Federal Reviewer Scoresheets

All federal agencies use scoring or merit criteria to review grant proposals (§200.205). The primary purpose of a merit review is to provide an independent assessment of an application, conducted by peer reviewers. Peer reviewers can include prior award recipients of the same or similar grant program, or individuals who have similar qualifications as the applicants that apply to the program opportunity. Most federal agencies do not have enough staff to conduct the merit reviews for the large number of submissions received for each grant announcement, and therefore, rely on nonfederal peer reviewers.