Applicants will be notified by e-mail of the decision by June 15, 2009

I. Program Description II. Endowment-Wide Programs and Initiatives III. Award Information IV. Eligibility V. Application and Submission Information VI. Application Review VII. Award Administration Information VIII. Points of Contact IX. Other Information • Budget instructions (1-page PDF) • Budget form(1-page PDF) • Definitions of types of funding • Instructions for Individual Applicants • Frequently asked questions • Recent Awards • DUNS number requirement • Registration Checklist • Download the current version of Adobe Reader • How to convert documents into PDFs • Tips for Creating PDF Files in Grants.gov Applications • Grants.gov FAQs • Grants.gov customer support To obtain a printed version of these guidelines, call 202-606-8446, send an e-mail to info@neh.gov, or write to NEH, Office of Communications 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20506. * - Modification (8/14/08) – An update to Section IV clarifies the eligibility requirements for foreign nationals.

Date posted: August 11, 2008

Date modified: August 14, 2008 *

Scholarly Editions Grants support the preparation of editions of pre-existing texts and documents that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. Projects must be undertaken by a team of at least one editor and one other staff member. Grants typically support editions of significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials, but other types of work, such as musical notation, are also eligible.

Applicants should demonstrate familiarity with the best practices recommended by the Association for Documentary Editing or the Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions. Editions produced with NEH support contain scholarly and critical apparatus appropriate to the subject matter and format of the edition. This usually means introductions and annotations that provide essential information about the form, transmission, and historical and intellectual context of the texts and documents involved. Proposals for editions of foreign language materials in the original language are eligible for funding, but proposals for editions of translated materials should be submitted to the Collaborative Research program.

Providing Access to Grant Products

As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, the NEH endeavors to make the products of its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH grant products. For the Scholarly Editions program, such products may include edited documentary or literary texts, musical scores, or Web sites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, the NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public. Detailed guidance on dissemination matters can be found in the Dissemination section below.

Previously funded projects

Individuals and institutions whose projects have
received NEH support may apply for a grant for a new
or subsequent stage of that project. Proposals for these
projects do not receive special consideration and are
judged by the same criteria as others in the grant
competition. However, the proposals must be substantially
updated, including a description of the new activities and
a justification of the new budget. The applicant must also
describe how the previously funded project met its goals.

