Reviewer Profile

What is the Reviewer Profile?

The Reviewer Profile has been developed as a tool to build and support reviewer expertise management. Information gathered from profiles also helps align reviewers with applications' fields of research and strengthens reporting and analytic capabilities.

The Reviewer Profile captures information through a Reviewer Overview and an Expertise Overview. When filling out your Reviewer Profile, we encourage you to select items based on your ability and willingness to review.

The Reviewer Overview identifies Reviewer Type, which captures your reviewer expertise or perspective, and peer review language ability. Other information captured in this section, that may or may not be applicable, includes:

First independent appointment
Funding history
Peer review experience
Bibliographic information

The Expertise Overview captures expertise through various categories, namely:

Your Reviewer Profile may be accessed through ResearchNet. If the Reviewer Profile is not listed in your ResearchNet account, please contact us at college@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. For more details, please consult the How to access the Reviewer Profile and College Profile on ResearchNet page.

Completing your Reviewer Profile

Thank you for taking the time to complete your Reviewer Profile. Your completed Reviewer Profile will support CIHR staff in identifying peer review activities that best match your perspective and expertise. We welcome your feedback on the Reviewer Profile and your experience completing it. Please share with us at college@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

Reviewer Expertise Types

Based on the perspective(s) you are comfortable and willing to review from, sections of the Reviewer Profile may alternate between mandatory or recommended. Select a perspective below for guidance on which sections to focus on when completing your Reviewer Profile.

Researchers

Researchers include reviewers who are independent researchers, such as Academic and Non-Academic Researchers, Clinical Scientists, and Biostatisticians. As a researcher, you will find most sections of the Reviewer Profile are applicable to you.

Step 1: Reviewer Overview

In this step, the following sections are required:

Reviewer Type: This informs CIHR the viewpoint from which you are able and willing to review. Depending on peer review requirements, CIHR will engage with different types of reviewers. It is important that you select only the perspectives for which you have experience and expertise for peer review.
Peer Review Language Ability: Identify in which languages (English or French) you can conduct reviews. As a peer reviewer, you will be assigned applications to review in the language(s) you select on your Profile. While you are required to understand the content of the application in your selected language(s), you may write your review in either official language.

Academic researchers should also provide details of their First Independent Appointment.

Step 2: Expertise Overview

All sections listed here are mandatory and assist CIHR in matching your expertise to peer review opportunities. In each section you will confirm your level of expertise (Advanced or Intermediate). Certain sections marked with an asterisk (*) contain an additional level of expertise (Primary) to identify your main area of research/expertise:

Step 3: Review My Profile

In this step, you may see warnings which highlight an incomplete section or mandatory field, such as the ones listed on this image:

Long description

CIHR many not be able to effectively match you to relevant applications. Please review the following alert(s).

A primary Theme is required.
A primary Area of Science is required.
An advanced Method/Approach is required.
An advanced Study Population/Experimental System is required.
No committee mandate alignment has been identified.

Clicking on a warning will bring you to that section and allow you to update your information. Simply disregard warnings for any sections you intentionally skipped. Rest assured these warnings will not affect your saved information.

Reviewer Profile Examples

Theme 1: Biomedical Research

Background: My research focuses on better understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie different neuromuscular disorders. My laboratory employs transgenic mouse models to switch the expression of critical cell signaling molecules on and off.

Theme: My primary theme is Biomedical Research.

Long description

The image shows a section of a web form related to expertise selection. At the top, there is a table with two columns labeled:

**Type**

Level of Expertise* (with an asterisk indicating a required field)

Under the **Type** column, the word **Biomedical** is displayed. Under the **Level of Expertise** column, there is a dropdown menu currently expanded, showing the following options:

Please Select

Primary Expertise (highlighted in gray)

Advanced Expertise

Intermediate Expertise

To the right of the dropdown menu, there is a red rectangular button labeled **Delete**.

