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NIH issued a Notice this afternoon outlining key dates for the transition to the mandatory use of Common Forms and updates to the Common Forms regarding Research Security Training (RST). 

Transition to Mandatory Use of Common Forms  

May 7, 2026 

  • Current leniency period related to use of the Common Forms ends.   
  • Coincides with the final AIDS standard receipt date for Cycle 1.   

May 8, 2026

  • Required use of the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement. 
  • Applies to all application due dates on or after May 8, 2026. 
  • Applies to all Just-In-Time (JIT), Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), and Prior Approval submissions submitted on or after May 8, 2026. 
  • System warnings will change to errors that will stop any submission not using compliant Common Forms. 

Research Security Training Certification 

  • Research Security Training for NIH becomes mandatory for applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2026. 
  • SciENcv will add the Research Security Training (RST) Certification back to the Common Forms on April 22, 2026.  
  • This is being added to provide researchers with time to comply with the requirement for applications submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2026. 
  • For applications that include Common Forms with the RST Certification but are submitted for due dates on or before May 24, 2026, NIH will not hold individuals accountable for the portion of the certification statement related to the RST. 

Action Required To Ensure Documents Successfully Pass NIH system Validations 

  • Obtain an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID iD). 
  • Link the ORCID iD to your eRA Commons account in your Personal Profile (PPF). See the ORCID iD topic in the eRA Commons online help. 
  • NOTE: The ORCID iD can be linked to only one Commons account.  
  • If you get an error from eRA Commons when trying to link your ORCID iD, or need to remove an existing ORCID iD from a Commons Account, contact the eRA Service Desk. 
  • Confirm your ORCID iD is displayed in the Persistent Identifier (PID) section of the Common Forms.  
  • To populate your ORCID iD in the PID field, you can: (1) Link your ORCID iD to your existing SciENcv account through the Account Settings page, or (2) Sign in using ORCID if this is your first time logging in to SciENcv, or Manually enter your ORCID iD into the required PID field in the “Identifying Information, Organization and Location” section of the Common Forms. 
  • Confirm the personal profile associated with the eRA Commons username entered in the Credential field of the application includes the same ORCID iD displayed in the PID field of the Common Form being submitted. 

Resources 

NIH Resources: 

For technical questions related to the use of SciENcv, please direct inquiries to: 

OCGA Resources: