Consultation and Writing Services

The reviewer will provide feedback on the content of the proposal with a focus on the alignment with the funding opportunity and the funder’s priorities. The review is designed to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas requiring improvement or clarification.  While it is the goal to identify a reviewer with subject matter expertise and agency experience, this may not be possible and should be considered before requesting the service.  For best results, it is recommended (but not required) that the PI submits the full proposal package for review. All proposal documents MUST be in Word format.

A review will require at least 6 weeks notice and typically takes about 5 business days to complete. Please take into consideration service process time, holidays, weekends and the internal submission deadline when planning and requesting a review and a service start date. A sample timeline for this service would be:

• 6+ Weeks Prior to Submission Deadline: Complete the service request form on our website & commit to a specific date to send your proposal documents for review. You will NOT be asked to submit any proposal components at this point; all that is required is a commitment to submit your draft on a later date.
• Within 1-2 Business Days: A staff member will confirm your request received and provide further instructions.
• Within 2 Weeks: An expert reviewer search and confirmation.
• Next 2+ Weeks: The remaining time before the service should be spent preparing your proposal draft and saving it as one or a few WORD files 
• Date of Service (date the PI submits the proposal draft for review), recommended 10 days prior to Internal Submission Deadline: Send your proposal documents by noon on the date you committed to in your request form; any delay in sending your documents on the committed date may result in a significant delay of completion of the service or its cancelation.
• Within 5 Business Days: Review is returned via email or Dropbox. All recommendations for changes to the proposal are OPTIONAL. It is up to the PI to decide which ones to incorporate.
• Remaining time before submission deadline should be used to incorporate reviewer feedback, finalize documents with the Pre-Award Administration staff & finalize the submission.

You will be asked to answer the following questions when requesting a review service:

1. What is the agency or funder?  
2. Please provide the link to the specific funding opportunity that the proposal is responding to.
3. What is the application deadline? NOTE: Internal deadline is 6-8 business days prior to submission deadline, the specific date must be confirmed with your assigned proposal specialist.
4. What are the specific application components that will be submitted for the content and compliance review? Project narrative, project abstract, budget, biosketches, facilities, data management plan, and letters of collaboration are some examples.  
5. Is this proposal a resubmission? If so, you will be asked to provide the previous submission with comments from the review panel.
6. What is the estimated timeframe for sharing documents for review?  (NOTE: This is a date you are committing to send your proposal documents for review by noon. A failure to send your documents on the committed date could result in a significant delay in your service or its cancellation).
7. Will the proposal require a shared Dropbox folder (required for large files that cannot be sent via email)?  

The editor will do a final check of the document draft submitted for edit.  The edit will identify any typos, errors or other items that need correction. The editor does not review the technical content of the document and will NOT provide any feedback on its strengths or weaknesses. In addition, the editor will not check or shorten the length of the documents to conform to the funder/publisher page limits. Instead, the editor will provide in-line edits and will send two versions of the documents. One version will show track changes and the other version will be a version with changes accepted.  It is up to the PI and team to decide which changes to accept or reject.  

A Copy Edit/Proofreading service will require at least a 5-week notice and takes about 5 days to complete, depending on the length and complexity of the materials. The submitted documents should be in Word format. Please take into consideration service process time, holidays, weekends and the internal submission deadline when requesting a service start date. A sample timeline for this service would be:

• 5+ Weeks Prior to Submission Deadline: Complete the service request form on our website & commit to a specific date to send your documents for copy edit. 
• Within 1-2 Business Days: A staff member will confirm your request received and provide further instructions.
• Within 2 Weeks: A copy editor search and confirmation.
• Next 2+ Weeks: The remaining time before the service should be spent finalizing your draft and saving it as one or a few WORD files. 
• Date of Service (the date the faculty submits the draft for copy edit), recommended 10 days prior to Internal Submission Deadline: Send your proposal documents by noon on the date you committed to in your request form; any delay in sending your documents on the committed date may result in a significant delay in completion of the service or its cancelation. 
• Within 5 Business Days: Copy Edit is returned via email or Dropbox. 
• Remaining time before submission deadline should be used to review the copy edit, to finalize documents with the Pre-Award Administration staff (if applicable) & to finalize the submission.

You will be asked to answer the following questions when requesting a copy edit service:

1. What is the agency, funder, or publisher?  
2. If applicable, provide the link to the specific funding opportunity that the proposal is responding to. 
3. What is the total number of pages that will need edit?  Please indicate single or double spaced for the documents.
4. What is the estimated timeframe for sharing documents for edit?  (NOTE: This is a date you are committing to send your proposal documents for review by noon. A failure to send your documents on the committed date could result in a significant delay in your service or its cancellation).
5. Will the draft require a shared Dropbox folder (required for large files that cannot be sent via email)? 

You may request both a Proposal Content Review & Copy Edit/Proofreading service. 

