Using SciENcv to Create an NIH Biosketch and Other Support Documents

My NCBI is the NIH's portal for managing data and collections from the various databases managed by the NIH and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

When you create a My NCBI account, you will automatically have access to a section called SciENcv, where you can create biosketches in the correct format for the NIH, NSF and other government funding agencies.

You can enter My NCBI from the link on any page in any NCBI database such as PubMed, the NCBI home page, or the SciENcv home page. The login link is always displayed in the upper right corner of the page, or there may be choices on the page itself (in SciENcv). Choose your login method from the icons displayed, or click on "More options" and/or "more login options" to log in via another method.

If you don't have a My NCBI account, you can log into NCBI via any of the available login methods and an NCBI account will be made for you automatically.

Note: It is advisable to have only one NCBI account. Your NCBI account will follow you no matter where you are located, since it is part of the NIH's NCBI platform which is free and open source. You simply have to change your email address and affiliations if you move. If you discover that you have more than one NCBI account, contact the NCBI Help Desk to merge the accounts. This is important when sharing your SciENcv or NCBI My Bibliography with delegates: it is easiest on you and your delegates if you only work in one NCBI account for all proposals.

If you already have NIH grants and you have an NIH eRA Commons username and password, make sure you have linked your My NCBI profile to your eRA Commons (NIH) account and credentials. 

• Click on your username in the upper right corner (after logging into NCBI), and click on the Account settings option. 
• Go to the Linked accounts section to see what accounts are already linked. 
• Click the Add account link to open the 3rd party account search. 
• To find eRA Commons, search for "NIH" in the Partner Accounts search box. Alternately, if you use Login.gov to log into eRA Commons, search for Login.gov in the search box.
• You will be taken to the organization's login page, where you will sign in with the username and password registered with the partner organization. Accept the NIH login request for permission.
• You will be redirected back to My NCBI where the added partner organization will appear in your linked accounts.

See the NIH instructions on linking your partner organizations to My NCBI.

If you have never had an NIH grant and don't have an eRA Commons username and password, don't worry--you do NOT need an eRA Commons account to create a My NCBI account or a SciENcv biosketch.

You can also link your ORCID account, your Northwestern secure login, and your NSF account, if you have one, to your My NCBI profile (there are many options). Just follow the same instructions from the link above.

Go to the SciENcv section of your My NCBI account page. Here you can create a new biosketch or profile. If someone else has named you as a Delegate to manage their NIH Biosketch in SciENcv, you will also see any SciENcv profiles for which you are a Delegate.