Specific Aims Page Review
One page, read first, read fast
The aims page is where many reviewers form their first impression of a proposal. They often read it before anything else, and sometimes they read it on a tight schedule between other files. If the problem, the question and the plan are not clear in that one page, the rest of your proposal starts at a disadvantage.
This service is a close read of that page by a person who has not been living inside your project. You send the draft you wrote. Ahsan Irfan, the founder and sole editor of Help Me Bro, returns margin comments and tracked changes that show where a skimming reader would get lost, and why.
What a review of your aims page looks at
The comments follow the order in which a reviewer meets the page.
- The opening hook. Does the first paragraph tell a reader why this problem matters, in terms they can picture, before the detail begins?
- The gap. Is it clear what is not yet known or not yet working, and is that gap stated as something your project can plausibly address?
- The objective or hypothesis. Is there one sentence a reviewer could repeat to a colleague? Or does the central question get buried in the middle of a paragraph?
- Two or three aims. Do they follow from the objective, stay distinct from each other, and read at a similar level of detail? Do they sound like a plan rather than a list of topics?
- Expected outcomes. Does the page say what you will have learned or produced if the work goes as planned, and why that matters to the funder?
- Skim readability. Can someone get the argument from the first sentence of each paragraph and the aim headings alone?
Where it helps, comments also check that the wording of your aims matches the funder’s call as you have quoted it to me, and that the same aims are described the same way in any other section you send along, such as a budget narrative.
What you get back
You receive your own file with comments in the margin and suggested changes tracked in Word. Each comment explains the reason, not just the fix, so you can judge whether it applies to your project. You then revise in your own voice, accepting, adapting or ignoring each suggestion. You remain the author of every sentence on the page.
Two or three aims often sound alike on a first draft. A typical comment might point out that Aim 2 restates Aim 1 with a different verb, or that the hypothesis appears only in the last line of the page. You decide how to fix it.
Which proposals fit
Behavioral and social-science projects fit well, as do education, business, humanities and nonprofit program proposals. A one-page aims statement is common in these areas, and clear structure matters just as much there.
Aims pages in the style often used for NIH submissions are usually biomedical. Biomedical, clinical and engineering proposals are outside what Help Me Bro can review, and so are other medical or health-science grants. If your project is one of those, the quote stage is where I will tell you so plainly, before you spend anything.
What this service does not do
- It does not write, draft or fill in any part of your aims page from notes or an outline.
- It does not research funders or choose a funding opportunity for you.
- It does not submit applications on your behalf.
- It does not work on commission or take a share of an award.
- It does not promise any result from a funder. A clearer page is easier to read; whether a proposal is funded depends on many things nobody here controls.
If you are not sure where your draft stands, a full-proposal read may suit you better. See research grant proposal editing. If you are still working out a first approach to a funder, letter of inquiry editing covers that shorter document. The wider grant writing overview explains how all of this work is scoped.
Cost and timing
Written feedback is billed by word count. Because an aims page is short, the cost for the page itself is usually small. The rates depend on how fast you need the file back:
| Turnaround | Rate per 1,000 words |
|---|---|
| 24 hours | $25 |
| 48 hours | $15 |
| 72 hours | $10 |
If you would also like a live call to talk through the comments, that is quoted separately once we agree on what the call should cover. Full details are on the pricing page.
How to ask for a review
Go to the quote form and send your word count, your deadline and the file. If you include the funder’s call language for the aims, I can check your wording against it. You will hear back about whether the project is in scope and which turnaround fits your dates.
Curious about the person behind the comments? See Ahsan Irfan’s profile. For the general process, how it works has the detail. If you are earlier in the process and need help shaping a research plan, proposal coaching may be the better fit.
Can you tell me whether my aims are good enough to fund?
No. Nobody can honestly predict that. What I can tell you is where a reader may lose the thread, where two aims overlap, or where the hypothesis is hard to find. Those are clarity questions, and they are the ones this review answers.
My draft is only a list of bullet points. Is that enough?
The service reviews writing you have already done. A page of notes is not yet a draft, and I do not turn notes into prose. Once you have written the page in sentences, even a rough version, send it and I will comment on structure and clarity.
Will you check my aims against the funder’s call?
Yes, if you send the call language you are responding to. I compare your wording to it and flag places where your aims drift from the terms the funder uses. I do not search for funders or decide which call you should answer.
Is a clinical or lab-based study acceptable if the aims page is short?
No. Biomedical, clinical, engineering and other medical or health-science proposals are outside scope, whatever the page length. If you send one through the quote form, I will say so directly instead of taking the file.
Can I add my budget narrative to the same request?
You can send it. I read it only to check that your aims and objectives are worded consistently across both documents. Word count for pricing includes everything you send, so the quote form will show the total before you decide.