Research Plans

Table of Contents

Introduction

General info about research plans and electronic submission

The basics - for Windows

The basics - for Macintosh OS X

Before you begin

About the Microsoft Word Templates and Add-Ins

To create a research plan from scratch – on Windows

To create a research plan from scratch – on Macintosh OS X

To work with an existing research plan

Introduction

The SF424 requires that the research plan be submitted as many separate PDF files, each containing specific document sections. However, to get a research plan with consistent styles, footnotes, and bibliography, the best approach is to prepare it as one document. In fact, the NIH encourages you to do so. The downside is that you must then separate the sections and attach each to the right place in the proposal.

Cayuse424 offers several approaches to help you. The exact procedure you follow depends on the word processorand operating system you are using. The goal is always the same:

  1. Turn oneresearch plan document into one PDF with page breaks and properly-named bookmarks.
  2. Upload this single research plan PDF to Cayuse424, which automatically splits it into sections and attaches each to the proposal in the correct location.

Why do it this way?

  1. Writing the plan is easier if you keep your entire research plan in one document, especially all bibliography and reference material.
  2. The Cayuse tools set the fonts and margins for proper NIH formatting.
  3. This process eliminates the need to make and convert to PDF up to 16 separate documents from one “research plan.”
  4. It also eliminates the tedious process of manually attaching 16 documents to the proposal.

Use of these tools is not required. If you wish, you are free to create a PDF for each section and attach it manually. However, the Cayuse tools are provided for your convenience.

General info about research plans and electronic submission

The standard limit for the research plan is 25 pages for a R01, 15 for a R21 and 10 pages for an R03. However, the NIH realizes that splitting the plan into multiple PDFs can result in the total number of PDF "pages" exceeding the opportunity page limit. This is acceptable to the NIH but you are strictly limited in the amount of text!

For electronic submission, you do not need to supply page numbers. You only need them if you are planning on generating a paper copy for your own use. In fact, the NIH asks us to strip off page numbers so they can calculate and print them. Likewise for headers!

The basics - for Windows

You'll use the following:

  1. Microsoft Word
  2. Word templates and add-ins, provided by Cayuse, and downloadable from the RSP web site
  3. The "Cayuse PDF Printer" – also downloadable from the RSP web site

In a nutshell, the basic process is:

  1. Create the Word document (your research plan), starting from scratch, using a Word template supplied by Cayuse
    or
    Convert your existing Word research plan to the Cayuse format, using a Word “add-in” supplied by Cayuse
  2. Complete your research plan and save it
  3. From Word, send your document to the Cayuse PDF Printer to generate a bookmarked PDF with no headers and footers
  4. Upload and attach your bookmarked PDF file

The basics - for Macintosh OS X

You'll use the following:

  1. Microsoft Word
  2. Word templates and add-ins, from Cayuse, downloadable from the RSP web site
  3. The Mac’s native “Print to PDF” capability
  4. A program, from Cayuse, to add bookmarks to your PDF (included with the download of the Word templates)

In a nutshell, the basic process is:

  1. Create the Word document (your research plan), starting from scratch, via the “Project Gallery”
    or
    Convert your existing Word research plan to the Cayuse format, using a Word “add-in” supplied by Cayuse
  2. Complete your research plan and save it
  3. Print to PDF as you would for anything on the Mac
  4. Add bookmarks, using a Cayuse-supplied program
  5. Upload and attach your bookmarked PDF file

Before you begin

  1. Download and install the tools that you need for your operating system. The instructions, and the files to download, can be found at:

    For Windows, you need:
  2. the Word Templates Installer
  3. the Setup Program for the Cayuse PDF Printer
    For Mac OS X, you need:
  4. the ZIP archive that contains (a) the templates and (b) the "addbookmarks.jar" program that you will use to add bookmarks to the PDF version of your research plan

  1. Set "Macro Security" for Microsoft Word, or else the templates and add-ins will not work correctly:
  2. Start Microsoft Word.
  3. Go to the "Tools" menu, and choose "Macro" – and then "Security…"
  4. In the dialog box that appears, choose the "Trusted Sources" tab.
  5. Check the box labeled "Trust all installed add-ins and templates".
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  1. Windows only: Configure the Cayuse PDF Printer. The steps are:
  2. Go to Control Panel | Printers and Faxes
  3. Right-click on the Cayuse PDF Printer
  4. Select "Printing Preferences…"
  5. Select the "Advanced Options" tag
  6. Check the box next to "Multi-language support" to enable the printing of Greek characters
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About the Microsoft Word Templates and Add-Ins

