Scholarly Editions and Translations
Division of Research Programs
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The Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations program provides grants to organizations to support collaborative teams who are editing, annotating, and translating foundational humanities texts that are vital to scholarship but are currently inaccessible or only available in inadequate editions or translations. Typically, the texts are significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials, but works in other humanities fields may also be the subject of an edition.
The program supports continuous full-time or part-time activities during the period of performance of one to three years. At least two scholars must work collaboratively on the project. Typical project expenses include salary for editorial and research activities, travel to collections to verify source material, and consultant fees for translation, editorial work, and the implementation of a digital edition.
In addition to supporting editorial projects at an implementation stage, the program also encourages applications for up to two-year projects at a planning stage that are determining the scope of the corpus, collecting documents, establishing the editorial and translation policies, evaluating the target audiences and determining their needs, selecting collaborators, and planning for dissemination and digital sustainability.
What’s new for 2022
- Applicants may request up to $150,000 per year in outright or matching funds, not to exceed $100,000 per year in outright funds, for a total award of up to $450,000.
- Applicants requesting matching funds must discuss how they will raise matching funds in the budget justification.
- Projects at a planning stage may request up to $65,000 in outright funds for up to two years.
- The appendices may include letters of institutional support from the applicant institution and subawardee institutions that indicate that the edition or translation project contributes to its institutional mission and demonstrates a strong commitment to the project.
- The total number of pages in the sample attachment must not exceed 35 pages.
- The program does not support the preparation of anthologies or sourcebooks for primarily educational purposes.
- The program does not support editions or translations of texts by living authors.
- Applicants may not request funding for conferences or other meetings for the purpose of dissemination or promotion of the completed edition.
NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations Program Webinar (2023)
NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations Q&A, September 2023
Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity to ensure you understand the expectations and restrictions for projects delivered under this program and are prepared to write the most effective application.
Application Materials
Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations Notice of Funding Opportunity, 2022 and 2023 (PDF)
Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations Grants.gov application package
Program Resources
Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translations Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
Scholarly Editions and Scholarly Translation awards, 2020-2022
Sample Application Narratives
University of California, Berkeley, Mark Twain Project
Connecticut College, Translation of the Gongyang and Guliang Commentaries to Spring and Autumn
Massachusetts Historical Society, Adams Papers Editorial Project
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition
When you are ready to apply, register for an account with SAM.gov and Grants.gov; both are required. If you already have completed the registrations, make sure they are current.
Follow the instructions outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and Grants.gov.
You will receive a confirmation from Grants.gov when you've successfully submitted your application.
After you submit your application, Grants.gov will send you up to five e-mail messages confirming receipt of your application. These messages represent different stages in the application acceptance process. You should verify that you have received all confirmation messages. Please note that email filters may send these messages to your spam or junk folder.