NEH Grant Programs
Scholarly Editions and Translations Grants, Receipt Deadline: December 8, 2011 (for projects beginning as early as October 1, 2012)
The deadline for this program has passed. Updated guidelines will be posted in advance of the next deadline. In the meantime, please use these guidelines to get a sense of what is involved in assembling an application.
Date posted: September 20, 2011
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.161
Questions?

Find answers to your guidelines questions in the Frequently Asked Questions. If you still need assistance, contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Research Programs at 202-606-8200 and editions@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Grant Program Description
Scholarly Editions and Translations grants support the preparation of editions and translations of pre-existing texts and documents that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of a minimum of one year up to a maximum of three years.
Projects must be undertaken by a team of at least one editor or translator and one other staff member. Grants typically support editions and translations 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. Translation projects should also explain the approach adopted for the particular work to be translated. Editions and translations 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, as well as proposals for editions of translated materials.
Sample narratives from successful grant applications are available under the Program Resources section of the sidebar on the first page of the guidelines. You may request additional samples by sending an e-mail message to editions@neh.gov.
Providing access to grant products
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, 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 and Translations program, such products may include edited documentary or literary texts, musical scores, or websites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of websites, all other considerations being equal, 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
Applicants 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.
Scholarly Editions and Translations Grants may not be used for
  • projects undertaken by individuals (without collaboration);
  • development of tools, including digital tools, or any materials analysis whose primary goal is refinement of a method, unless the development contributes to the larger interpretive goals of the project;
  • work on recurrent publications such as magazines or scholarly journals;
  • digitization of pre-existing texts without the addition of new scholarly and critical apparatus;
  • preparation or publication of textbooks intended primarily for classroom use;
  • the creation of original works of fiction, poetry, drama, or music;
  • translation of a text into a language other than English;
  • producing secondary work in languages other than English; or
  • publication costs or publication subvention.
Note: Applicants for individual projects should apply to the Fellowships or Summer Stipends programs. Proposals for digitizing collections and for preparing bibliographies, descriptive catalogs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, databases, or other research tools or reference works should be submitted to the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program in the NEH Division of Preservation and Access. Applicants who propose to develop digital tools should consult with the NEH Office of Digital Humanities at odh@neh.gov.

NEH encourages submission of Scholarly Editions and Translations applications from faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.

The Scholarly Editions and Translations program welcomes projects for editions or translations of texts that respond to NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative. Texts could focus on cultures internationally or within the United States. Texts from foreign cultures might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American texts might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. Texts might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest.

