2012 Undergraduate Student Paper Competition

The Wisconsin Sociological Association invites submission of papers for its annual undergraduate student paper award.  There are three prize categories: First Prize- $100;  Second Prize-$75; Third Prize- $50.

Guidelines for the WSA Undergraduate Student Paper Award Eligibility: Any undergraduate student enrolled in a Wisconsin college or university during the year of the competition, or any individual who had completed a bachelor's degree the previous year at a Wisconsin college or university is eligible to submit a paper, provided that it was completed during his/her undergraduate studies. Although students need not be members of the WSA to submit papers, undergraduates are encouraged to join.

Authorship:   Papers submitted for the award must be authored or co-authored by students. They may not be co-authored by student(s) and faculty.

Type of Paper: Papers submitted for the award may vary in their nature and methodology. They will be judged in terms of their employment of a distinctly sociological perspective, their demonstration of critical intelligence, and their contribution to existing knowledge. Length of paper: Papers submitted for the award must not exceed 25 double spaced pages of text (i.e. exclusive of references, end notes, tables, maps, figures, graphs, and the abstract).

Paper Format: Papers submitted for the award must follow the format and style of the American Sociological Review . Papers must be typed double-spaced with 1 ½ inch margins and must include a cover page (including the paper's title, name of the author/s, institutional affiliation, mailing address, telephone number, and name and telephone number of the faculty advisor), an abstract, the text and its accompanying tables, maps, figures, graphs, end notes, and references. The title of the paper must also be at the top of the first page of the text.

Submission of the Paper: Papers must be submitted (as Word documents) via email to the chair of the Undergraduate Student Paper Award Committee (see below) by September 16, 2012. The selection committee reserves the right to reject all papers, if, in its judgment, none is of prize-winning quality. It may award second or third prizes without giving a first place prize, and a first place prize without giving a second or third. Finally, the selection committee may suggest that an award-winning paper be submitted to Sociological Imagination for possible publication.

Paper submissions and other correspondence with the committee should be directed to: Tricia Davis, Undergraduate Student Paper Committee Chair, via e-mail at: tricia.m.davis@uwrf.edu