Eligibility

Graduate students or early career researchers within 3 years of receiving their PhD at the time of submission are eligible.
This includes postdoctoral researchers and early career faculty.

Note:
Papers selected for this competition will not duplicate those receiving awards in the 2026 JSM SLDS Student Paper Competition.

• Authors may submit the same paper to both competitions.
  
• However, if a paper wins at JSM, it will no longer be eligible for this award.
  
• Award-winning JSM papers will be cross-referenced against submissions.
• Authors remain eligible to win at both conferences provided the submitted papers are sufficiently distinct (i.e., no double-dipping).

Number of Winners

• 6 winners total
• At least 3 winners must be graduate students

Award Selection

• Each paper will be reviewed by 3–5 randomly assigned reviewers (depending on the number of submissions and reviewers available).
• Reviewers will score papers based on established criteria, including (but not limited to):
  • Novelty of ideas
    
  • Clarity of writing
    
  • Rigor of methodology
• Papers will be ranked from highest to lowest.
• Selection procedure:
  • The top 3 graduate student papers will automatically be selected as winners.
  • The next 3 highest-ranked papers (excluding the graduate winners) will also be selected. These may include post-doc or graduate student submissions.

Paper Criteria

• Abstract: Maximum 200 words
• Paper Length: Up to 25 pages, including:
  • Title page
  • Abstract
  • Main text (double-spaced)
  • Figures and tables
  • References
  • Supplemental material
  • Appendices
• There is no separate figure/table limit, as long as the total length does not exceed 25 pages.
• Code requirement: All relevant code should be submitted as separate files, or via a GitHub link included in the paper.
• Code submitted as an appendix does not count toward the 25-page limit.