Complementary program
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National Archives, Washington, D.C., 20408, provides support for editions of American historical documents. Applicants may request support from both NEH and NHPRC.
III. Award Information
Awards are made for a minimum of one year up to to a maximum of three years. Awards usually range from $50,000 to $100,000 per year. Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds, matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the applicant’s preference and the availability of funds. The use of federal matching funds is encouraged. Federal matching funds are released on a one-to-one basis when a grantee secures gift funds from eligible third parties.
(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
Cost sharing
Cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to a project by the applicant, third parties, and other federal agencies, as well as third party in-kind contributions, such as donated services and goods. Cost sharing also includes nonfederal gift money raised to release federal matching funds.
Although cost sharing is not required, NEH is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. In most cases, NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations grants cover no more than 80 percent of project costs. The balance of the costs is to be borne by the applicant’s institution or other sources. Previously funded editions seeking further support should expect a progressively larger share of the costs to be assumed by the host institution or third parties. Although cost sharing is not required, NEH is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. In most cases, NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations grants cover no more than 80 percent of project costs. The balance of the costs is to be borne by the applicant’s institution or other sources. Previously funded editions seeking further support should expect a progressively larger share of the costs to be assumed by the host institution or third parties.
Eligibility
Eligibility is limited to
  • institutional applicants, i.e., U.S. nonprofit organizations or institutions with IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribal governments; and
  • project directors who are not affiliated with an eligible institution, i.e., U.S. citizens or foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.
Project directors affiliated with an eligible institution must apply through an institution, ordinarily their own institution. Only adjunct faculty, faculty at for-profit institutions, and scholars without an institutional affiliation may apply as unaffiliated project directors.
Degree candidates may not be project directors.
Project directors may submit only one application to either the Scholarly Editions and Translations program or the Collaborative Research program, but not both. They may, however, apply for other NEH awards, including Fellowships or Summer Stipends.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Late, incomplete, or ineligible applications will not be reviewed. Find answers to your eligibility questions in the Frequently Asked Questions.
Application and Submission Information
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
Application advice and proposal drafts:
Project directors may submit by e-mail (editions@neh.gov) drafts of their proposals at least six weeks before the deadline. Do NOT submit your draft through Grants.gov. A response cannot be guaranteed if the draft arrives later. Submitting a draft proposal enables an applicant to receive staff comments about the substance and format of the application. The more complete the draft, the more helpful the response can be. Staff comments in response to draft proposals are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, but previous applicants have found them helpful. Once NEH has received a formal application, its staff will not comment on its status except with respect to questions of completeness or eligibility.
You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would a paper application. Your application should consist of the following parts.
  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
    Provide a one-page list of all parts of the application and corresponding page numbers.
  3. List of participants
    Provide a one-page list, in alphabetical order, surnames first, of all participants and collaborators on the project. Include any institutional affiliations. The names on this list should match the names mentioned in the staff section of the project’s narrative description. Include advisory board members, if any. Foreign nationals may be part of the project team and may be included on the budget.
  4. Narrative
    The narrative should not assume any specialized knowledge on the part of its readers, and it must be free of jargon. The narrative must be introduced with a project title that describes the proposal. The project title must be no more than 125 characters, and it should be informative to a nonspecialist audience.
    In the narrative applicants must 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 Times New Roman 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 or translation 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 or translation, discuss the reasons for undertaking a new one. Applicants should also describe, if applicable, how their projects will make available materials dispersed among a number of repositories.
    • History and duration of the project
      Provide a concise history of the edition or translation, including information about preliminary research or planning, previous financial support, publications produced, and resources or research facilities available. List any volumes or electronic products, with dates of publication; when applicable, the list must include the publisher, print or production runs, sales, and royalties. Provide reviews of the most recent volume or other product in an appendix.
      If the application requests support for only part of a larger editorial undertaking, describe the overall design of the entire effort and clearly delineate the specific part intended for NEH funding through this application. Applicants who have previously received NEH funding for their editions or translations 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 or translation 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.
      Proposals submitted by previously funded projects must be substantially updated, including a description of the new activities and a justification of the new budget request. The applicant must also describe how the previously funded project met its goals.
    • Staff
      Name the project director and all collaborators who would work on the project during the proposed grant period, regardless of whether NEH funds are requested to support their participation in the project. Describe their responsibilities and qualifications. State anticipated commitments of time for the project director and all collaborators, and explain the reasons for and nature of their participation. Project directors must devote a significant portion of their time to their projects. Provide résumés of the principal collaborators (maximum of two pages each) in an appendix.
    • Methods
      Both scholarly edition proposals and translation proposals must
      • demonstrate the significance of the text to be edited;
      • describe in detail the organization of the selected texts;
      • describe 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;
      • describe in detail the project’s data management plan and the procedures for controlling large numbers of documents;
      • explain the methods of analyzing, transcribing, verifying, and presenting the texts;
      • describe the guidelines for annotation, introductions, indexes, and other editorial apparatus; and
