CARDS Top Toolbar Selections

• ODS Home: Click to go to the Office of Dietary Supplements homepage.
• CARDS Home: Click to go to the CARDS webpage on the Office of Dietary Supplements website.
• New Search: Click to access the CARDS database search form.
• CARDS Help: Click to access the help page (you're reading it!).
• CARDS FAQ: Click to read answers to frequently asked questions about CARDS.

General Instructions and Tips for Searching CARDS

• Access helpful tooltips by hovering over the label next to each box on the search page or by clicking on CARDS Help at the top of the search page.
• You can move among boxes on the search page using either a mouse or the Tab key.
• If you do not make any selection in a particular field, your search will retrieve all projects for that search category.
• You can select multiple values in the list boxes. Each selection will appear in the search field and you can remove an item by clicking on it in the search field.
• You can leave a box blank when you do not want to limit your search. If you specify search criteria in any box, the search will be narrowed according to your selections.
• You can enter search terms in either upper or lower case.
• Do not use punctuation when entering search terms.
• Avoid being overly restrictive or limiting at the start of a search. It is best to start with a broad search, making few search selections, and then narrow your search to retrieve more specific information.
• Clear: Click on "CLEAR" to clear the search form to begin a new search.
• Submit: Click on "Submit" to enter your search and retrieve your results.

Individual Search Field Instructions

Dietary Supplement Ingredients

Use this box to specify one or more dietary supplements or ingredients being studied. If you do not make any selection, you will retrieve projects for all dietary supplements and ingredients.

Health Outcomes

Use this box to specify one or more health outcomes or biological effects being studied. If you do not make any selection, you will retrieve projects for all health outcomes or biological effects.

Relevance

Use this box to specify if you want to retrieve research projects that are directly related or indirectly related to dietary supplements. For example, a clinical trial comparing bone density in women given a daily calcium supplement versus a placebo would be classified as directly related to dietary supplements. Conversely, a study examining the activation of steroid hormone receptors by supplemental vitamin D in cell culture would be classified as indirectly related to dietary supplements because the direct physiological or health effects of vitamin D supplementation are not being studied. Click on the desired option to include it in your search. If you do not make any selection, you will retrieve projects that are both directly and indirectly related to dietary supplements. Most of the projects in CARDS are coded as directly related.

Study Type

Use this box to specify one or more research methodologies used by a project or program. If you do not make any selection, you will retrieve projects for all types of studies.

Text Search

You may enter one or more terms to search within the project Title, Abstract, Specific Aims, Project Terms and Spending Categories. You may limit the fields to search in using the associated text boxes. "And" will return only records containing all terms while "Or will return records containing any of the terms submitted.

The "Advanced" logic option provides additional capability to narrow selection criteria more precisely, and evaluate complex entries such as chemical references. The use of the Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT, ""double quotes"", and (parentheses) to control operational precedence are all permitted."

Investigator

Use this box to specify a specific Principal Investigator / Project Leader by name. The PI is an individual designated by the grantee to direct the project or activity being supported by the grant. He or she is responsible and accountable to the grantee and NIH for the proper conduct of the project or activity.

Country

Use this box to specify the country of the institution with which the researcher (principal investigator or PI) is affiliated.

State

Use this box to specify the state or territory of the institution with which the researcher (principal investigator or PI) is affiliated.

Admin Funding Agency

Use this box to specify the Federal Agency responsible for administering the research grant or contract (Admin IC) or funding (Funding IC) the research. Admin is selected by default. Please note that Funding IC data is only available for funded NIH projects.

Project Number(s)

Use this box to specify one or more specific project numbers. For grants, this unique identification number is composted of the type code, activity code, Institute/Center code, serial number, support year, and/or suffix code.