1. Statement of significance and impact
   Provide a one-page abstract written for a nonspecialist audience stating clearly the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities.
2. Table of contents
   List all parts of the application and corresponding page numbers.
3. List of participants
   On a separate page, list in alphabetical order, surnames first, all participants and collaborators on the project. The names on this list should match the names mentioned in the staff section of the project's narrative description. Include participants' institutional affiliations, if any. The list of participants will be used to ensure that prospective evaluators have no conflict of interest with the project that they will be evaluating. This list should include advisory board members, if any.
4. Narrative
   Applicants should provide an intellectual justification for the project and a work plan. Narrative descriptions are limited to twenty-five double-spaced pages. Applications exceeding the page limit will not be reviewed. All pages should have one-inch margins and the font size should be no smaller than eleven point. Use appendices to provide supplementary material. Applicants should keep in mind the criteria (listed below) used to evaluate proposals. Provide a detailed project description consisting of the following sections:
   • Substance and context
     Provide a clear, concise statement about the nature of the edition and its value to scholars, students, and general audiences in the humanities. Include a full description of the materials that the edition will contain. If there is a previous edition, provide a rationale for undertaking a new edition. Applicants should also describe, if applicable, how their projects will make available materials dispersed among a number of repositories.
   • History and duration of the edition
     Provide a concise history of the edition, including any preliminary research or planning, financial support already received, and resources or research facilities available. List any volumes or electronic products produced with dates of publication; when applicable, the list should indicate the publisher, print or production runs, sales, and royalties. Reviews of the most recent volume or other product should be provided in an appendix.
     If the project constitutes a part of a larger editorial undertaking, describe the overall design of the entire effort and clearly delineate the specific part intended for NEH funding. Applicants who previously received NEH funding for their editions should provide, in column format, a comparison of the stated goals and actual accomplishments during the period of their most recent NEH grant. (If the grant was funded at a level different from the requested amount, the revised goals should be used.) If work on the larger undertaking will continue after the proposed grant period, applicants should describe the work that will remain—including the estimated date of completion of the entire undertaking—and the probable sources of support for that work. If the estimated date of completion for the larger undertaking is more than seven years from the date of this application, applicants should demonstrate that the work being proposed is organized and planned to yield results that will be freestanding even if the larger undertaking is not completed.
     Provide specific information about how materials for the edition have been or will be collected and about the scope of the search. If this work has not yet been completed, provide an estimate of what remains to be collected.
   • Staff
     Identify the project director and collaborators who would work on the project during the proposed grant period, and describe their responsibilities and qualifications. All collaborators should be identified, regardless of whether NEH funds are requested to support their participation in the project. Provide résumés of the principal collaborators (maximum of two pages each) in an appendix. Project directors must devote a significant portion of their time to their projects. All persons directly involved in the conduct of the proposed project—whether or not their salaries are paid from grant funds—should be named, their anticipated commitments of time should be indicated, and the reasons for and nature of their participation explained. If the edition has an advisory board, provide a statement about its meetings and other activities, and a list of board members.
   • Methods
     Describe in detail the editorial methods, including:
     • the organization of the edition;
     • the corpus—the total number of existing documents and texts—represented by the edition and the criteria for selecting the proportion of documents and texts from that corpus to be edited and published;
     • methods of analyzing, transcribing, verifying, and presenting the texts; and
     • guidelines for annotation, introductions, indexes, and other editorial apparatus.
   • Final product and dissemination
     Explain how the results of the project will be disseminated and why these means are appropriate to the subject matter and intended audience. If relevant, discuss publishing arrangements, publicity plans, estimated prices, and user costs. While grants may be used to support works in print, NEH encourages applications that provide for online access.
     Discuss the medium chosen for the final product (printed books, electronic media, or some combination) and the rationale for this choice. Explain how the medium proposed will adequately serve the intended audience without incurring unnecessary expense in the course of preparation. If the project has a Web site, please provide its URL and Web site-use statistics.
     Repeat applicants are encouraged, and applicants for projects not previously funded by NEH are required, to use electronic technology in the preparation of editions, whether for print or electronic publication. Applicants for projects not previously funded by NEH must also include provision for eventual electronic publication.
     The Endowment expects grantees to provide broad access to all grant products, insofar as the condition of the materials and intellectual property rights allow. NEH strongly encourages projects that offer free public access to online resources. All other considerations being equal, NEH will give preference to projects that provide free, online access to digital materials produced with grant funds.
     The proposal should include a discussion of software and hardware requirements, markup languages, database applications, and imaging formats (if applicable).
     If the project involves materials under copyright, indicate what has been done to secure the necessary permission to publish. Provide any pertinent correspondence with a publisher in an appendix.
     • For electronic publication, describe the technical standards and formats used by the project and include URLs or sample screen displays whenever possible. Applicants are encouraged to use open standards and markup conforming to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), and to employ current best practices in creation of electronic editions. Other pertinent considerations include access, interoperability, and persistence of electronic data. If the methodology used for the creation of an electronic publication departs from generally-accepted standards and practices, applicants should explain their approach and give reasons why it was chosen.
     • For facsimile editions, confer with the publisher or technical experts as appropriate to determine if the materials are of sufficient quality for clear reproduction. Applicants should describe the results of these consultations in the proposal.
   • Work plan
     Describe what will be accomplished during each six-month period and identify the staff members involved. The work described in the proposal should be completed by the end of the grant period.
5. Project budget
   Using the instructions provided, complete the budget form (PDF).
6. Appendices
   Use appendices to provide essential supplementary materials. These materials should include a brief résumé (two-page maximum) for each principal project participant, and samples of the material to be edited during the proposed grant period. To show editorial principles and procedures described in the narrative, provide photocopies of the original documents, as well as transcriptions and annotations. The samples should illustrate the significance of the materials to be edited and should be carefully checked for accuracy. Do not include assessments of previous applications and testimonials (as opposed to letters of interest from prospective publishers or published reviews). Appendices are limited to thirty-five pages.
7. Statement of history of grants
   If the edition has received previous support from any federal or nonfederal sources, including NEH, please list the sources, dates, and amounts of these funds. Explain how many years of NEH support the edition has received already. If it has a long history of support, the sources and contributions may be grouped and summarized.

Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov

1. Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with "National Endowment for the Humanities."
2. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
3. Date Received: Please leave blank.
4. Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
5. Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the "type" that best describes your institution (you only need to select one). If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a "5." If your institution doesn't have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a "0" (zero). All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
6. Project Information: Provide the title of your project. Your title should be brief, descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a non-specialist audience. Provide a brief description of your project. The description should be written for a non-specialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. List the starting and ending dates for your project.
7. Project Director: Provide the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director. Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application processing only.
8. Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (e.g., negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants or research officer or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Institutional Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grant administrator are the same person, skip to item 9.
9. Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an "Authorizing Official," is typically the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution's E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov user guide, which is available at: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp.

1. Project Director: Use the pull down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
2. Institution Information: Use the pull down menu to select your type of institution.
3. Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
4. Application Information: Indicate whether the proposal will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
   For Type of Application, check "new" if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check "supplement" if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number (applicants should discuss their request with a NEH program officer before submitting such an application).
   For Project Field Code, use the pull down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project's predominant discipline.

1. The intellectual significance of the proposed work, including its potential contribution to scholarship in the humanities; the likelihood that it will stimulate new research; its relationship to larger themes or issues in the humanities; and the significance of the material on which the project is based.
2. The appropriateness of the research methods, critical apparatus, and editorial policies; the appropriateness of selection criteria; the thoroughness and feasibility of the work plan; the quality of the samples, e.g., their content and accuracy; and the clarity and helpfulness of annotation.
3. The qualifications, expertise, and levels of commitment of the project director and key project staff or contributors.
4. The soundness of the dissemination and access plans, including benefit to the audience identified in the proposal; the strength of the case for producing print volumes, electronic format, or a combination of media; and the appropriateness of the technology to be used. All other considerations being equal, preference will be given to projects that provide free, online access to digital materials produced with grant funds.
5. The potential for success, including the likelihood that the proposed project will be successfully completed within the projected time frame; when appropriate, the edition's previous record of success; and the reasonableness of the budget in relation to its likely results.