The Cayuse templates and add-ins help you create a research plan that contains the required section headings, with everything properly formatted. The simplest approach is to start writing the research plan from scratch, based on a template. The four Cayuse templates are:

  • ResearchPlan – The NIH has two formats for research plans. This template is for the older format, still in use for some funding opportunities.
  • ResearchPlan1_1 – This template is for the NIH's newer research plan format. Use this unless your Funding Opportunity Announcement indicates that you should use the older format.
  • BioSketch and BlankContPage – Cayuse provides templates for your biosketches and your continuation page. These templates, discussed in a later section, have nothing to do with your research plan.

However, starting from scratch is not always possible. If your research plan is alreadywritten, use a Microsoft Wordadd-in to interactively turn your existing research plan into one from which you can generate a bookmarked PDF. The two Cayuse add-ins are:

  • ResearchPlanAddIn – For the NIH's older format, still in use for some funding opportunities.
  • ResearchPlanAddIn1_1 – For the NIH's newer research plan format. Use this unless your Funding Opportunity Announcement indicates that you should use the older format.

To create a research plan from scratch – on Windows

The steps for starting your research plan from scratch are as follows:

  1. Start Microsoft Word.
  2. From the "File" menu, choose "New…" – and a task pane appears at the right of your screen.
  3. On the task pane, choose "General Templates…" or "Templates on my computer…" depending on your version of Word. A Templates dialog box appears.
  4. In the Templates dialog box, click the "Cayuse" tab.

  1. Choose "ResearchPlan1_1.dot" and make sure you are creating a document, not creating a template. Then, click "OK". Word creates a new document, and you will see a dialog box (as shown on the next page) that asks your name and some questions about your research plan. This configuration information determines how your research plan will be organized.
    If you are not prompted for this information, it means that Macro Security is set to High and you have not enabled macros from trusted sources. To fix this: (a) close your document; (b) follow the instructions under item #2 in the "Before You Begin" section, above; and (c) go back to Step 2 of these instructions.

  1. In the dialog box:
  2. Enter the PI's name. Do not place a "." after the middle initial.
  3. Enter a starting page number for the research plan. This is only for when you print a version of the proposal for your own reference. The research plan you submit to the sponsor will not contain page numbers.
  4. Optional: Check the box and select a radio button if you wish to include an introduction to a "Revised Application" or "Supplemental Application." For an initial submission, no introduction is required so this section is not needed.
  5. Choose a title for your Section 4. Your options are "Preliminary Studies," "Progress Report," or "Phase I Progress Report." One of these must be selected.
  6. Select a Human Subjects scenario. Ifyou are unfamiliar with the scenarios or their required sections, click on the "NIH Instructions" button. One scenario must be selected.
  7. Optional: Check the box at the bottom of the dialog if you want to include a Commercialization Plan (for SBIR/STTR applications).
  8. Click "OK".

There should now be some new buttons – a "Cayuse Toolbar" – at the top of your document window. On Windows, the new toolbar looks like this:

These buttons are for:

  • Previewing your document with headers and footers, or without
  • Reconfiguring your document, to change your section headers
  • Displaying the outline of all the possible sections of a research plan
  • Generating a PDF of your research plan for e-submission (no headers/footers)
  • Generating a PDF of your research plan with headers and footers (for your use only)

To preview your document with headers and footers:

Click the "Preview Paper" button on the Cayuse Toolbar.

To preview your document without headers or footers:

Click the "Preview PDF" button on the Cayuse Toolbar.

To display a research plan outline:

Click the "Display Outline" button on the Cayuse Toolbar. A dialog box lists all the possible section headings for a research plan. To insert a section heading, you can copy and paste from the dialog box to your research plan. (After doing so, you must reconfigure your document; the instructions are below.) Otherwise, this list of section headings is for your reference only.

To reconfigure your document:

Click the "Reconfigure Info" button on the Cayuse Toolbar. This brings up the dialog box that asks about the PI name, the starting page number, and the sections of your research plan. Answer the questions and click "OK".

