Fellowships for Digital Publication

Division of Research Programs

Grant Snapshot

Maximum award amount

$5,000 per month

Funding Opportunity for

Individuals

Expected output

Digital Resources or Publications

Period of performance

Six to twelve months

Application available

Optional draft due

Deadline

Expected notification date

Project start date

If you receive a “Bad Request” error message when you click the red “Apply” button in Grants.gov, it is possible you need to set up an individual profile. See Creating an ‘Individual’ Profile in Grants.gov for more information.

Fellowships for Digital Publication are competitive awards granted to individual scholars to support interpretive research projects that require digital expression and digital publication. To be considered under this opportunity, an applicant’s plans for digital publication must be integral to the project’s research goals. That is, the project must be conceived as digital because the research topics being addressed and methods applied demand presentation beyond traditional print or audio-video publication. Stand-alone documentaries and podcasts are not allowed. Applicants interested in conducting research and writing leading to traditional print or e-book publications should apply to the NEH Fellowships program.

Competitive submissions embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. All projects must be interpretive. Projects must advance a scholarly argument through digital means and tools. Stand-alone databases, tool development, digitization, and other projects that lack an explicit interpretive argument are not eligible.

Fellowships for Digital Publication provide recipients time to conduct research and prepare digital publications. Successful projects will likely incorporate images, video, audio, data, and/or other multimedia materials, interactive or manipulable elements, or flexible reading pathways that could not be included in traditionally published books, as well as an active dissemination plan. Products must be published in digital form and can include: monographs, peer-reviewed articles, websites, virtual exhibitions, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, or critical editions. Projects may be at any stage of development.

This grant was previously known as the NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication. Samples and materials from previous funding years will use this name.

2024 Pre-recorded Fellowships for Digital Publication Webinar

Watch a pre-recorded information session about this grant. This webinar introduces the program, describes the application process and eligibility criteria, and offers some tips for applying. The webinar is approximately 25 minutes long.

Register for an account on Grants.gov

When you are ready to apply, register for a Grants.gov account. If you already have registered, make sure the account is current. After registering, you must add an “individual applicant” profile. Click on the “My Account” link, then on “Manage Profiles” and “Add Profile.” Refer to Grants.gov’s instructions for adding a profile.

Complete your application package

Follow the instructions outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Grants.gov instructions.

Submit your application package on Grants.gov

You will receive a confirmation from Grants.gov when you’ve successfully submitted your application. Subsequently, you will receive up to five more notices confirming different stages in the application process. Verify that you have received all confirmations. Note that email filters may send these messages to your spam or junk folder.

Monitor the status of the submission of your letters of recommendation

NEH will request letters of reference from your recommenders approximately seven to ten days after the application deadline. You will be notified by email when each of your letters of reference has been received. Once you receive final confirmation of receipt from Grants.gov, you may check the status of your letters by logging in to the secure area of NEH’s website. Enter your NEH application number and your Grants.gov tracking number. You will be able to see the names and e-mail addresses of your letter writers and whether their letters have arrived. If necessary, you may send reminders to your letter writers (including the upload link) from this site. You are responsible for ensuring that your letter writers have received the solicitations from NEH and submitted their letters.

Program Statistics

In the last five competitions, this program received an average of
52 Applications
per year
This program has a
14.7% Funding Ratio
NEH made an average of
8 Awards
per year

Examples of Projects Funded by this Grant Program