As now applied at NIH, triage focuses on reducing time spent at review meetings by eliminating discussion on applications whose scores would fall below the committee's midpoint (50th percentile) and are unlikely to be changed by further discussion. These noncompetitive applications, however, are carefully reviewed in advance of the meeting. In fact, reviewers report spending the same amount of time evaluating applications that are ultimately deemed noncompetitive under triage as they did when triage was not used. Reviewers prepare written comments in advance of the meeting, as they have always done.
Contrary to Musacchio's perception, under triage, all applicants receive summary statements. Furthermore, the use of triage has facilitated the move from summary statements composed of carefully integrated comments to those in which reviewers' prepared comments are released intact and virtually unedited. Thus, contrary to the suggestion that reviewers are no longer accountable to applicants receiving a noncompetitive rating, reviewers ...
