Last verified 16 August 2026 against NIH’s official policy notice NOT-OD-17-098 (“Updated Appendix Policy Eliminates Clinical Trial-Related Materials,” grants.nih.gov), cross-checked against grants.nih.gov’s current Application Guide index and page-limits pages to confirm no superseding notice has been issued.
The Short Answer
Since applications with due dates on or after January 25, 2018, NIH (and AHRQ and NIOSH, which follow the same policy) allow exactly three categories of material in the Appendix — nothing else, regardless of how relevant it seems:
| Allowed in the Appendix | Not Allowed in the Appendix |
|---|---|
| Blank data collection forms, blank survey forms, blank questionnaire forms (or screenshots of them) | Completed/filled-in versions of any form, survey, or questionnaire |
| Simple lists of interview questions | Data, data compilations, or data analyses of any kind |
| Blank informed consent/assent forms | Lists of variables or acronyms |
| Anything else only if the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA/NOFO) explicitly says it’s allowed | Publications, manuscripts, or reprints |
| Manuals, instructions, or protocols | |
| Descriptions, drawings, or figures/diagrams of data collection methods, instruments, or machines/devices | |
| Clinical trial-related materials (these now belong in the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form, not the Appendix) |
If an item isn’t on the left side of that table, and the FOA doesn’t specifically say otherwise, it does not belong in the Appendix — full stop. There is no case-by-case judgment call available to the applicant here; NIH’s own notice states the allow-list is exhaustive.
Where This Policy Comes From
The current rule is set by NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-17-098, released August 2, 2017 and effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2018. It refined an earlier, broader appendix restriction first introduced by NOT-OD-11-080, and it remains the current, unrescinded policy as of this verification date — grants.nih.gov’s Submission Policies material and the Application Guide continue to point applicants to it, and none of the notices that reference it (including later ones such as NOT-DA-23-033) rescind it.
NIH states the rationale directly: appendix restrictions exist to keep peer review fair. Before the restriction, some applicants padded their Appendix with supplementary material that effectively let them exceed the page limits on the Research Strategy, and reviewers varied in whether they read or scored that material — creating an uneven playing field and adding to reviewer burden. Limiting the Appendix to a short, fixed list of items removes that variable.
What “Blank” Actually Means
NIH’s notice is specific that the blank-forms allowance is genuinely blank. Per NOT-OD-17-098, blank data collection forms, blank surveys, blank questionnaires, and simple interview-question lists do not include, and never functioned as a backdoor for:
- Completed/filled-in copies of any of those forms
- Data or data compilations gathered using them
- Data analyses derived from them
- Lists of variables or acronyms used in them
- Manuals or instructions for administering them
- Descriptions, drawings, or figures/diagrams of the data collection method or the device/machine involved
In other words, you may show a reviewer the empty instrument you intend to use — not what it produces, not how it works, and not documentation about it.
Clinical Trial Materials: A Separate Track, Not an Appendix Item
Before January 25, 2018, some clinical trial documentation moved through the Appendix by default. NOT-OD-17-098 eliminated that: clinical trial-related materials are now specified and required (if applicable to the mechanism) in the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form, a dedicated form component introduced alongside this policy change, and are no longer allowed in the Appendix unless a specific FOA says otherwise. If your application involves a clinical trial, route that documentation to the Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form, not the Appendix.
When an FOA/NOFO Overrides the General Rule
The allow-list above is the default that applies to all competing NIH, AHRQ, and NIOSH applications and activity codes. Individual funding opportunities can modify it in either direction:
- A specific FOA/NOFO can permit additional appendix material beyond the standard list — but only if it says so explicitly.
- A specific FOA/NOFO can further restrict what’s allowed, or require that an item normally permitted in the Appendix instead be placed somewhere else in the application.
When a FOA’s instructions conflict with the general policy, the FOA controls. Read the FOA’s own attachment/appendix instructions before assembling your application, and follow them exactly — don’t assume the general allow-list is a floor you can add to on your own judgment.
