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Information for Recipients of ACA Grants in Biodiversity

Congratulations to all our award winners! This page includes a few things for you to know.

Reports

For most award recipients, you will be required to submit two reports during the time you hold your grant. These are due as indicated on the deadline page. Some recipients who receive their grant during the second year of a Master's degree may finish their projects in one year, in which case, they should file a Final Report.

Progress Report - one year after you have received your grant: Instructions (PDF); Submission Form (MS Word)
Final Report - two years after you have received your grant or upon completion of your project: Instructions (PDF); Submission Form (MS Word)

ACA Open Access Publications Policy

Alberta Conservation Association grant recipients are required to ensure that any peer-reviewed journal publications arising from ACA-supported research are freely accessible within 12 months of publication. Two options are available to recipients:

Online Repositories
Grant recipients can deposit their final, peer-reviewed manuscript into an institutional or disciplinary repository that will make the manuscript freely accessible within 12 months of publication. It is the responsibility of the grant recipient to determine which publishers allow authors to retain copyright and/or allow authors to archive journal publications in accordance with funding agency policies.
Journals
Grant recipients can publish in a journal that offers immediate open access or that offers open access on its website within 12 months. Some journals require authors to pay article processing charges to make manuscripts freely available upon publication. The cost of publishing in open access journals is now an eligible expense under ACA granting guidelines. Up to $3,000 may be identified specifically for publication in open access journals, in any grant application. The funds identified in any successful grant application for open access journal publication will be held by ACA for a period of five years from the date of initial grant approval. During the five-year period the recipient may apply to ACA for release of the publication funds, once recipient provides confirmation that the research has been accepted in an eligible journal. Contact the Grant Coordinator to process a publishing fees expense claim.

Failure to comply with this requirement will disqualify researchers from eligibility to apply in subsequent years.

Acknowledgment of Support

The ACA Grants in Biodiversity and the Alberta Conservation Association, a not-for-profit society, should be acknowledged in all publications, reports and other results of research supported by a Biodiversity Grant. Suggested wording is: "We gratefully acknowledge the ACA Grants in Biodiversity Program, which is supported by the Alberta Conservation Association", or "This research was supported by the Alberta Conservation Association through the ACA Grants in Biodiversity Program".

Administrative Issues

Administrative Procedure: For your project, all administrative procedures (travel advances, claims, vehicle rental, etc.) are the responsibility of the trust account holder.

Inappropriate or Over-expenditure and Unspent Balances: Trust account holders are responsible for reimbursing the program for any inappropriate expense or over expenditure of the trust account. Further, major changes in the intent or budget of a grant from that submitted on the original application must have prior approval from the Adjudication Committee. Unspent balances from non-renewed grants will be returned to the Committee for re-granting in subsequent years.

Citing the Biennial Report

If you would like to cite the Biennial Report, an example of what to include is found here.