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The Canadian Population Society is pleased to welcome students of demography into it's membership, with full voting, subscribing & presenting privileges. In addition, the CPS shows it's commitment to student by having a Student Representative on the CPS Council and offering an annual Award for the best paper presentation to the Conference. See also Job Postings & Curriculum Vitae Board.

Annual Student Paper Competition

• Eligibility Criteria
• Evaluation Criteria
• Award Details
• Deadlines for This Year's Award
• Past Winners
• Congress Details

Eligibility Criteria

An annual competition held by the CPS for the best paper prepared by student(s), for the regular or poster session. The winner will present the paper at the annual CPS conference.

To be eligible for the competition, the following criteria apply:

1. CPS member(s) enrolled in a graduate program in any university in Canada or abroad.
2. Abstract of the paper must be received by the Student Paper Competition Chair no later than the deadline for abstract submission and be accepted for presentation at the meetings.
3. Paper must deal with a population-related topic, and should be written in English and be within 25 pages in total.
4. Paper should be solely the work of the participating student or students. Co-authored paper with non-student will be excluded.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Quality of research (20 points)
   Consider structure and direction of literature review; grounding of research problem in previous research. Does the student provide a compelling reason for this research, and are these reasons documented in the paper?
2. Theory and theory building (20 points)
   Consider sophistication of explanations, hypotheses and competing theories. Does the student blindly follow the theory, or is the theory revised and improved by the students own insights?
3. Methodology (20 points)
   Consider sophistication of research techniques, statistical analyses, presentation and understanding of results. Does the student interpret the results in a meaningful manner?
4. Results and conclusions (20 points)
   Consider the linkage between the theory, methods and results. Does the student blindly follow the theory and ignore alternate results? Does the student ground the results in real world applications? Does the student consider the relevance of the research in a broader sense?
5. Overall value of the paper (20 points)
   Consider the contribution of the paper to its intended audience and prior research; also, to the field of demography, and to broader social issues. Has the student provided a compelling reason for doing this research and has the student addressed the questions their work raised?

Award Details

1. A $500 cash prize, discount airfare travel costs to the Canadian Population Society annual meetings, and 3 nights' accommodation will be awarded to the winner.
2. Students who enter the competition with quality paper and meet the criteria will be awarded a one-year CPS membership.

Deadlines

Student papers are held to all the regular paper submission deadlines. Refer to the call for abstracts and details of this year's conference.

Paper submissions will be accepted by mail, courier, fax, or e-mail attachment (MS Word preferred).