“In my application’s biosketch, can I cite a manuscript that was submitted to a journal but hasn’t yet been accepted?”

You may cite the manuscript as a preprint. As compared to citing a peer-reviewed journal article, you should provide a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), the object type (e.g., preprint), the document version, and the date the product was cited. NIH provides the following example:

Bar DZ, Atkatsh K, Tavarez U, Erdos MR, Gruenbaum Y, Collins FS. Biotinylation by antibody recognition—A novel method for proximity labeling. BioRxiv 069187 [Preprint]. August 11, 2016 [cited 2017 Jan 12].  Available from: https://doi.org/10.1101/069187.

To obtain a DOI, you must use a service offered by a DOI Registration Agency. Refer to this list of DOI Registration Agencies if you need help finding an agency to meet your needs.

Additionally, NIH’s Policy on Post-Submission Materials allows you to submit news of an article accepted for publication since submission of the application, which must include only:

• List of authors and institutional affiliations
• Title of the article
• Journal or citation (if available)

For more instruction on completing the biosketch form, refer to Create Biosketches.