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One day left to comment. NIH wants to hide the peer review score, not just from applicants, but from the program officers and councils who decide what gets funded. The comment window closes tomorrow, October 13.

I found out today I have been on the Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists list since 2020. Six years, never checked. The list blends citations, h-index, and how much of the credit is really yours. Someone built the list carefully.

Right now a reviewed grant gets a score, and everyone sees the score. Under NOT-OD-26-088, reviewers still produce the score, and then no one sees the score.

Not the applicant. Not the institution. Not the program officer who writes the funding plan. Not the council that approves it. The score gets made, and the score gets buried, from every person who uses the score to decide what comes next.

NIH says hiding the score frees program officers to weigh priorities and fill portfolio gaps, the less popular basic science that builds the runway for later therapies.