Research Committees

Early Stage Family Scholar Award

Established in 2010. 

For the 2023 edition, please submit your paper to the Award coordinator Bahira Trask bstrask@udel.edu. Deadline: April 1, 2023

Early Stage Family Scholar Award to support participation in ISA World Congress and Seminars has been instituted in 2010 by the Research Committee on Family Research (RC06 CFR) of the International Sociological Association.

Eligibility

Early stage scholars include graduate students currently completing a PhD degree or recent recipients of the PhD in sociology or in a related discipline. Scholars with equivalent graduate degrees are also eligible. Recent recipients of the PhD must have earned the degree within the 3 years prior to dates of the World Congress or CFR Seminar. In case of joint or multiple authors, this rule applies to all authors of the submitted paper. Early stage scholars candidates must be members of CFR.

Award

A participation grant may be awarded to an early stage family scholar who is judged to have authored the best original paper accepted for presentation at the World Congress or CFR Seminar. Early Stage scholars must submit completed papers at least six months before the World Congress or CFR Seminar to allow adequate time for evaluation. Amount awarded will not exceed US$1,000 and must be used to cover travel and conference expenses. When the paper has more than one author, the amount may be used by the first author or shared among the authors.

Submitting a paper

Candidates must submit an original paper that has not been previously published, accepted for publication, or presented elsewhere. The paper should not contain more than 6,000 words not counting references, notes, tables, and figures. The paper must be typewritten, double spaced, on one side of the paper with margins of 3 cm or 1 inch, and the pages numbered. References, notes, tables, and figures should appear at the end of the paper in that order. For each table and figure, insert a location note (i.e., Table 1 about here) in the text of the paper. Style should follow the Journal of Comparative Family Studies’ guidelines. Papers not conforming to these rules run the risk of being rejected. Papers must be written in English or an English translation provided. An electronic version as either a .doc or .pdf file should be e-mailed as an attachment to the RC06 secretary. Include “early stage family scholar paper” in the subject line of your message. The paper must be received at least six months before the World Congress or CFR Seminar. To remain anonymous during the evaluation process, authors should not put their name on the paper itself but include a separate title page with their family name (capital letters), first name, sex, date of birth, first language or mother tongue, degrees awarded and dates completed, address where they can be reached, and their present occupation (or this information can be put in the text of an e-mail message). When the paper has more than one author, the contributions by each author should be noted. An electronic acknowledgement of submissions will be provided.

Evaluation process to determine the recipient

Papers will be evaluated according to perceptiveness with which issues are treated, the quality of materials presented, the consistency with which an analytic framework is used, the originality of ideas, and the clarity of style. At least three CFR members will be appointed by the President in consultation with the Board to serve as referees to determine the winner. One member of the Board will serve as the Coordinator of the process. Papers will be judged anonymously and the recommendations will be presented by the Coordinator to the President and Board for final approval. The CFR Referees, President, and Board reserve the right not to select a winner.

Publication of the paper

The winning paper may be nominated by the CFR Referees, President, and Board for consideration for publication in the Journal of Comparative Family Studies (JCFS). The editor of JCFS will decide if further review is needed and make the final decision on acceptance of the paper for publication.