      • describe how critical introductions and explanatory annotations will establish the historical and intellectual contexts of the work or works and contribute to a better understanding of the text.
      In addition, translation proposals must
      • explain the criteria for selecting the text or texts that will serve as the basis for the translation; and
      • explain how errors and variant readings in existing editions will be dealt with, and how particular problems posed by the translation (including the degree of difficulty of the text) will be resolved.
    • Final product and dissemination
      NEH 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.
      Applicants preparing work for electronic publication must describe the technical standards and formats used by the project, including markup languages, database applications, and imaging formats; they must also provide 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 the creation of electronic publications. Other pertinent considerations include access, interoperability, and sustainability 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.
      Applicants must discuss publication arrangements, publicity plans, estimated prices, and user costs for both print and online publication. Any pertinent correspondence with a print or online publisher must be included in the appendices. If the project involves materials under copyright, applicants must indicate their plans for securing the necessary permission to publish. Any supporting documents must also be included in the appendices.
      Applicants must discuss both the medium chosen for the final product (printed books, electronic media, or some combination) and the reasons for this choice. Projects that have a website must provide the URL. Projects that include plans for a website must describe what has been done to secure a host for the site.
      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.
    • 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 (4-page PDF) and the budget template (3-page PDF), complete the budget spreadsheet (MS Excel format) or a format of your own that includes all the required information. In addition you may provide a brief budget addendum, limited to no more than two pages, explaining any of the budget items in more detail. Applicants are advised to retain a copy of the PDF containing their budget form.
  6. Appendices
    Use appendices to provide essential supplementary materials. Appendices must be limited to thirty-five pages. The materials must include a brief résumé (two-page maximum) for each principal project participant and must also include samples of the material to be edited or translated during the proposed grant period. Samples MUST be taken from the work for which funding is requested, NOT of work already submitted to a publisher or from a previous application whose plan of work has already been completed.
    To show editorial principles and procedures described in the narrative, provide photocopies of the original documents, as well as transcriptions, annotations, and the translation when applicable. The samples must illustrate the significance of the materials to be edited, show the importance and the degree of difficulty of the text, and be carefully checked for accuracy. Do not include assessments of previous applications and testimonials. Do include letters of commitment or interest from print or online publishers and published reviews. When necessary, include documents confirming that copyright permissions have been secured. A summary of results from previous grants may be included in an appendix but should be limited to essential information. If bibliographical references are not in the narrative, include a bibliography of the relevant primary and secondary literature in an appendix.
  7. Statement of history of grants
    If the edition or translation has received previous support from any federal or nonfederal sources, including NEH, provide a one-page list of the sources, dates, and amounts of these funds. Explain how many years of NEH support the edition or translation has already received. If it has a long history of support, the sources and contributions may be grouped and summarized.
When preparing an application, applicants should consult the Review Criteria.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV
Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov Applying as an individual? Click here for instructions
Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the website to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov website.
If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your registration is still valid, you may skip this step. If not, please see our handy checklist to guide you through the registration process. We strongly recommend that you complete your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
As part of the Grants.gov registration process, applicants are required to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Grantees are also required to maintain the currency of their information in the CCR by reviewing and updating their information at least annually after the initial registration, and more frequently if required by changes in information.
Download the Free Adobe Reader software
To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader, which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe website (www.adobe.com). Click on “Get Adobe Reader” and then “Download Now.”
Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.
Download the Application Package
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov website. You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.) Click the button at the right to download the package.
Save the application package to your computer’s hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it.
You can save your application package at any time by clicking the “Save” button at the top of your screen. Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed all the required forms, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid. Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains four forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
  1. Application for Federal Domestic Assistance — Short Organizational—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
  2. Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
  3. Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form—this form asks for information about the primary site(s) at which grant activities will take place.
  4. Attachments Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of your application.
To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful troubleshooting page.
How to Fill Out the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance — Short Organizational
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. In items 6, 7, 8, and 9 below, NEH recommends that the project title, brief project description, project director’s name, primary contact/grants administrator’s name, and authorized representative’s name be typed directly onto the form, instead of being pasted in; pasted-in quotation marks, diacritics, and other symbols are often converted into question marks during transmittal.
  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, website 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 grants 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 (no more than 125 characters), descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a nonspecialist audience. Provide a brief (no more than one thousand characters) description of your project. The description should be written for a nonspecialist 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 name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
