The Northwest Anthropological Association, in partnership with the Journal of Northwest Anthropology (JONA), will be hosting the annual student paper competition at the 2025 Northwest Anthropological Conference (NWAC). To be eligible for the student paper competition you must present your paper at the 2025 NWAC; and the paper must have been written while enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate program.

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Prizes & Publication

Winners and runners up will receive a cash prize and their papers will be published in the Journal of Northwest Anthropology (JONA) in the fall of 2025. If the author wishes, their paper may go through the JONA peer review process so that it can be considered a “peer-reviewed” publication. All 2025 NWAC papers are eligible for submission to the 2025 NWAC Proceedings regardless of placing in the student paper competition. Indigenous scholars will compete in both the applicable Undergraduate/Graduate categories, as well as the Indigenous Scholar category, and may win two prizes.

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• Indigenous Scholar, Winner $500

• Indigenous Scholar, Runner Up $250

• Graduate, Winner $500

• Graduate, Runner Up $250

• Undergraduate, Winner $500

• Undergraduate, Runner Up $250

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Abstract Submission Deadline

Contestants must register for the conference and submit their abstract through SfAA by October 31st, 2024. Remember, Tribal Registration is free and students receive discounted rates. Daily rates are available.

Contestants may be submitting their abstract for a general session or as part of an invited session. Please see our FAQs if you have questions about the format of NWAC this year: https://www.nwaconference.com/nwac2025.

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Paper Deadline

The paper must be submitted for the competition by 23:59 PST on Monday, February 17th 2025. Mark your calendar! We will send an update when the paper submission process is open. All you have to worry about right now is getting registered and submitting your abstract to SfAA.

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Contest & Manuscript Guidelines

1. The subject of the paper must concern anthropological research in northwestern North America. The student does not have to be affiliated with a university located in the Northwest.

2. The contestant will be the sole author of the paper.

3. One submission is allowed per contestant.

4. The paper must not have been submitted for the NWAC student paper competition previously.

5. The paper must have been submitted for coursework as a student between January 2023 and February 2025.

6. Manuscripts are not to exceed 7,000 words.

7. Manuscripts should be prepared following the JONA Style Guide format. Figures and tables should be inserted immediately following their respective callouts in the article.

8. Manuscripts must be submitted in both PDF and DOCX formats.

9. The paper must be presented (in either poster or presentation format) at the 2025 NWAC/SfAA.

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Paper Categories

The Undergraduate category is open to papers that were prepared as an undergraduate student. The Graduate category is open to papers that were prepared as a graduate student. The Indigenous Scholar category is open to students who are members of an Indigenous community of the western hemisphere.  

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Submit Your Manuscript

NWAA is not yet accepting the manuscripts. Please sign up for the NWAA emails and watch our website and social media for the announcement soon.

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Judge Panel

NWAC Student Paper Competition judges are anonymous. The 2025 judge panel is comprised of 6 Indigenous anthropologists, and 1 JONA staff member who will serve as the 2025 student paper coordinator. Three judges will score each of the undergraduate paper submissions, and another three judges will score each of the graduate paper submissions. Contact nwaconf@gmail.com to volunteer as a judge.

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Judging Process

Submissions will be judged anonymously, with the competition administered by the 2025 NWAC student paper coordinator who will ensure that names and affiliations are removed from papers prior to distribution. Prior to distribution to judges, the papers will be screened for meeting the competition guidelines, and meeting JONA guidelines and formatting. The coordinator will tally results of the judging.

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2025 Judging Criteria

Each paper will be ranked by three judges, scoring between 0 to 1pt per criterion (does not meet to exceeds).

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