Well, let me introduce you to the Doreen and Jim McElvany 2008 Nonproliferation Challenge Essay Contest:
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and
The Nonproliferation Review are pleased to announce the
Doreen and Jim McElvany
2008 Nonproliferation Challenge Essay Contest
Grand Prize: $10,000*
Outstanding Student Essay Prize: $1,000
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies strives to combat the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to state and non-state actors by training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and disseminating timely information based on cutting-edge research and analysis.
In an effort to spur new scholarship and policy initiatives to address today’s vexing proliferation problems, CNS and its journal, The Nonproliferation Review, are launching an essay contest. The contest is designed to find and publish the most outstanding new papers in the nonproliferation field. Although we will not exclude essays with a historical orientation (if they provide guidance for current or future policy), our priority is to generate new insights and recommendations for resolving contemporary nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons challenges, including those involving both state and non-state actors.
Eligibility: This contest is open to persons worldwide, except for current faculty, staff, interns, and students of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, members of The Nonproliferation Review editorial board, and anyone involved in reviewing or judging submissions. To be eligible for the student prize, an entrant must be enrolled at a college or university at the time of submission. A team of authors comprising one or more students and non-students is not eligible for the student prize.
*Students are eligible for the grand prize.
How to Enter: On or before March 31, 2008, e-mail your entry to essaycontest[at]miis.edu. A valid entry consists of two parts: (1) a completed official cover sheet [Word DOC] indicating the name(s) of the author(s), address, telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), indication of status as a student at the time of entry (yes or no, undergraduate or graduate), date of birth, title of the submission, and a one paragraph biography of the author(s) (the cover sheet is the only place where this information should appear); and (2), the submitted essay.
Submission guidelines: Entries should not exceed 10,000 words (including endnotes), or approximately 40 double-spaced pages. All entries must be the original, unpublished work of the author(s) and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All entries must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document and must conform to The Nonproliferation Review’s style guidelines. Potential entrants are strongly encouraged to review recently published articles in The Nonproliferation Review to become familiar with our style and format, as well as recent scholarship in this area. To preserve anonymity, self-referential endnotes and excessive citation of one’s own work are discouraged. Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be considered.
Submission deadline: 11:59 PM (Eastern time, North America), March 31, 2008
Judging: Upon receipt, all submissions will be logged, acknowledged via e-mail, and assigned a unique entry number that will replace the cover sheet for identification purposes. Anonymized submissions will then be forwarded to The Nonproliferation Review’s editors for screening to ensure compliance with all contest rules. Submissions that do not comply with the rules will not be considered.
Once all submissions have been logged and screened, they will be forwarded to the judging panel, comprised of selected members of the CNS staff, the Review editorial board, and other experts in the field. A list of the judges will be posted on the contest web site after the winners have been announced. Judging will be based equally on the following criteria: originality, creativity, adherence to the theme, feasibility of recommendations, and writing quality. CNS reserves the right to choose fewer than two winners if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries. Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this contest.
Winner notification: Winners will be notified by telephone, mail, and/or e-mail on or before June 30, 2008. If a winner cannot be contacted within 14 days of the initial attempt, CNS reserves the right to disqualify the designated winner and award the prize to a runner-up selected by the judges. Information about the winning entries will be posted on the contest web site on or before June 30, 2008.
Prizes: One Grand Prize of $10,000 will be awarded to the author(s) of the best paper from all entries, as determined by the panel of judges. After the Grand Prize winner is selected, non-student entries, which will not be identified to the judges as such until this stage, will be set aside and the judges will select the best overall student essay (or the second best, if a student submission wins the Grand Prize) for the $1,000 Outstanding Student Essay Prize. In the case of an entry with multiple authors, the prize will be divided equally between the authors. The winning papers will become the property of CNS and may be published in a future issue of The Nonproliferation Review, which will have sole discretion over the manner and timing of publication. Any and all federal, state, and local taxes on a prize, and any other costs, fees, and expenses associated with the acceptance and use of a prize are the sole responsibility of the winners.
Ownership/Use: All submissions shall become the property of CNS and The Nonproliferation Review for a period not to exceed six months from the submission deadline of March 31, 2008. All rights will revert to the author(s) by that date or upon receipt of a letter from The Nonproliferation Review releasing such rights, whichever comes first.
General/Legal: By participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these rules and the decisions of CNS and the judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this contest; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless CNS, and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the contest or any contest-related activity, the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) or Released Parties’ use of any of the rights granted herein; and © to the use of his/her name, city, state, and country of residence, essay and/or likeness for advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the internet, and in perpetuity by CNS and its designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.
Released Parties are not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, inaccurate, illegible, undeliverable, delayed, or destroyed entries or mail; or for any computer, network, mechanical, typographical, printing, human or other error or difficulty relating to or in connection with this contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any contest-related materials. Released Parties are not responsible for entries that are transmitted late or incorrectly or are lost or misdirected for any reason including computer, telephone, paper transfer, human or other error; or for electronic, computer, or telephone malfunction or error, including inability to access any web site associated with the contest or to process any submission thereon. CNS reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel, modify or suspend any portion of the contest should causes beyond its control corrupt the administration or security of the contest.
Questions or comments: E-mail The Nonproliferation Review editor Stephen Schwartz at Stephen.Schwartz[at]miis.edu.
Comment [13]
Blog Posts
Get E-mail Updates