  8. Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (i.e., 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 Primary Contact/Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grants 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 www.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp.
How to Fill Out the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
  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. Before submitting an application for a supplement, applicants should discuss their request with an NEH program officer.
    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.
How to Fill Out the Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the requested information. Instructions for the form can be found here: http://www.grants.gov/assets/SF424Site_Location_Instructions.pdf. Alternatively, each requested data element may be viewed by positioning your cursor over the blank field.
How to Use the Attachments Form
You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don’t already have software to convert your files into PDFs, many low-cost and free software packages will do so. To learn more, go to http://www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the Attachments Form, you will find fifteen attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your statement of significance and impact. Name the file “statement.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your table of contents. Name the file “contents.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your list of project participants. Name the file “participantslist.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your narrative. Name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your budget. Name the file “budget.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 6: To this button, please attach your appendices. Name the file “appendices.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 7: To this button, please attach your history of grants. Name the file “granthistory.pdf”.
Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials (if appropriate). Please give these attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.
UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION TO GRANTS.GOV
When you have completed all four forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the “Mandatory Documents for Submission” column. Once they have been moved over, the “Submit” button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution’s Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special username and password that were assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the “Submit” button. A page will appear, asking you to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the “Sign and Submit Application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package, depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page will appear. This page, which includes a tracking number, indicates that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail message.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. Doing so will leave you time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind. The Grants.gov help desk is now available seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day (except on federal holidays), at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail message to support@grants.gov.
To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful troubleshooting page.
HOW TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
If you are sending supplementary materials (those that cannot be submitted electronically—i.e., audio or video materials), please send eight copies of each item and include at the bottom of the table of contents—submitted via Grants.gov—a list of the materials to be mailed separately.
Send the materials to:
Scholarly Editions and Translations
Division of Research Programs
Room 318
National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
202-606-8200
NEH continues to experience lengthy delays in the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service, and in some cases materials are damaged by the irradiation process. We recommend that supplementary materials be sent by a commercial delivery service to ensure that they arrive intact by the receipt deadline.
If you wish to have the materials returned to you, please include a self-addressed, pre-paid mailer.
DEADLINES
Draft Proposals (optional): Program staff recommends that draft proposals be submitted at least six weeks before the deadline. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date.
Applications must be received by Grants.gov by 11:59 P.M., Eastern Time, on December 8, 2011. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted. Supplementary materials must also arrive at NEH by December 8, 2011, to be considered as part of the application.
Application Review
Evaluators are asked to apply the following five criteria.
  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; in the case of translation projects, the translation approach; the quality of samples, e.g., their content, accuracy, readability, and the clarity and helpfulness of annotations; the appropriateness of selection criteria; and the thoroughness and feasibility of the work plan.
  3. The qualifications, expertise, and levels of commitment of the project director and 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, a digital 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 projected results.
Review and selection process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. NEH staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.
Award Administration Information
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by e-mail of the decision by September 30, 2012. Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will receive award documents by e-mail after the September notification. Applicants may obtain the evaluations of their applications by sending an e-mail message to editions@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient and the lobbying certification requirement.
Award conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards, the Addendum to it, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document, and the applicable OMB circulars governing federal grants management. The requirements for awards to unaffiliated project directors are also contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards, with the exclusion of Articles 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 20, 25, 33, and Appendix C. The delegation of approval authority referenced in Article 7 also does not apply to awards to unaffiliated project directors.
Reporting requirements
A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document. Reports must be submitted electronically via eGMS, NEH’s online grant management system.
Interim and final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements.
Ar final Federal Financial Report (SF-425) will be due within ninety days after the end of the award period. For further details, please see the Financial Reporting Requirements.
Points of Contact
If you have questions about the program, contact NEH’s Division of Research Programs at 202-606-8200 and editions@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: www.grants.gov/
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp
Grants.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
Granst.gov troubleshooting tips.
Other Information
Privacy policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.

Application completion time

The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates that the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Chief Guidelines Officer, at guidelines@neh.gov; the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.

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