What Happens If You Include Disallowed Material
NIH’s enforcement is procedural, not discretionary. Per NOT-OD-17-098, an application submitted with Appendix materials that are not on the allow-list, and not specifically permitted or required by the FOA, will be withdrawn as noncompliant — for due dates on or after January 25, 2018, this isn’t a warning or a request to revise; noncompliant applications are withdrawn from consideration.
The notice also closes an obvious workaround: relocating disallowed material to another section of the application does not fix the problem. If content doesn’t belong in the Appendix and doesn’t belong (per the FOA and standard instructions) elsewhere either, moving it around the application package doesn’t make it compliant.
Separately, NIH has clarified (per NOT-OD-11-064, referenced in the appendix policy notice) that even where a FOA does require certain appendix materials, a reviewer’s failure to address that appendix material in their written critique is not, on its own, an acceptable basis for an appeal of initial peer review.
A Quick Decision Checklist Before You Put Anything in the Appendix
- Is it a blank data collection form, blank survey, blank questionnaire, or a simple list of interview questions? If yes, it can go in the Appendix.
- Is it a blank informed consent or assent form? If yes, it can go in the Appendix.
- Is it clinical trial-related? If yes, it belongs on the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form, not the Appendix — regardless of what it is.
- Does the FOA/NOFO specifically list it as an allowable (or required) appendix item? If yes, follow the FOA’s instructions for it.
- If none of the above apply, it does not belong in the Appendix. Ask instead whether it belongs in a designated section of the application image (Research Strategy, Facilities & Other Resources, Letters of Support, etc.) under that section’s own page limit and instructions — and if it doesn’t fit anywhere within the standard instructions either, it likely isn’t something NIH intends to have peer-reviewed at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put published papers or preprints in the NIH Appendix?
No. Publications are explicitly listed among the items that don’t fall under the “blank forms” allowance and are not otherwise on the allow-list. If prior publications are relevant, cite them in the Research Strategy or Bibliography & References Cited section instead, per standard instructions.
Can I include preliminary data or figures in the Appendix?
No. Data, data compilations, and data analyses are explicitly excluded from the Appendix allow-list, and figures/diagrams of a data collection method or device are excluded too. Preliminary data belongs in the Research Strategy, within its page limit — see NIH’s post-submission materials policy (a separate, narrower mechanism, not part of the Appendix policy) if preliminary data needs to be added after submission for a Type 1 R01/R21/R03 application.
Does the Appendix policy apply to fellowship (F) or career development (K) applications?
Yes. NOT-OD-17-098 states the policy applies to all competing NIH, AHRQ, and NIOSH applications and activity codes — it isn’t limited to research project grants. Always confirm against the specific FOA/NOFO for the mechanism you’re applying under, since some career or training mechanisms carry additional FOA-specific instructions.
Can I include a letter of support in the Appendix?
No — letters of support are not on the allow-list and are not “blank forms.” They have their own designated attachment in the standard application instructions and should go there instead.
What if I genuinely think reviewers need to see something that isn’t on the allow-list?
There’s no applicant-side exception process. Your options are: fit the material into a designated section under that section’s own page limit, or wait to see whether the specific FOA/NOFO you’re applying to has added it to its own allowable list. Submitting it in the Appendix anyway risks the application being withdrawn as noncompliant.
Related Reading
For the sections of the application that do have well-defined content requirements, see the NIH Research Strategy guide (Significance, Innovation, Approach, with a worked example) and the NIH Specific Aims page guide. If your application involves human subjects, see the Human Subjects section worked example and What Is a Clinical Trial? The NIH Definition Explained for whether the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information Form applies to your project. For letters and other attachments that have their own designated slot rather than belonging in the Appendix, see Letter of Support for a Grant Proposal and the NIH Other Support template. For the broader policy document this all sits inside, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement dictionary entry, and for the legacy paper form this replaced, see PHS 398: What the Legacy NIH Grant Application Form Still Covers Today.
