03/09/2025

Research Grant Evaluation Criteria

Recently, I had the opportunity to review several research grant proposals, and one observation I made is that the quality of the evaluation criteria often mirrors the amount of funding offered by the grant provider, intestingly.

For example, consider the evaluation criteria of two different grants. Grant A offers a maximum of $50,000, while Grant B provides up to $500,000. Interestingly, Grant A allocates points to relatively minor aspects such as the quality of writing (title, abstract, formatting), whereas Grant B places greater emphasis on scientific merit, significance, collaboration, and the potential of the project team.

016/08/2025

Self-Plagiarism Tip:
Upon reviewing a paper submitted to a journal, I became suspicious about its originality.
A useful tip for reviewers is to begin the review process by copying one of the figures (the nice one) and use Google Image search with the “Exact Matches” option, this can save valuable time.
In my case, I was surprised to discover that the paper I was reviewing had been published three times in different journals (self-plagiarism), with the same content merely paraphrased.

The discovery was satisfying, as I made my rejection decision in 5 seconds instead of spending hours in the review.