Grant Number

In these boxes you may enter one or more components of the NIH grant number as follows:

• In the first box you may enter a single digit Type Code. The Type code indicates whether the application is new(1), a renewal(2), a non-competitive applications(5), or other type.
• In the second box you may enter the Activity Code which lists the type of grant that has been applied for (3 symbols).
• In the third box you may enter the Institute Code, a two-letter code for the name of the NIH Institute or Center.
• In the fourth box you may enter the six digit Serial Number assigned by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR).
• In the fifth box you may enter the two digit Support Year. The Support Year indicates the current year of support (for example, 01 is a new grant).
• In the final box you may enter the Suffix Code (optional) used ti indicate supplements, amendments, or fellowship institutional allowances."

RFA/PA

Use this box to specify one or more codes identifying specific Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). Leaving this box empty will return projects for any FOA (or none). For a list of NIH FOAs please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html

Study Section

Use this box to identify the specific group responsible for the review of grant applications in an area of science. Study sections are grouped into larger Integrated Review Groups (IRGs). Leave this box empty to search grants from any Study Section. Study section codes and rosters of current study sections can be found at http://www.csr.nih.gov/Committees/rosterindex.asp.

Funding Mechanism

Use this box to select one or more funding mechanisms to limit your search. Leaving this option blank will return grants for any Funding Mechanism. The options in CARDS include the major mechanism categories used in NIH budget mechanism tables for the President's budget.

Fiscal Year

Use this box to specify a Federal budgetary year for which the project funds were requested or awarded. Leaving this box empty will return projects for all Fiscal Years.

Limit Search to

Use these checkboxes to limit the search to only those appications with the appropriate characteristics (Clinical Trials, Children Clinical Studies, Phasse 3 Clinical Trials or all grants with Human Subjet components). Leaving all boxes unchecked will return all grants regardless of characteristics.

Program Class Code

Use this box to specify the internal code (unique for each I/C) indicating the I/C's scientific interest and used to identify internal programs, branch classifications, the science or disease area, and sometimes program officials. Leave this blank to return applications with all PCCs.

Application ID

Use this box to return one or more specific projects based on the unique 7 digit number assigned to each project application record. Leaving this blank will return all project records.

Organization

Use this box to specify the institution with which the researcher (principal investigator or PI) is affiliated. Enter the institution's name or the first few letters of the name. You can leave this box blank to include all institutions.

Program Officer

Use this box to specify the name of the NIH official responsible for the programmatic, scientific, and/or technical aspects of a grant. Leaving this blank will return grants for all Program Officers.

Records per Page

Use this box to specify the number of projects to be displayed on each result page. If you do not change the selection, 50 records will be displayed on each result page.

Search Results

Search results are displayed in groups of 50 unless you specify another number. To move between pages of your search results, click on the page number at the upper right corner or the lower right corner of the results page.

From the results page, click on the project number to view detailed project information.

Modify your last search: From the results screen, click on "Revise Search" to return to the search page containing your search. You can then view or change your search and resubmit it.

Run a new query: Use the "New Search" button to return to the search page with all prior criteria cleared. You can then begin a new, clean search.

Downloading Project Information and Abstracts

From the results page, you may select and download project information to your computer by following the instructions below. Downloads will allow you to select the information downloaded for each project before you save the file. Use the Export Results menu to determine which items to export.

• Use "Export All" to export all of the search results to a file
• Use "Export Selection" to export only a selected set of results to a file. Select the results by clicking the check boxes beside the individual items prior to selecting the export option. The export selection option will then export only those items you have indicated.

Before saving the file the system will allow you to select the data fields you wish to export for each item in your download. Make your selections and click "Export" to download a data file with the items you selected (or all).

Detail Record Page Help

The project detail screen contains two tabs. The grant number and title will remain at the top of the screen regardless of which tab you are viewing.

• The Project Details tab provides administrative information about the project in several distinct sections: General, Personnel, Organization and Funding. These sections are collapsible to allow you to view only the specific information you need.
• The Project Description tab contains descriptive information about the research, such as the Project Abstract, Public Health Relevance and Project Terms. This page also displays the coding assigned to the project by the Office of Dietary Supplements and provides a link to the list of associated publications and patents in the NIH RePORTER.

You can use the "Previous" and "Next" buttons to step through the applications one by one without having to go back to the search results page. If you do wish to go back to the search results you may do so using the "Search Results" button.