Skip to Main Content
Becker Medical Library logotype
Library Quicklinks and Information

Tools for Authors: SciENcv

This libguide provides guidance for authors in support of their scholarship efforts.

New Updates

NIH’s Adoption of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support by May 25, 2025

NIH will require the use of Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) to complete Common Forms (i.e., Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support) and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement to produce digitally certified PDF(s) for use in application submission.

SciENcv

Science Experts Network (SciENcv) allows users to create an online professional profile (NIH and NSF biosketches) to share with others. Information such as education, employment, research activities, publications, honors, grant awards, and other professional activities can be included in the SciENcv profile. In addition, the SciENcv profile allows users to note their ORCID IDs. ORCID provides a persistent and unique author identifier number for authors. For more information on ORCID, see the ORCID tab.

Users will be able to utilize their existing Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) profiles to create profiles in the new NIH biographical sketch format, as well as be able to select the new NIH biographical sketch format when creating profiles manually or through a data feed from an external source. The Personal Statement section of the NIH biographical sketch has been updated to include an option to list up to four peer-reviewed citations. A new section, Contribution to Science, replaces the former section Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications, and it aims to give researchers a place where they can describe five of their most significant contributions to science.

Users are encouraged to test SciENcv and provide feedback. To create a SciENcv profile, users should sign in to My NCBI.  A SciENcv profile will be automatically populated with information stored in an NIH Biographical Sketch for eRA Commons account holders who have linked their eRA account to My NCBI.

Three Options for Creating a Biosketch in SciENcv

Three options for creating a biosketch using SciENcv: 

1. Scratch: Blank biosketch  
2. External: Commons account, ORCID or National Science Foundation (FastLane)
3. Existing Profile: Saved biosketch 
 
Four types of biosketch templates:
1. NIH Biosketch
2. NIH Fellowship Biosketch
3. NSF Biosketch
4. Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
 

SciENcv Video from NCBI

SciENcv: The Easy to Use Biosketch Tool

SciENcv Feedback

“Overall, I was surprised at how relatively easy the SciENcv tool was to use!”  SciENcv User

Notes on using SciENcv for NIH Biosketches

  • A five page alert is available in SciENcv.
  • SciENcv auto-populates most sections of a NIH Biosketch by linking your biographical information from eRA Commons (education, work experience, award history) with your publications and research products in your My Bibliography account.
  • All auto-populated content is editable.
  • Citations to publications and research products are automatically formatted and include documentation of compliance with NIH Policy (NIHMS, PMC Journal-In Process, PMCID) and are dynamically updated when a PMCID is assigned to the work.
  • Multiple biosketches can be created and tailored for various award purposes.
  • Biosketches can be exported in a Word document, PDF, or XML.
  • SciENcv is not required for generating a biosketch.
  • SciENcv also links to content in your ORCID account.

NIH Biosketch

See the NIH Biosketch Guide for more information on SciENcv.

SciENcv Resources