A combined service will require at least a 9-week notice and typically takes about 5 business days for the review and 5 business days for the copy edit to complete. Please take into consideration service process time, time for the PI to review and incorporate feedback, holidays, weekends and the internal submission deadline when requesting a service start date. A sample timeline for this service would be:

Combined Service timeline:

• 9+ Weeks Prior to Submission Deadline: Complete the service request form on our website & commit to a specific date to send your proposal documents for review first. You will NOT be asked to submit any proposal components at this point; all that is required is a commitment to submit your draft on a later date. The copy edit will occur once the review is fully completed.
• Within 1-2 Business Days: A staff member will confirm your request received and provide further instructions.
• Within 2 Weeks: A reviewer and copy editor search and confirmation.
• Next 2+ Weeks: The remaining time before your service should be spent preparing your draft and saving it as one or a few WORD files. 
• Date of REVIEW Service, recommended 20 days prior to Internal Submission Deadline: Send your proposal documents by noon on the date you committed to in your request form; any delay in sending your documents on the committed date may result in a significant delay of completion of the service or its cancelation.
• Within 5 Business Days: Copy Edit is returned via email or Dropbox.
• 3+ Days: Recommended in-between time, to be used by the PI to consider and incorporate review feedback, and to create a near-final draft.
• Date of COPY EDIT Service, recommended 10 days prior to Internal Submission Deadline: Send your proposal documents by noon on the date you committed to in your request form; any delay in sending your documents on the committed date may result in a significant delay in completion of the service or its cancelation.
• Remaining time before submission deadline should be used to review the copy edit, finalize documents with the Pre-Award Administration staff & finalize submission.

The free graphic design service is available to UM-Dearborn Faculty preparing proposals for submission to external funders. The graphic designer will work on one image or graphic that requires edit or redesign. Under special circumstances the designer may be able to work on up to two graphics. Graphics should be sent in a format that can be modified.  Depending on the complexity of the graphic, or if a graphic needs to be created from scratch (no sketch or a draft graphic available) this may require direct communication to discuss the vision and approach.  

The graphic design service will require at least a 4-week notice and will take about 1-4 weeks to complete. This timeline will largely depend on the number of drafts required for the graphic.

You will be asked to provide the following information when requesting a graphic designer service: 

• A short (250 word) lay abstract- a brief summary of your research project/article etc. written in plain English. Avoid the use of jargon, technical language and acronyms. 
• A short description of the graphic you would like to be created, and/or any sketches or draft graphics that you may have of it.
• The desired timeframe for completion of the service. Share any internal and external deadlines you might have, and the desired date by which you would like to have the service completed (cannot be any earlier than 4 weeks from sending your request). NOTE: After the initial information exchange, a failure to send in a timely manner additional materials requested by the graphic designer could result in a delay in your service.
• Will the draft require a shared Dropbox folder (required for large files that cannot be sent via email)? 

The professional writer service is limited and requires an application and prior approval. If approved, the professional writer will work collaboratively with a PI and team to write the project description/narrative with consideration of the funder’s requirements.

Eligibility:

• The team leader/s (PIs) must be members of the tenured or tenure-track faculty of UM-Dearborn 
• Proposals with budgets above $600K are encouraged but proposals with budgets in the $200- $600K range will also be considered
• The team/PI applying for support should have a clear idea of the research they would like to propose and a specific funding opportunity to pursue

A writing project requires at least a 3-month advance notice, with certain agencies (e.g. NIH and DOD) and subject areas requiring longer lead time.  Before confirmation of the writing service, the PI will have a discussion with the service provider about the project details to determine readiness, scope and timing.  

Below are questions you will be asked to answer in order to apply for a professional writer:

1. What is the agency or funder?  
2. Please provide the link to the specific funding opportunity that the proposal is responding to.
3. What is the institution’s internal deadline and what proposal components are required for this deadline? NOTE: Internal deadline is 6-8 business days prior to the submission deadline; the specific date must be confirmed with your assigned proposal specialist.
4. Is this proposal a resubmission?  If so, you will be asked to share the previous proposal and review comments.  
5. Has the project idea been vetted by the program officer? If this is a resubmission, has the team discussed a resubmission or the review comments with the program officer?
6. Provide an outline of the research proposal idea. Explain why the idea is unique and/or how the project outcomes will solve an important problem or contribute to the field. Include project aims, objectives, method/s and expected/desired outcomes. 
7. Provide a list of all personnel and institutions (faculty, students, postdocs, etc. research collaborators and/or community/industry partners who are already involved in the discussion). For each participant, list first and last name, organization(s), and role in the project.
8. Is there a draft budget or estimated budget amount for the project?
9. Will the team need support with the supplementary materials for the proposal, e.g. biosketches, current & pending, etc.?  If so, which specific documents?

The coach will work directly with the PI and team to provide an external perspective on the proposal.  Coaching does not include writing the proposal. Instead, the team will receive guidance, support and feedback on general proposal questions or drafts of the proposal components and will create them on their own. The scope of work will depend on the specific needs of the team. Before confirmation of the coaching service, the PI will have a discussion with the service provider about the project details to determine readiness, scope and timing.  

The coaching service will require at least a 3-month advance notice.  

Below are questions you will be asked to answer to request a coach:

1. What is the agency or funder?  
2. Please provide the link to the specific funding opportunity that the proposal is responding to.
3. What is the institution’s internal deadline and what proposal components are required for this deadline?
4. Provide an outline of the research proposal idea. Explain why the idea is unique and/or how the project outcomes will solve an important problem or contribute to the field. Include project aims, objectives, method/s and expected/desired outcomes. 1 page max.
5. Is the proposal a resubmission?  If so, you will be asked to share the previous proposal and review comments.  
6. Has the project idea been vetted by the program officer?  If this is a resubmission, has the team discussed the approach to another submission with the program officer and among the team members, and any possible/necessary changes?