The NAAFE 2025 La Jolla Best Student Paper Award, sponsored by NOAA, recognizes the most outstanding paper presented by a graduate student at NAAFE 2025 La Jolla. The review committee will select the best paper using criteria for refereeing papers in academic journals such as Marine Resource Economics. Selection of the winning paper will be based on creativity, originality and contribution to theory, methods and/or application. Papers may be on any aspect of the economics of fisheries or aquaculture, fisheries resource management, seafood trade and markets, fisheries or aquaculture sector development, or related topics.
A prize of $500 plus partial participant support of up to $1,500, plus free student conference registration will be awarded. The participant support may be used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other allowable travel-related costs associated with Forum participation, up to a total of $1,500. Any costs over and above the $1,500 must be covered by the student or their institution.
Paper submission will be open from ~20 Oct – 1 Dec 2024. You must have your abstract accepted for NAAFE 2025 La Jolla in order to submit a full paper for consideration for the BSP Award. Early-bird abstract submission will be open from 1 Sept to 1 Oct 2024.
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Important Dates for NAAFE 2025 Best Student Paper Award (all dates are approximate)
1 Sept – 1 Oct 2024: Submit your abstract for presentation at NAAFE 2025 La Jolla.
by 26 Oct 2024: BSP authors notified of abstract acceptance.
27 Oct – 1 Dec 2024: Submit your full paper for consideration for the NAAFE 2025 Best Student Paper Award.
2 Dec 2024 -15 Jan 2025: Paper review period.
~21 Jan 2025: BSP Award winner selected.
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*Students can opt in for one or both of the student awards (Best Student Paper and Best Student Presentation), as long as they meet the eligibility requirements for each award.
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Your paper must adhere to the Formatting Rules. In order to ensure a fair and “blind” review, please send two (2) separate pdf files as described below.
A letter of attestation must be sent by the student’s major professor to the NAAFE Business Office ([email protected]). This letter must:
1) attest to the applicant’s student status, and
2) indicate that the student is the primary author of the work, and is primarily responsible for the intellectual content of the paper.
The letter of attestation is not intended to serve as a recommendation for the paper or for the student. It will not be provided to the review committee. Students may submit a paper that has already been published provided that it was published less than one year prior to the start date of the NAAFE Forum to which it is being submitted (i.e., 24 March 2025) and provided that the paper has not already been presented at a previous NAAFE Forum or IIFET Conference.
Please note: no additional letter of reference is required; please do not send any.
Your major professor or department chair must include the following language in the attestation letter, and sign and date the document:
'I attest to the fact that {student’s name} is currently a student at {name of department and University}, or graduated after 21 January 2023, and that {student’s name} is the primary author of the paper {title of paper}. "Primary author" means that {student’s name} is primarily responsible for the intellectual work in the paper, and that the paper reflects her/his own research, analysis, and writing.'
Please do not submit a paper for consideration unless your abstract has been accepted for presentation at NAAFE 2025 La Jolla. We will only review papers that are formatted in accordance with Best Student Paper formatting guidelines. Papers which do not meet the requirements, especially in terms of length, will not be relayed to the committee for review. If you have questions, please consult with [email protected] well before the submission deadline.
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Maximum length: 40 pages including all tables, references and other materials
Margins: 1 inch (3 cm) all around
Font: Times New Roman, 11 points or larger
Language of all text: English
Spacing: Double space
Paper size: 8.5x11” or A4
References: Any format commonly accepted in journals
Numbering: Number all pages consecutively
Footnotes or endnotes: Either is acceptable
Placement of tables and graphs: Your choice
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Review and Award Process
The file described in item 2 in Paper Submission above will be transferred to the Chair of the Best Student Paper Selection Committee, for a double-blind review process. The award winner will be selected by approximately 21 January 2025; the results will be shared with all applicants for this prize by the NAAFE Secretariat via email soon after that date. The winners' name(s) will be printed in the conference program and announced during the conference. Please note that the prize winner is required to attend the conference and present her/his/their own paper there.
The winner will receive USD $500 (cash or check) and an award certificate at a prize ceremony at NAAFE 2025 La Jolla. Attendance of the ceremony is mandatory.
Travel support in the amount up to USD $1,500 will be provided by the NAAFE Secretariat (funded by US NOAA Fisheries). NAAFE can provide you with an air ticket through our travel agent, pay for your lodging, and/or provide you with money for food and related travel expenses, up to USD $1,500. In addition to your participant support of up to USD $1,500, the Best Student Paper Prize winner will receive free conference registration (this will provide some meals). You will need to comply with the travel procedures of Oregon State University; certain limits will apply. NAAFE Executive Director Kat Goetting will provide further detailed information to the winner.
Note: Any expenses in excess of USD $1,500 must be covered by the prize winner or her/his/their institution.
The Selection Committee may, if appropriate, elect to award honorable mentions. Honorable mention winners will receive a certificate at the award ceremony during the conference. No financial award or participants support is associated with an honorable mention.
Prize-winning authors, like all authors presenting work at NAAFE conferences, are highly encouraged to submit their papers for inclusion in the online conference proceedings, following the conference. However, if the paper has been, or will be, submitted to a journal or other publication which would consider the papers inclusion in conference proceedings to constitute “prior publication”, authors may choose not to submit the full paper; they may submit a shortened version or an extended abstract instead. Authors are encouraged to discuss their options with [email protected].