Barbara A. Brown was a professor of sport sociology at the University of Western Ontario from 1983 until 1990, when she died of cancer at the age of forty. Dr. Brown, who was President-Elect of NASSS at the time of her death, was widely recognized for her expertise on women in sport and leisure, her political commitment to extending girls’ and women’s opportunities for participation in sport, and her contributions to the development of a professional community of sport sociologists. She was also a dedicated mentor and teacher whose invaluable work with students is appropriately memorialized in the naming of this award for her.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Nominations are due on August 09, 2024 at 11:59pm EDT (August 10, at 3:59am, UTC).
• Papers may not exceed 8,000 words, including notes, tables, and references.
• All identifying information must be removed for blind review.
• Papers are to be formatted with 1-inch margins and use 12-point font.
• Authors should follow the American Psychological Association (7th edition) guidelines for journal article style throughout the paper, and should include line numbers to facilitate reviewer comments.
• Authors should include a separate cover page with the title of the paper, their full contact information, institutional affiliation, degree program, advisor’s name and contact information, and award category for submission (master’s or doctoral). They should submit their paper (de-identified of author information) as a separate file for review.
• Submit applications via email to Committee Chair, Letisha E. C. Brown [[email protected] ] by August 09, 2024.
• Please direct any questions about the award to Committee Chair, Letisha E. C. Brown

ELIGIBILITY

• Authors MUST be members of NASSS at time of submission. Please be sure that your membership status is updated and current.
• Papers do not need to be submitted for presentation at the NASSS conference (though most are).
• Authors must be enrolled in a graduate program at the time their paper is submitted.
• Papers that have undergone formal, peer review for publication are not eligible for the contest. Furthermore, papers that are currently under review for publication at the time of submission are not eligible for the contest.
• Papers must represent student-produced inquiry only. Limited input from supervisors (e.g., general feedback on structure and content, recommendations for editing) is acceptable, but papers on which supervisors have had substantial input (e.g., analysis of data, writing or rewriting of sections of the paper) are not eligible.
• The committee will accept one (1) submission per author.
• Papers that were previously submitted for consideration and not awarded may be resubmitted for consideration, provided the author and paper meet all other criteria.
• In the event that a co-authored paper is selected as winner, the authors will share the prize.
• When warranted, the committee will offer up to two (2) awards, one (1) for a Master’s Student and one (1) for a PhD student.
• Only papers deemed by the committee to be truly outstanding will be considered for the award, and thus there is a possibility that no awards will be given for either or both award categories (i.e. Master’s and PhD).

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Papers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Explanation of Conceptual Framework
• Analytic Clarity and Currency
• Organization and Clarity of Expression
• Discussion or Interpretation
• Contribution to Knowledge-Impact
• Relevance to NASSS/field (i.e., importance of topic)
• Adherence to Consistent Referencing Style (e.g., APA)

PRIZES

The award recipient(s) will receive up to $1000 towards their NASSS conference expenses, plus a waiver of the conference registration fee. The Student Paper Award Committee may also give up to two honorable mentions in each category. Students receiving an honorable mention will have their conference registration fees waived. In addition, all authors will receive feedback on their papers, which will hopefully benefit the authors.

Committee Members
Julie Brice
Chris Knoester
Anna Posbergh
Nik Dickerson
Doo Jae Park