Why font, margin, and spacing tricks are a bad idea in your NIH grant application

NIH has clear guidelines for formatting grant application attachments, including font and margin size, spacing, and font type. These rules are designed to provide a level playing field to ensure that researchers are all given the same amount of space in which to sell their research project in their proposal. As someone who has written and edited hundreds of NIH grant proposals over the years, I have seen many of the same attempts at gaming the system tried over and over again. Most often, the individuals who try to bend the rules regarding NIH formatting guidelines are trainees and junior faculty members who are fairly new to NIH grant proposal writing. However, occasionally I am surprised by a more seasoned investigator attempting some of the same tricks. Here I will cover some of the most common attempts at getting around the requirements.

Let's start with the NIH formatting guidelines. For all research, career development, and training grant applications (including R01, R21, R03, K01, F31, T32, etc.), the formatting requirements are described below.

Font and Line Spacing Requirements:

• Font size:  Must be 11 points or larger. Smaller text in figures, graphs, diagrams and charts is acceptable, as long as it is legible when the page is viewed at 100%.
• Some PDF conversion software reduces font size. It is important to confirm that the final PDF document complies with the font requirements.
• Type density:  No more than 15 characters per linear inch (including characters and spaces).
• Line spacing: No more than six lines per vertical inch.
• Text color: No restriction. Though not required, black or other high-contrast text colors are recommended since they print well and are legible to the largest audience.
• Recommended Fonts:
• Arial
• Georgia
• Helvetica
• Palatino Linotype

Paper Size and Margins

• Use paper (page) size no larger than standard letter paper size (8 ½" x 11”).
• Provide at least one-half inch margins (½") - top, bottom, left, and right - for all pages. No applicant supplied information can appear in the margins.

Now that you have a general idea of the formatting requirements, let's discuss what should not be done in your NIH grant proposal. Font size is one of the most common requirements that grant applicants attempt to circumvent. As written above, the font size is at minimum 11-point font and preferably the proposal should be written in one of four fonts. 

• This does not mean that 10.9 font is acceptable.
• This does not mean that 10.98 font is acceptable.
• This does not mean that 10.99 font is acceptable.
• This does not mean you should change part of your text to a different font to squeeze in a few extra words.
• This does not mean you should reduce your type density to squish your words together.

Line spacing is another common issue. I am not sure why, but well-meaning colleagues continue to suggest to new grant applicants that reducing the line spacing is the best way to edit a proposal so it falls under the page limits. Encouraging researchers to pack in their text more densely instead of revising their writing so it is clearer and more concise is well-intentioned but terrible advice. 

NIH formatting requirements specify that proposal text must include no more than six lines per vertical inch. If you are using Arial 11-point font and you change the line spacing in MS Word to "Exactly 12 point", the text will technically meet the NIH requirements for number of lines per vertical inch. However, the text appears dense and more difficult to read. If you change the line spacing to "Exactly 11 point", you will not meet the formatting requirements. This is not an automatic check that will show up as a warning or error in grants.gov; rather, you will be contacted by the Center for Scientific Review weeks or months after you thought your proposal was successfully submitted, only to find out that it is being rejected without review.

When it comes to formatting your NIH grant application, why take any changes by trying to circumvent the rules? Taking the time to review and edit your proposal text, or to seek the assistance of a senior colleague or experienced grant editor, will help you to put your best foot forward in the review process. The cardinal rule of grants is, "Don't annoy the reviewers!" Attempting any of the tricks mentioned above not only runs the risk of a proposal rejection, but also is likely to give the reviewers a headache as they tackle the dense text of your proposal.