Editing
- Help ensure that proposals (or manuscripts) adhere to application (or journal) guidelines and are responsive to the goals and review criteria of the funding agency and/or award mechanism
- Edit for clarity, persuasiveness, and logical flow, particularly in scientific rationale and experimental design
- Clarify and refine the presentation of hypotheses and specific aims
- Evaluate document organization and suggest revisions to improve clarity and logical flow
- Suggest structure of tables and figures to best communicate data
- Apply principles of grantsmanship
- Determine whether reviewers’ comments have been addressed
- Provide concrete solutions for problems
Graphic Design
SciCom can connect investigators with graphic design services for generating infographics to create more engaging visuals for posters, grants, or peer-reviewed publications that make the data more easily understandable at a glance. Photo-editing is also available upon request. *Investigators are responsible for the cost of these services.
Research Administration
Our Senior Research Administrator specializes in the preparation and submission of complex and large multi-investigator funding applications.
Project Management Services
Few aspiring program directors/principal investigators have the time and experience needed to undertake the writing and manage the assembly of a large multi-investigator project, such as an NIH program project (P01) or center grant (P20, P30, U01). To assist with these demands, SciCom offers the following project management services:
- Attend and contribute to meetings for project planning and development
- Create electronic templates for projects, cores, and other primary components according to the funding announcement to ensure consistency throughout the application
- Establish and monitor a timeline for editing and submission of project components to meet institutional deadlines
Assistance with Budgets and Required Forms
Navigating the required documentation and institutional systems for preparing and submitting a grant application can be daunting, so SciCom offers support with these tasks. Our services include:
- Advise on and assist with managing forms and supporting documentation (e.g., biosketches and letters of support)
- Collect information for forms and create the documents
- Assist investigators with budget development, preparation, and justification
- Work with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, colleges, and departments on internal documentation and sign-offs
Mentoring
Working with SciCom staff, especially for new and early-stage investigators, can be a mentoring experience in research administration and improving skills for using language, formatting, and visuals to effectively communicate a message to the target audience.
Our services include:
- Seminars and workshops on scientific writing and grantsmanship
- One-on-one consultations with investigators to
- Build logical and evidence-based arguments
- Structure sections of a manuscript or grant application
- Identify funding mechanisms and target journals
- Build research budgets
Services Not Provided
- Editing promotion and tenure documents
- Editing student dissertations or theses
- Formatting or managing bibliographic references
Access to staff outside of regular business hours cannot be guaranteed.
How to Obtain SciCom Services
Contact SciCom as soon as possible to schedule editing!
We can also help you prepare your project budget and set a timeline for writing and editing your proposal.
Priorities
Requests for assistance are evaluated and prioritized by SciCom based on institutional priority and funding or publication potential. In general, grant proposals have priority. Projects scheduled in advance have priority over requests made closer to the project deadline.
Contact Kerry Evans by email at klevans@uams.edu with any questions.