Using the Reviewer Service Portal

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
  • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Using the Reviewer Service Portal

    The Reviewer Service Portal enables merit reviewers, including external agents, to access and manage their assigned grant proposal review tasks. Reviewers can examine detailed proposal information, score proposals using a rubric defined by the grants program manager, and either submit their scores or decline reviews with provided reasons. The grants program manager is notified of all reviewer decisions via the Grants Management portal.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • External Reviewer Landing Page: Provides a centralized view of all assigned merit review tasks under the “My Review Tasks” section, with customizable branding options for grant organizations.
    • My Grants Program Page: Serves as a one-stop page where reviewers can access all their assigned Merit Review Tasks (MRTs), view high-level grant program details, task status, time remaining, scores, and flags.
    • Merit Review Task Page: Allows reviewers to score proposals (using a 5-point scale), view scoring rubrics, provide comments on rationale, strengths, and concerns, and submit or decline reviews with justification.
    • Merit Review Task Tabs: Reviewers can navigate through tabs including Proposal Information, Budget, Supplemental Materials, Compliance, and Activity to comprehensively assess proposals.

    Details of Proposal Review Sections

    • Proposal Information: Displays proposal overview, narrative, key personnel, and required documents.
    • Budget: Shows detailed financial breakdowns and budget documentation.
    • Supplemental Materials: Contains supporting documents such as letters of support and optional attachments.
    • Compliance: Includes compliance questionnaires and responses.
    • Activity: Tracks all updates and actions taken during the merit review process.

    Scoring Process

    Reviewers assign scores out of 5 for evaluation categories like Innovation, Feasibility, and Approach. They can provide a rationale summary, highlight strengths and concerns, and save or reset their inputs before final submission.

    The Reviewer Service portal is accessible by merit reviewers to review their assigned merit review tasks. Reviewers can review the grant proposal information available in various tabs in the portal and score the proposal. The scores are based on the review framework and rubric selected by the grants program manager during program setup.

    The reviewer service portal is available to external agents or reviewers for viewing their merit review tasks and scoring the grant proposals. Scores generated are based on the review framework and scoring rubric selected by the grants program manager during program setup. From the reviewer service portal, the merit reviewers can either submit scores or decline to review by providing appropriate reasons. The grants program manager is notified of the merit reviewer decisions in the Grants Management portal.

    External Reviewer Landing Page

    The Grants Management experience begins on the Reviewer service portal landing page for external. Grants organizations may customize their landing pages with branding colors or other display changes, but the components may remain the same.

    The following is an example of how the default landing page appears on the Reviewer service portal workspace for an external reviewer.

    rsp external reviewer landing page view
    Here, you can view all assigned review tasks under the My Review Tasks section. Merit reviewers can do the following tasks in the Reviewer Service Portal:
    • View and manage a list of review tasks for grant proposals.
    • View grant programs or proposals that they are participating in.
    • View the grant program announcement page.

    merit review task list view

    My grants program page

    For external reviewers, the my grants program record page aims to be a one-stop shop. Within the My reviews page, you can view all your assigned Merit Review Tasks (MRTs) for which you serve as a reviewer.

    From the My Work tab, select My reviews. You can view the list of Merit Review Tasks assigned to Gov Grant External Reviewer, as well as:
    • View high-level information from the record page of the grant program by selecting the grant program number.
    • View details of the listed review tasks such as time remaining, status, score, and flags.

    grant program review record view

    Merit Review Task Page

    Users can select any Merit Review Tasks (MRTs) from the list and score each MRT that is currently in the “In Progress” state based on several attributes and assign a score out of 5. If necessary, users can also decline specific MRTs by providing a valid reason, such as a conflict of interest or other concerns. Additionally, users can view all the details associated with each task.
    • View or reference the scoring rubric by selecting the KB article.
    • Review proposals and assign scores based on their assessment or flag any reviews.
    • Provide comments for rationale, strengths, or concerns about their evaluation of the proposal.
    • Submit or decline a review along with justifications.

    Merit Review Task Tabs

    You can review the proposal by navigating through the following tabs: Proposal Information, Budget, Supplemental Materials, Compliance, and Activity.

    Proposal tabs in Reviewer Service Portal

    Scoring
    By default, no scores are displayed in this tab. For each evaluation category—Innovation, Feasibility, and Approach—you can assign a score out of 5. Additionally, you can provide input for the Rationale Summary, as well as identify Strengths and Concerns. Once your input is complete, you have the option to Save or Reset your changes.

    scoring tab view

    Proposal Information
    This section provides detailed insights into the proposal, including the Proposal Overview, Narrative, Key Personnel, and Required Documents.

    proposal information tab view

    Budget
    This tab provides a detailed breakdown of the financial aspects of the proposal, including cumulative budget subtotals and access to all relevant budget documents.

    budget tab view

    Supplemental Materials
    This section includes additional supporting documents, such as Letters of Support and optional attachments.

    supplemental materials tab view

    Compliance
    This tab contains the compliance questionnaire along with the corresponding responses.

    compliance tab view

    Activity
    This tab allows you to track all actions, updates, and changes made throughout the merit review process.