SSHRC: Aid to Scholarly Journals

Sponsor

SSHRC

For More Information

Please visit the Aid to Scholarly Journals website.

Description

Aid to Scholarly Journals grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight Research program. The grants support Canadian scholarly research and dissemination by offering a contribution to enable journals to defray the costs associated with publishing open access scholarly articles and digital journal dissemination.

Aid to Scholarly Journals grants are meant to:

• enable the dissemination, discoverability and mobilization of original research results in the social sciences and humanities through Canadian scholarly journals;
• increase research capacity by facilitating knowledge sharing and the development of scholarly communities, particularly in areas relevant to Canada;
• assist journals in taking advantage of developments in digital technologies and innovative practices;
• promote best practices in open access scholarly publishing; and,
• encourage the transition to immediate open access publishing.

SSHRC welcomes applications involving Indigenous research, as well as those involving research-creation.

Eligibility

Subject Matter

Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions. Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See the guidelines on subject matter eligibility for more information.

A journal is ineligible for funding under this funding opportunity if:

• its mandate and/or content is primarily focused outside of the discipline(s) within SSHRC’s mandate; and/or,
• its content is primarily health-related and focused on clinical research and education, psychomotor research and kinesiology, counselling and therapy, and epidemiology.

Note: Multidisciplinary journals that publish articles outside of SSHRC’s mandate are eligible to apply for Aid to Scholarly Journals funding, provided that their mandate and publications fall primarily under SSHRC’s mandate. If a multidisciplinary journal has been deemed eligible and is successful in the Aid to Scholarly Journals competition, the level of funding awarded will be adjusted to reflect the percentage of its articles devoted to social sciences and humanities content.

If formally requested, SSHRC staff will, prior to the deadline, make every effort to offer prospective applicants advice regarding the eligibility of a journal’s subject matter. While SSHRC aims to provide the best possible advice in advance of an application, final decisions on eligibility for all applications will be made only upon receipt of the full application.

Applicants

The applicant must:

• be the editor-in-chief of the journal or, in the case of an editorial collective, one of the editors;
• be a faculty member affiliated with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution; and,
• assume responsibility for the grant.

Institutions

Grant funds can be administered only by an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution or not-for-profit organization (which, for the Aid to Scholarly Journals funding opportunity, is defined as either the journal itself, a scholarly association or a press that either administers or owns the journal). Institutions proposing to administer a grant awarded under this funding opportunity must hold or obtain institutional eligibility.

Not-for-profit organizations or journals that wish to establish or renew institutional eligibility, or that have questions, are strongly encouraged to contact SSHRC’s Institutional Eligibility team (institution.eligibility@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca) at least 10 business days before the application deadline.

Journals and Articles

To be eligible for support, a journal must:

• meet the definition of a scholarly journal (see Definitions below);
• submit each article (see Definitions below) to a rigorous, independent peer review process;
• publish primarily in English and/or French;
• meet at least one of the two following criteria:
  1. a minimum of one third of the core editorial board is affiliated with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution; and/or,
  2. The journal title is owned by a Canadian not-for-profit organization.
• publish in immediate open access, without a subscription and without APCs (diamond open access) and under an open license (e.g., Creative Commons or equivalent);
  • exceptionally for the 2025 cycle of Aid to Scholarly Journals, established journals publishing in delayed open access with an embargo of 12 months or less or using APCs will remain eligible; however, the application must include a plan to transition to immediate open access without APCs by 2028 (plan to be included in the “Journal description and outline of future direction” section of the application);
• be indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), or aligned with DOAJ inclusion criteria;
  • exceptionally for the 2025 cycle of Aid to Scholarly Journals, journals not included or aligned with DOAJ criteria (including the requirement to publish under an open license, Creative Commons or equivalent) will remain eligible; however, the application must include a plan to align the journal with DOAJ criteria by 2028 in the “Journal description and outline of future direction” section of the application;
• for established journals: have been founded two or more years prior to the application deadline and have published, within that timeframe, a minimum of two issues per year, each including at least three peer-reviewed articles or, for journals not publishing in issue format, at least six peer-reviewed articles per year over the two-year timeframe; and,
• for emerging journals: have been founded within the two years prior to the application deadline and have published, within that timeframe, a minimum of one issue that includes at least three peer-reviewed articles or, for journals not publishing in issue format, at least three peer-reviewed articles.

Maximum Project Value

Up to $42,400 per year (for emerging journals) for 3 years.

Up to $52,000 per year (for established journals) for 3 years.

The value of the grant will be calculated based on a per-article rate for each approved, peer-reviewed scholarly article (see Definitions) to be published during each year of the grant period.

There are four per-article rates:

• $1,800 for emerging journals that are published in immediate open access without a subscription and do not use article processing charges (APCs);
• $1,000 for established journals that are published in immediate open access and use APCs (gold);
• $1,800 for established journals that are published in delayed open access with an embargo period of 12 months or less, and do not use APCs; and,
• $2,000 for established journals that are published in immediate open access without a subscription and do not use APCs (diamond).

In addition, as part of the total grant value for both emerging and established journals, the applicant may request up to $10,000 per year to contribute to the costs related to the development and implementation of publishing best practices, including but not limited to technical best practices (e.g., improvement of metadata and dissemination quality, such as indexing, search functionalities, reference set, metadata standards, digital object identifiers, interoperability, referencing, harvesting, metrics); digital accessibility, diversity and inclusion best practices; and, innovative dissemination practices (e.g., developing a social media strategy aimed at increasing the dissemination and impact of the journal’s articles and/or content; developing innovative layouts and structures for articles; producing high-quality graphics, videos and podcasts; offering interactivity for post publication discussions).

Indirect Costs

There are no indirect costs on the funding provided directly by SSHRC. The external partner(s) funds are subject to the applicable indirect cost rate as specified in the Full Cost of Research Policy.

Special Notes

Regulations, Policies and Related Information

SSHRC reserves the right to determine the eligibility of applications, based on the information included. SSHRC also reserves the right to interpret the regulations and policies governing its funding opportunities.

All applicants and grant holders must comply with the Regulations Governing Grant Applications and with the regulations set out in the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration. Applicants are advised to consult the Use of Grant Funds section of the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration to determine if an expenditure is an appropriate use of grant funds. Further guidance on appropriate use of Aid to Scholarly Journals grant funding may be found in the Aid to Scholarly Journals frequently asked questions.

Specific Rule for the Use of Grant Funds

Grant funds cannot be used for salaries, stipends or release time for faculty (including editors, co-editors, and/or members of editorial or review boards).

How to Apply

Applicants must submit the application form in accordance with the accompanying instructions.