Below the table, there are three navigation and action buttons:

A gray button labeled **Previous** with a left arrow icon.

A green button labeled **Next** with a right arrow icon.

A blue text link labeled **Save**.

Institute: My expertise aligns best with the institutes of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, Genetics, and Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Long description

The image shows a section of a form listing selected expertise types. The layout consists of two rows under the heading **"Type"**, each representing a specific research area:

**Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction**

**Genetics**

**Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis**

To the right of each entry, there is a **red "Delete" button**.

Area of Science: My Primary Area of Science is Neurogenesis, Neurodifferentiation, and Plasticity. I have Advanced expertise in Sensory and Motor Neurosciences, Skeletal Muscle Biology and Physiology, Molecular and Functional Genetics, and Cell Signaling.

Long description

The image shows a section of a form that lists multiple expertise entries with corresponding details. The layout is organized into four columns: Type, Subtype, Other, and Level of Expertise, followed by a Delete button for each row. Here are the entries:

**Row 1**

**Type:** Neurosciences

**Subtype:** Neurogenesis, Neurodifferentiation and Plasticity

**Other:** (blank)

**Level of Expertise:** Primary Expertise (selected from a dropdown menu)

**Row 2**

**Type:** Neurosciences

**Subtype:** Sensory and Motor Neurosciences

**Other:** (blank)

**Level of Expertise:** Advanced Expertise (selected)

**Row 3**

**Type:** Musculoskeletal Health

**Subtype:** Skeletal Muscle Biology and Physiology

**Other:** (blank)

**Level of Expertise:** Advanced Expertise (selected)

**Row 4**

**Type:** Genetics

**Subtype:** Molecular and Functional Genetics

**Other:** (blank)

**Level of Expertise:** Advanced Expertise (selected)

**Row 5**

**Type:** Molecular, Cellular and Systems Biology

**Subtype:** Cell Signaling

**Other:** (blank)

**Level of Expertise:** Advanced Expertise (selected)

Methods/Approaches: I have Advanced Expertise in CRISPR/Cas, Transgenics and Knockouts, and Gene Targeting. I have Intermediate Expertise in Immunocytochemistry, and Immunohistochemistry.

Study Populations/Experimental Systems: I have Advanced Expertise in Mouse, Primary cells, and Immortalized cells.

Committee Mandates: Movement and Exercise (MOV), Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences (NSB), and Systems and Circuits Neurosciences (NSA) best reflect my areas of research.

Long description

The image shows a section of a webpage titled "Selected committees (3 of 3)", indicating that three committees have been chosen. Below the heading, there are three rectangular buttons stacked vertically, each representing a selected committee. Each button has a light gray background and contains the committee name along with an abbreviation in parentheses. To the left of each committee name is a red "X" icon, which likely serves as a remove or delete option. To the right of each name is a small blue circular icon with a white question mark, suggesting that it provides additional information or help.

The three selected committees are:

**Movement & Exercise (MOV)**

**Molecular & Cellular Neurosciences - B (NSB)**

**Systems & Clinical Neurosciences - A (NSA)**

Theme 2: Clinical Research

Background: I am a Clinical Researcher. My research uses next generation sequencing technologies to develop genetic profiles for different forms of childhood cancer.

Theme: My primary theme is Clinical Research.

Institute: My expertise aligns best with the Institutes of Cancer Research, Human Development, Child and Youth Health, and Genetics.

Area of Science: My Primary Area of Science as Clinical Oncology. I have Advanced expertise in Cancer Progression and Metastasis, Cancer Drug Development and Therapeutics, and Molecular and Functional Genetics. I have Intermediate expertise in Genomics, Transcriptomics and Proteomics.

Methods/Approaches: I have Advanced expertise in Predictive and Prognostic biomarkers, Clinical Research, and Genetic Testing. I have Intermediate expertise in RNA and DNA Sequencing and Technologies.

Study Populations/Experimental Systems: I have Advanced expertise in Children and Youth and Intermediate expertise in Cancer.

