ICPSR Research Paper Competition

Research paper award competition for student research utilizing data from the ICPSR

For papers on any topic using data from the ICPSR General Archive or Thematic Collections. See the opportunity website for more information.

Awards: $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place. There are separate undergraduate and master's prizes for this competition.

Awards will be announced in April 2022. First-place papers will be published in a special edition of the ICPSR Bulletin, and all winning papers will be published on the ICPSR website. Each winner will receive a framed certificate in recognition of the award. Letters of achievement may be written to the student, and to the faculty, departments, and deans at the student’s institution, upon request.

The paper must be written in English and follow these requirements:

Length

Paper should be no longer than 20 pages for undergraduate entries, and no longer than 30 pages for graduate student’s entries. Page limits include all charts/graphs, references, and any appendices.

Appearance and Format

  • Font should be Times New Roman — point size 12
  • Margins of 1 inch (2.5 cm) all around
  • Double spaced
  • Papers must be submitted in MSWord (DOC or DOCX) or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.

Charts and Citations

  • Charts and graphs should be “stylized”; that is, exhibits should be developed, formatted, and inserted into the document appropriately. Cutting and pasting direct output from statistical software into the document is not satisfactory.
  • Datasets, publications, and other documentation must be properly cited. See ICPSR's FAQ, Why and how should I cite data?; see American Psychological Association Bibliographic Style, 6th Edition Style Guide, 4th edition for guides on citing publications. (Linked content provided by Purdue University’s library site.)

Title Page and Abstract

  • The title page must include the author’s name, faculty advisor’s name, institutional affiliation, expected degree (or recently received degree) and graduation date (month/year), and email address.
  • An abstract of no more than 150 words must follow the title page. Title and abstract pages are not included in page limits.
  • Page headers and/or footers should contain page numbers and a shortened title of the paper. They are not to include the author’s name or the name of his or her institution. This ensures anonymous review by the judges.

Application Process: 

  1. Papers must be submitted electronically via the ICPSR Research Paper Competition Entry and Publication Release Form

  2. Please complete all information and save the files (entry form and the research paper) using the appropriate file-naming format from among the following. Use the name of only the contest category (ICPSR Undergraduate, ICPSR Master's) you are entering.