Please be sure that when you are submitting PDF documents, they are “flat”.

This is particularly important when submitting a proposal System-to-System (S2S), but can also present an issue if PDFs are not flat when provided to the sponsor as part of a Just-in-Time (JIT) request or other Sponsor Post Submission Request.

A “flat” document is one that does not contain form fields, comments, or interactive items. “Flattening” a PDF is the process of changing all of those items into text or images within the actual PDF.

The easiest way to flatten a PDF is to Print as an Adobe PDF.

Please email ERA@asu.edu if you are experiencing any issues with the Enterprise Research Administration System (ERA).