Transcription Services & Open Access Funding

• Designed to cover two recurring types of expenses associated with turning research into finished, publicly accessible scholarship: (1) professional transcription services and (2) open access publication fees.
• Awards of up to $2,500.
• Rolling applications will be reviewed on a two-week turnaround so faculty can request funds close to when the actual expense arises.

The Transcription Services & Open Access Funding award exists to remove small financial barriers that can delay or prevent faculty scholarship from reaching completion, publication, and a broad readership.

The award covers two expense categories: professional transcription of research data, which supports the completion of manuscripts, and open access publication fees, which make finished scholarship freely available to the public.

This award is structured to accept rolling submissions and provide a fast turnaround so that funding is available close to the point of need.

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in good standing.
• The request must be for the direct cost of completing, publishing, or making accessible an active research or scholarly project — not for starting a new project.
• Requested amount must not exceed $2,500 per application.
• Faculty may submit multiple applications across a fiscal year for different discrete needs, subject to available funding; the same expense on the same project will not be funded twice.
• No minimum publication record or prior productivity requirement. This award is open to tenured and tenure-track faculty of all ranks and at all career stages.
• Faculty who have received a Research Excellence & Impact Award, Interdisciplinary & Community-Engaged Research Grant, or External Grant Development Award may also apply for eligible transcription or open access support, provided funds do not duplicate expenses already covered by another award.

1. Application Submission: A short application (no formal narrative required) is submitted via the college’s designated system (InfoReady) on a rolling, first-come basis throughout the fiscal year.
2. Required Components:
   –    Brief description (a few sentences) of the project and how the   requested service or expense supports its completion or dissemination.
   –    Identification of the expense category: transcription services or open access publication fee (e.g., APC or open access book fee).
   –    Vendor or publisher quote, invoice, or fee schedule documenting the requested amount (up to $2,500).
   –    Confirmation that the expense has not been, and will not be, covered by another funding source.
   –    Indication of funding source and amount provided if another source will be covering a portion of transcription or open access expenses. Amount requested through this application must not exceed the balance unfunded by any alternate sources.
3. Fast Review: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a two-week turnaround target from submission to decision.
4. Notification & Payment: Approved requests are processed through the college’s research administration/procurement process (e.g., direct vendor payment, direct payment to the publisher, or reimbursement) once documentation has been confirmed.
5. Funds-Exhausted Notice: Once the annual program budget is fully committed, the Radow College Associate Dean of Research will post a notice.

Requests are reviewed on a rolling basis by the Radow College Associate Dean of Research in order to facilitate the two-week turnaround target. The review will confirm that the request fits an eligible expense category, is reasonably priced, directly supports an active scholarly project, and is not duplicative of other funding.

Complete, well-documented requests are approved on a first-come basis until program funds are committed for the cycle. This is an administrative approval process rather than a competitive, scored review.

Allowable Expenses:

• Professional transcription services for interviews, oral histories, or other qualitative research data.
• Open access publication fees, including Article Processing Charges (APCs) for open access journal articles and open access fees for books or book chapters.

Not Allowable:

• Conference registration, travel, or presentation costs.
• Costs for projects that have not yet begun or that lack a specific completion or dissemination purpose.
• Retroactive reimbursement for expenses paid prior to award notification.
• Requests exceeding $2,500.
• Duplicate funding for expenses already covered in full by another grant, internal award, or departmental budget.

All funding must be expended or encumbered by the date noted in your written award notification and is subject to standard institutional budget and procurement policies.

• Primary Deliverable: Use of awarded funds for the specific, documented expense stated in the application (e.g., completed transcription or publication of an open access article).
• Proof of Use: Awardee must provide brief confirmation showing the funds were applied to the stated expense (e.g., paid invoice or receipt, DOI of the resulting open-access publication, etc.).
• Acknowledgment: Any resulting publication or scholarly product should acknowledge Radow College/KSU, where the venue allows.
• No Formal Progress Report: Given the small scale and short timeline, no interim report is required; the award closes upon confirmation that funds were applied to the stated expense.
• Non-Use of Funds: Funds not used for the stated purpose within 90 days of award notification must be returned or reallocated; awardees must notify the Radow College Associate Dean of Research if the planned expense will not occur.