To print your document with page numbers:

  1. Click the "Preview Paper" button on the Cayuse Toolbar.
  2. Print your Word document as you would any other.

To generate a PDF document for e-submission (no page numbers):

Click the "PDF for Esub" button on the Cayuse Toolbar. This sends your document to the Cayuse PDF Printer, which checks for section headings before creating your PDF. You may see a message like this:

This message is telling you about any section headings that the Cayuse PDF Printer looked for but could not find in your research plan. The Cayuse PDF Printer looks for every possible section header – even the ones that may not be applicable in your research plan. If you don't need any of the sections that are reported as "missing," you can ignore this message.

To generate a PDF document with page numbers:

Click the "Print Paper/PDF" button on the Cayuse Toolbar.

Troubleshooting:

If the Cayuse Toolbar does not appear, you must manually attach the template to the document. To do this:

  1. Go to the "Tools" menu.
  2. Choose "Templates and Add-Ins…"
  3. Click the "Attach" button
  4. Open the "Cayuse" folder
  5. Choose the "ResearchPlan1_1" template
  6. Click "OK".

To create a research plan from scratch – on Macintosh OS X

The OS X process is like the Windows process, except for four differences:

  1. When you start your document, you must use the Project Gallery. This is the Macintosh equivalent of "File | New…" in Windows. If the Project Gallery does not automatically appear when you start Word:
  2. Go to the "File" menu and choose "Project Gallery…"
  3. Choose "My Templates" and then "Cayuse"
  4. Choose the ResearchPlan1_1 template.
  5. Your "Cayuse Toolbar" – the new buttons at the top of your Word document window – looks like this (only four buttons):
  1. Use the Macintosh's built-in "print to PDF" features to create your PDF document, rather than the buttons on the Cayuse Toolbar. (However, the resulting PDF will not contain the bookmarks you need.) The steps are:
  2. Click the "Preview PDF" button on the Cayuse Toolbar to hide the headers and footers
  3. Go to the "File" menu and choose "Print…"
  4. Click the "PDF" button
  5. Choose the "Save as PDF…" option
  6. Specify the location and name for your new PDF file
  7. To add bookmarks to your PDF file, find and execute the program "addbookmarks.jar". The steps are:
  8. Double-click on the program. A dialog box will appear, asking you to specify a PDF file.
  9. In the dialog box, navigate to the location of your research plan PDF and select the file.
  10. After a moment, a message box lists the bookmarks that were added to your PDF document (as shown on the next page):

    Click "OK" to close this message box. You now have a new, bookmarked PDF document whose name ends with "_bm" (to distinguish it from your original document).

To work with an existing research plan

NOTE: When starting with an existing research plan, you must set the fonts and the margins yourself. The add-in does not set the fonts or the margins for you.

The steps to get started are:

  1. Make a copy of your research plan document (just in case).
  2. Open your existing research plan document in Microsoft Word.
  3. Go to the "Tools" menu, and choose "Templates and Add-Ins…" – and a dialog box appears (as shown on the next page):

  1. Click the "Add" button. (NOT the "Attach" button!).
  2. Navigate to the Cayuse folder, and choose "ResearchPlanAddIn1_1". Your list of templates and add-ins now includes "ResearchPlanAddIn1_1.dot", with a check mark next to it:
  1. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. The new buttons from the Cayuse Toolbar appear at the top of your document window.

At this point, your goal is to configure the document with properly-formatted section headings. To do this:

  1. Click the "Reconfigure Info" button. This brings up a dialog box where you can enter the PI's name, the starting page number, and information about the sections of your research plan.
  2. Make your choices and click "OK" to close the dialog box.
  3. Now you'll see a series of dialog boxes that look like this:

    The add-in is searching your document, looking for things that might be section headers, so it can apply the proper formatting. Each time the add-in finds a section header, click "OK".
  4. If the add-in could not find all the section headings it was searching for (based on your configuration information), you will see a dialog box that looks like this:

    Dismiss the dialog box and check the spelling of your section headings, adding any headings that are missing. Then, click the "Reconfigure Info" button again. Repeat this until you have all the headings you need.

At this point you have a Word document with section headings that, when fed to the Cayuse PDF Printer, will yield a properly-bookmarked PDF. The steps for creating your PDF file are the same as for when you are starting your research plan from scratch.

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