Scholarly Editions in American History

The Scholarly Editions and Translations program, offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), supports collaborative projects focused on editing, annotating, and translating foundational texts in the humanities. Administered by NEH’s Division of Research Programs, this initiative is designed to address the scholarly need for reliable and comprehensive editions or translations of important texts that are currently inaccessible or inadequately available. The program encourages the development of editions that contribute significantly to humanities scholarship by enabling new research and interpretive possibilities. First launched in 1966, this program provides two types of support: planning and implementation grants. Planning awards of up to $65,000 support preparatory activities such as determining scope, collecting materials, defining editorial and translation policies, identifying dissemination formats, and establishing collaboration plans. Implementation awards offer up to $300,000 in outright funds and an additional $150,000 in federal matching funds, with a maximum of $450,000 for the entire award. These funds cover activities such as manuscript transcription, collation, annotation, translation, proofing, indexing, and the creation of print or digital editions. All editions and translations must include scholarly material like introductions and annotations and are encouraged to be publicly accessible in digital form. Eligibility for the program is open to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations, accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit), state and local government agencies, and federally recognized Native American Tribal governments. Individuals and foreign or for-profit entities are not eligible. Projects must designate a qualified project director and at least one co-director. Each must have a substantive role in the project; fiscal agents cannot serve solely administrative functions. The program supports domestic and international collaborations but restricts NEH funds from being issued as subawards to foreign organizations. Applications must include several detailed attachments, such as a 12-page narrative, work plan, list and résumés of key personnel, bibliography, and samples of both original and final edited materials. Optional appendices may include copyright permissions, letters of institutional support, and publisher contracts. Projects that have received previous NEH support must submit a table of past productivity, detailing progress against prior goals. The next submission deadlines are December 4, 2024, and December 3, 2025, with optional draft reviews due by September 30, 2024, and September 29, 2025, respectively. Awards are expected to be announced in August of the following year. Funded projects should start between October 1 and September 1 of the year after the deadline and may span from one to three years, depending on their scope. For application support, potential applicants can contact the Division of Research Programs via email at editions@neh.gov or by phone at 202-606-8200. Proposals are reviewed based on five main criteria: the intellectual significance of the proposed edition or translation; the methods and editorial practices proposed; the qualifications and commitment of the project team; the feasibility and completeness of the work plan; and the soundness and sustainability of the dissemination strategy. The NEH gives preference to projects that provide free public access to digital materials and adhere to established best practices, such as those of the Modern Language Association or the Association for Documentary Editing.