Publication Subsidies

Purpose

The Vice-Chancellor allocates funds to assist the commercial publication of the results of academic research of staff members or students of the University that are unable (or unlikely to be able) to be published by an independent commercial publisher without financial assistance.

Nature

Applications are called for once a year and the maximum amount for any one subsidy is usually $2,500. Each subsidy is discrete and no long standing commitment will be made towards the costs of ongoing publications such as journals or other series. In practice this has meant that subsidies are granted for books but not for journals, and certainly not for journal articles. Translations of works into or from English are unlikely to be supported unless they are of exceptional literary or scholarly merit. In some circumstances, subsidies may be granted for publication of non-print media, eg. CD Rom. Internally produced monographs or collections of seminar papers are not eligible for assistance.

The committee follows DEST Guidelines on whether a publisher is independent and commercial.

Eligibility Criteria

All staff members and students of the University may apply. The Application must relate to a completed piece of work conducted while at the University, and negotiations with a commercial publisher must be at an advanced stage.

Conditions of the Subsidy

Successful applicants must enter into an arrangement with the University concerning such matters as acknowledgement of the University’s assistance in the work and the provision of a copy of the published work to the Council and Boards Secretariat. The subsidy will lapse 10 months from the date of approval by the Committee and any unclaimed funds will be reallocated in the next round. If the work has not been published within 12 months, the applicant will have to reapply for a new subsidy.

Application Process

Those seeking assistance are requested to submit a completed Application Form with the following information:

(i) Full details of the proposed publication and its current status - This includes the working title, name of author/s or editor/s, name of negotiating publisher, whether it is part of a series, the projected date of publication and a brief description of the work;

(ii) Background to the Application - Name and extent of involvement with the project by the applicant/s, whether other ANU staff are involved, if there are other contributors, and if so, from which institution/s;

(iii) Financial details - This includes whether royalties or any other form of author payment are to be paid and how much; how many copies are to be published; what is the expected published price with and without a subsidy; what are the distribution arrangements; and whether there are any other proposed sources of finance;

(iv) Subsidy Details - What amount is being sought from the Committee, and how this amount was calculated;

(v) Referees - Names and contact details of two possible referees;

(vi) Written Assurance that the applicant has no personal involvement with any of the suppliers concerned with the production and distribution of the work.

Other relevant documents - eg. negotiations/contract with the publisher.

Note that the number of subsidies granted each year is limited and for an application to be successful it must demonstrate that the publisher will not publish the work without the requested subsidy amount. A letter from your publisher outlining the financial details is an essential requirement of the application.

Application Due Date

This year's round of subsidy applications are due by Tuesday, 1 July 2008.

Send Applications To

Karen Holt, Publication Subsidy Committee Secretary, Council and Boards Secretariat, 1.09 Chancelry, Bld 10, The Australian National University.

Publication Subsidy Committee

Subsidies are determined by the Publication Subsidy Committee, which is chaired by Dr Bruce Moore. The Committee meets once a year, usually in August, to consider the applications. The Council and Boards Secretariat administers the Publication Subsidy Fund and provides secretariat services to the Committee.

In evaluating applications, in addition to the criterion set out under ‘Purpose’ above, the Committee will take into account:

• the quality of the work, as assessed by referees or by other means;

• the size of the print run (in the case of small print runs, simultaneous publication with an e-press would be an advantage) and;

• the contribution of the publisher towards costs.

Enquiries to Karen Holt on 6125 2825 or cabs.admin@anu.edu.au