, questionnaires, data collection instruments
- Other items only if they are specified in the FOA as allowable Appendix materials
Examples of unallowable NIH Appendix materials include, but are not limited to:
- Manuals
- Clinical trial protocols, or protocol synopses, in applications that do not propose to conduct a clinical trial
- Hyperlinks
- Patents, patent applications, or materials intended for a patent application
- Papers, posters, or abstracts, including those in preparation, submitted, accepted for publication, or posted as pre-prints
- Lists of abbreviations, definitions, or codes
- Videos
- Methods or instructions for conducting the research
Applications that include unallowable Appendix materials will be withdrawn as non-compliant.
For more information on allowable and unallowable appendix materials, please see the NIH Appendix Policy’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), NIH Notice NOT-OD-16-129 and NIH Notice NOT-OD-17-098.