Some Candid Suggestions for Applicants for Research Funding

• Capture the Reviewer's Attention
• Aim for Clarity
• Establish the Context
  Your proposal should tell the committee not only what will be learned as a result of your project, but what will be learned that somebody else does not already know. It is essential that the proposal summarize the current state of knowledge and provide an up-to-date, comprehensive bibliography. Both should be precise and succinct. They need not constitute a review of "the literature" but a sharply focused view of the specific body or bodies of knowledge to which you will add. Committees often treat bibliographies as a sign of seriousness on the part of the applicant, and some members will put considerable effort into evaluating them. A good bibliography testifies that the author did enough preparatory work to make sure the project will complement and not duplicate other people's efforts. Many proposals fail because the references are incomplete or outdated. Missing even a single reference can be very costly if it shows failure to connect with research directly relevant to one's own. Proposal writers with limited library resources are urged to correspond with colleagues and libraries elsewhere in the early stages of research planning. Resource guides such as Dissertation Abstracts International and Social Science Periodical Index are highly recommended.

  For many disciplines, Annual Reviews, (e.g.. Annual Review of Anthropology) offer state of the art discussions and rich bibliographies. Some disciplines have bibliography-oriented journals, for example Review of Economic Literature and Contemporary Sociology. There are also valuable area studies-oriented guides:

  Handbook of Latin American Studies, International African Bibliography, etc. Familiarizing yourself with them can save days of research.

• What's the Payoff
• Use a Fresh Approach
• Describe Your Methodology
• Specify Your Objectives
• Final Note