Through NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication, the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation jointly support individual scholars pursuing interpretive research projects that require digital expression and digital publication. To be eligible for this special 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 publication. Successful projects will likely incorporate visual, audio, and/or other multimedia materials or flexible reading pathways that could not be included in traditionally published books, as well as an active distribution plan.

All projects must be interpretive. That is, projects must advance a scholarly argument through digital means and tools. Stand-alone databases and other projects that lack an explicit interpretive argument are not eligible.

Applications submitted for this special opportunity will be evaluated separately from other NEH Fellowships applications, but, like applications submitted to the NEH Fellowships program, will be held to the highest standards of scholarship. Applicants must clearly articulate the intellectual significance of the proposed project, including value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.

Applicants interested in conducting research and writing leading to traditional print or e-book publications should apply to the NEH Fellowships program. Applicants may apply to only one of the following research programs for individuals in a given year:

- Fellowships, or
- NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publications, or
- Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan, or
- Awards for Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or
- Awards for Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or
- Awards for Faculty at Tribal Colleges and Universities.