Graduate Student Paper Session and Paper of Distinction Award

2024 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 17

The Mid-South Sociological Association, Inc. has opened the Graduate Student Paper Session of the 2024 annual conference, and, invites graduate students to submit papers and to consider participation in the Paper of Distinction Award Competition, as well.

Both the session and competition are open to graduate students whether or not they are current members of the Mid-South Sociological Association, Inc. and whose research reflects the highest level of originality and significant potential for contribution to the discipline of sociology. Students presenting papers in the session may opt out of consideration for the Paper of Distinction Award if they wish or if their research does not meet criteria for student only research, and still present a paper in the Graduate Student Paper Session. Students wishing to participate in the Graduate Student Paper Session are required to submit an abstract of their paper. Student’s competing for the Paper of Distinction Award must submit their completed paper to be evaluated by a committee of teaching faculty members of the Mid-South Sociological Association, Inc.

Those graduate students whose papers are eligible for the Paper of Distinction Award will compete for merit and prize of $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place. The author(s) of the paper selected as the Paper of Distinction, must participate in and present their paper at the 50th Annual MSSA Conference of the Mid-South Sociological Association Inc. in Nashville, TN.

Graduate Student Paper Session Process

Students interested in participating in this session should submit an abstract of their research to MSSA, Inc. Vice President Dr. Jessica Pardee (jwpgss@rit.edu). Students will be grouped in a session with other graduate student presenters. Students presenting in this session will receive feedback from the Graduate Student Paper Committee.

 

Graduate Paper of Distinction Award Process

Papers may be submitted directly by the graduate student or nominated by faculty, accompanied by a cover letter requesting consideration for the Graduate Student Paper of Distinction Award and assuring that the paper will be completed by May 17, in order to be reviewed by the committee. The letter must include the title of the paper, author(s) of the paper, the school affiliation, telephone number, and email address of the author(s).

The maximum length of an eligible paper shall be 25 double-spaced pages of text, not counting abstract, references, tables, and figures.

Papers may be co-authored with a maximum of three graduate student authors and may not include faculty.

Papers must not have been submitted for publication prior to submission for this competition.

Papers submitted for the award will be evaluated by a committee of academic scholars and members of Mid-South Sociological Association Inc. Evaluation will be based on originality and contribution or potential contribution to the discipline, and scored on the following elements:

  • Thesis Statement/Main Idea/Research Question
  • Sociological Theory Foundation
  • Organizational Structure and Coherence
  • Literature Review
  • Research Methods (as appropriate)
  • Trustworthiness
  • Use of Relevant Evidence
  • Findings
  • Citations
  • Technical writing

Abstracts and papers should be submitted as a Word or PDF document by email to: MSSA Vice President Dr. Jessica Pardee (jwpgss@rit.edu).

If you have any questions regarding the competition, please feel free to contact Dr. Pardee at the email address above.

Students are strongly encouraged to seek faculty guidance prior to submission of papers.

It is the responsibility of the submitter to provide a paper that is readable, in one of the formats noted above.

 

_____
Contact MSSA:
Theresa Davidson, President
tcdavids@samford.edu