The next CSME National Student Paper Competition will be held on 28-31 May in conjunction with the 2023 CSME Congress, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC. The competition details are provided in the Call for Submissions (click to view).
The winners will be announced during the Congress Banquet on 30 May 2023 and online. For more information, please contact the Chair of Student Paper Competitions, Mina Hoorfar (mhoorfar@uvic.ca).
BEST STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION - DETAILS
At each annual CSME Congress, the society holds a competition for Best Student Papers. This competition provides an opportunity for students to showcase their research and communications excellence (oral and written). Students also have an opportunity to network with other students, researchers and industry professionals from across the country.
PRIZES
Prizes for the top three Best Papers are awarded at the CSME Congress banquet: First Place ($1000), Second Place ($750) and Third Place ($500).
The Competition is announced through a Call issued jointly by the Chair of the Competition and the Congress Chair at least 6 months ahead of the Congress and includes the following eligibility and evaluation criteria:
ELIGIBILITY
1. Must be registered as a full-time student at a university
2. Must be the First Author of the paper
3. Must be the Presenting Author at the Congress
EVALUATION CRITERIA
The evaluation will be based on the quality of the (i) submitted paper and (ii) presentation at the Congress and will be judged by a panel of judges.
Paper evaluation is based on:
- Scientific value and originality of research
- Organization of research
- Appropriateness of research methodology
- Background literature
- Strength of conclusions
Presentation evaluation is based on:
- Originality
- Purpose
- Methods
- Conclusions
- Presentation visuals
- Answering Questions
Interested students must submit their outstanding research papers using the Congress Paper template / submission facility and make sure to tick the appropriate field during submission to indicate that their paper should be considered for the Best Student Papers Competition.
JUDGING PROCESS
After the competition deadlines are passed, the following steps are carried out to (i) pre-select the top 10 papers, and then (ii) select the top 3 best papers, which will be announced at the Congress banquet and awarded by the Chair of the Student Paper Competition.
- The reviewers score each paper using the pre-selection rubric below (this is organized by the technical chair of each congress).
- The Chair of the CSME Student Paper Competition uses the reviewers’ scores to pick the top 10 student papers. The top 10 pre-selected students get invited to present in front of three judges (the Chair of the CSME Student Paper Competition plus two “arms-length” judges suggested by the Congress Chair).
- The top three students are then selected based on the presentation and quality of the work (see the second rubric below).
A - Pre-Selection of Best Student Papers
Each paper is scored (maximum of 100 points) using the following nine selection criteria [10 points=excellent; 9=very good; 8=good; 6=average; 4=poor; 2=very poor; 1=highly unsatisfactory]:
Content (Maximum of 60 points)
- Literature review (Max. 10 points)
- Methodology (Max. 10 points)
- Data/information sources (Max. 10 points)
- Results (Max. 20 points)
- Conclusions and implications for future research or current practice (Max. 10 points)
Substance (Maximum of 40 points)
- Degree of importance, relevance to, and innovativeness in the field of institutional research (Max. 10 points)
- Soundness of the methodology, and validity of the statistical analysis employed and the conclusions reached (Max. 10 points)
- Logical organization and writing (Max. 10 points)
- Usefulness of the information and generalizability to the field of institutional research (Max. 10 points)
B - Final Selection of Best Student Papers
Each paper is scored (maximum of 50 points) using the following 5 selection criteria [10 points=excellent; 9=very good; 8=good; 6=average; 4=poor; 2=very poor; 1=highly unsatisfactory]:
- Clarity of the presentation: (Max. 10 points)
- Presentation visuals: (Max. 10 points)
- Answering Questions: (Max. 10 points)
- Originality (Max. 10 points)
- Impact: (Max. 10 points)