Journals | Humanities

Objective

This funding instrument is offered only by DFF | Humanities. In order to support the dissemination of humanities research through scientific journals published digitally and Open Access, DFF | Humanities offers funding to established and new journals of high scientific value that strive for, or are distinguished by international reach. The council takes into consideration that certain areas of humanities research are primarily targeted at a Danish readership, and that this might influence how internalisation is realised. Internationalisation may, for example, be achieved through international peer review processes, contributors, or by including editorial and advisory board members who are employed outside Denmark.

About the applicant

As the applicant, you must be editor-in-chief and have associate professor/senior researcher level qualifications as a minimum. It is a further requirement that the editorial board or committee must be comprised of active researchers from at least two different academic institutions in Denmark.

About the journal

It is a prerequisite for funding that the journal makes use of external peer review to assess the scientific quality of articles submitted to the journal, preferably in the form of double-blind assessment. 

The journal’s academic strength within its field, documented through reach, usage, acceptance rate, impact, and scope, is the most important criterion for the allocation of funds. DFF views publication of individual articles in an online early format as one of several ways to increase impact. It is expected that the application includes a description of specific initiatives aimed at strengthening the relevant journal’s position and standing, and that these are motivated on the basis of the journal’s subject area and age. Only journals that supply all their articles with an abstract written in an international language (English, German, French or Spanish) will be considered. Furthermore, funding can only be offered to journals that do not offer author fees. The council does not support popularised science journals.

The journal must be free of charge and freely available on the internet. This means that the journal must have a website from which articles are available free of charge and in electronic format in connection with publication. Exceptionally, funding may be granted for journals that maintain an embargo period of up to 12 months after an article’s publication, cf. the Open Access policy for public sector research funds and foundations. It is a requirement that the journal is indexed in an internationally recognised system. This means that it must be possible, as a minimum, to search for and find the journal’s articles through Google/Google Scholar and similar search engines. The council prefers that the journal seeks to be included in several indexes and that the articles are given a DOI.

About the application

When writing an application to the fund, you must pay special attention to ensuring that the application fulfils the objective of the funding instrument and that it meets the fund’s assessment criteria. 

Grant applications for new journals must account for related, pre-existing journals, and explain how the new journal differs from these.

The application must be written in Danish or English.

Budget

You may apply for up to DKK 130,000 with an equal distribution over the three to four budget years to fund operating expenses for digital journals. You may apply for funding to cover editorial and production expenses. You cannot apply for funding to cover printing and shipping expenses. 

Grants for journals are awarded for a 3-year period as a deficit guarantee. 

The journal or the publisher behind the journal must be listed as the administrator of the grant in the budget. It must therefore be registered with a CVR number.

Overhead costs cannot be applied for, as funding is not provided to cover salaries. 

Description of the journal and appendices

Below is a list of the appendices that must be attached to your application. For some appendices, it is specified that they are only to be attached if relevant. You can read more about the general requirements for the content of the project description, CV, publication list, etc. in section 10, and about the budget in section 11. The definition of roles in the project is described in section 10.3.

Please note in particular that there are character and page limits for the project description and page limits for the applicant’s CV. Exceeding these limits will result in an administrative rejection. It is always the character count generated by e-grant that applies. You can find more information in section 10.2.

Please also note that the application form must account for the journal’s scientific profile and objectives (max 2,400 characters including spaces), the journal’s strategy for the grant period (max 2,400 characters including spaces), and the journal’s organisation and review process (max 2,400 characters including spaces).