Committee Mandates: Cancer Biology and Therapeutics (CBT) and Cancer Progression and Therapeutics (CPT) best reflect my areas of research.

Long description

The image shows a section of a webpage titled "Selected committees (2 of 3)", indicating that two committees have been chosen. Below the heading, there are two rectangular buttons stacked vertically, each representing a selected committee. Each button has a light gray background and contains the committee name along with an abbreviation in parentheses. To the left of each committee name is a red "X" icon, which likely serves as a remove or delete option. To the right of each name is a small blue circular icon with a white question mark, suggesting that it provides additional information or help.

The two selected committees are:

**Cancer Biology & Therapeutics (CBT)**

**Cancer Progression & Therapeutics (CPT)**

Theme 3: Health Services Research

Background: I am a Health Services Researcher. My research uses health services research methods to study access to care in vulnerable populations.

Theme: My primary theme is Health Services and Systems.

Institute: My expertise aligns best with the Institutes of Health Services and Policy Research, and Indigenous Peoples' Health.

Area of Science: My primary Area of Science is Access to Care. I have Advanced expertise in Patient and Citizen Engagement Research, and Indigenous Peoples' Health.

Methods/Approaches: I have Advanced expertise in Case Studies, Focus Group, Grounded Theory, Interviews, Narrative Analysis, Questionnaires, and Survey Study.

Study Populations/Experimental Systems: I have Advanced expertise in Canada/National, Vulnerable People, and First Nations. I have Intermediate expertise in International/Global Health.

Committee Mandates: Health Policy and Systems Management Research (HPM), and Health Services Evaluation and Interventions Research (HS1) best reflect my main areas of research.

Theme 4: Social, Cultural, Environmental, and Population Health Research

Background: I am a social, cultural, environmental and population health researcher. My research focuses on the area of knowledge translation and is centered around whether and how evidence informs policy and whether and how policy influences what research gets done. I do this work in public health policies related to chronic disease prevention, health promotion and health equity.

Theme: My primary theme is Social, Cultural, Environmental, and Population Health.

Institute: My expertise aligns best with the Institute of Population and Public Health.

Long description

The image shows a section of a form listing selected expertise types. The layout consists of one row under the heading **"Type"**, representing a specific research area:

**Population and Public Health**

To the right of this entry, there is a **red "Delete" button**.

Area of Science: My Primary Area of Science is Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. I have Advanced expertise in Health Equity, Population Health Intervention Research, Legal, Social and Ethical Issues in Health, Health Systems and Health Research, and Knowledge Translation Research and Implementation Science.

Methods/Approaches: I have Advanced expertise in Case Studies, Focus Groups, Grounded Theory, Interviews, Logistic Regression Analysis, and Multivariate Analysis. I have Intermediate expertise in Case Control Studies, Survey Studies, and Knowledge Synthesis.

Study Populations/Experimental Systems: I have Advanced expertise in Canada/National and Adolescents.

Committee Mandates: Public, Community and Population Health (PH1), and Knowledge Translation Research (KTR) best reflect my main areas of research.

Resources

Completing your Reviewer Profile (9 min.) Learning Module: The main focus of this module is how to complete Step 2: Expertise Overview and Step 3: Review my Profile. It also offers examples of completed Reviewer Profiles

How to Access the Reviewer Profile and College Profile on ResearchNet webpage: Visit this page for detailed instructions on how to access your Reviewer Profile on ResearchNet.

Knowledge Users

Knowledge Users include reviewers who are likely to be able to use knowledge generated through research to make informed decisions such as Health Care Practitioners, Health Care Administrators, Policy Makers, or Commercialization experts. Though patients, caregivers, and other citizen reviewer types can also be considered as knowledge users, if you are in this position, you will find more relevant guidance to completing your Reviewer Profile by clicking on the "Patient Reviewers" tab.

Most sections of the Reviewer Profile are applicable to knowledge users.