Research Support

Research Support

Need something specific but can’t make the trip abroad? Need a helping hand for your first time researching foreign archives? We would love the opportunity to help make your research successful!

SRAS Archive Services

We can assist both on site and remotely. Our team includes academics, translators, interpreters, students, and others experienced in researching in your target country. We have permanent staff in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Bishkek, and Kyiv and have contacts in many other locations.

Remote research. Are you looking for specific information or “dela,” but can’t make the trip abroad to get them? Contact us!
Logistics. We can help streamline your experience by arranging payments, following up on requests, and pickup and shipping of copies.
Orientation. We introduce you to your target archives or libraries, showing you how to request materials, your options for obtaining scans or photocopies, and the payment process. Perfect for your first time researching abroad!
Initial contact and fond requests. We can assist with preparation or review of your archival introduction letter and follow up with them when necessary to see that your request has been received and is being processed.
Translation. Do you need to dive into archives but feel your language skills are not quite up to the task? Let us translate and interpret for you.

Archive Support Pricing

Every research project is unique. SRAS services and pricing are thus flexible to suit your needs. We use a pay-as-you-go, hourly system. The cost will vary by location and volume of work, but will generally follow the following formula:

$28/hr for the first 10 hours, $23/hr thereafter
Plus costs of any copies, scans, or photos (as charged by the archive) + the greater of 20% or $5 processing.

Our experienced staff are researchers themselves and are able to efficiently navigate archives, summarize documents, pick up scans, and more.

Russian Research Visa Support

For those researching in Russia, the most correct form of visa is the humanitarian/scientific-technical visa. This visa is issued on the basis of support from Russian educational and research institutions.

If one of these two situations describes you, contact us.

You have or will have visa support from a Russian institution and you would like help processing it at a consulate in the US.
You do not have visa support from a Russian institution and would like guidance in how to obtain it,

More Information

Find out more about Russian visas and archives from SRAS and our Family of Sites!

Gain a broad understanding of the Russian visa system and what may or may apply to your situation.

Guides written to help you understand how to navigate Russia’s archives – hosted by GeoHistory, part of the SRAS Family of Sites.

Subscribe to our newsletter for more about archives, travel, funding, language, culture and much more!

SRAS Educator Services

I am very grateful to you for all your invaluable help with different aspects of the trip, the visa process and finding housing – it has all made a tremendous difference in making the trip go smoothly! (SRAS Research Coordinator) Andrei helped me a great deal, not just in terms of getting to know the different procedures for each of the archive centers, but also in offering his own insights from his own research experiences. I am very grateful to him for his patience, helpfulness, and thoughtful conversation. I also feel more confident about being able to return later on and to get started on my own on a more long-term trip. Galina was a wonderful host – she was very generous and hospitable with her kindness and conversation in Russian, which was especially helpful for me in training me to listen and understand actual, everyday spoken Russian. She is a very sweet, fun, and fascinating person all around.

Rosibel RomanPhD Candidate in Global & Sociocultural StudiesFlorida International University