Annually, PSSN recognizes authors/ researchers of the nature studies with high quality through paper competition. It has already awarded more than 100 papers in the last 23 years. PSSN is inviting researchers to submit their research papers for the 2024 Best Paper Competition. Cash prizes and award citation will be given to all winners. Participating author/s should send copy of their full paper to the secretariat@pssnonline.org with "Competing Paper" as the subject of the email.

Mechanics of the competition

1. Participating author/s should send a copy of their full paper to the secretariat@pssnonline.org with “competing paper” as the subject of the email.

2. The submission of entries shall indicate that the author/s are declaring that the papers are original and have no conflict of business interest.

3. Submitted papers should not have been submitted, reviewed, or accepted for publication in any peer-reviewed journal at the time of submission.

4. The entry should be typed in double space and saved as word document.

5. The entry should contain a title (limit of 15 words), author/s’ name/s, author/s’ affiliation, abstract (limit of 200 words), keywords (limit of 5 keywords), Introduction, Objectives, Framework (if applicable), Methods or Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion (and Recommendations, if applicable), Acknowledgement (if any), and Literature Cited (APA style).

6. Only one entry per author/s will be considered in the competition. PSSN reserves the right to reject any second entry.

7. Submitted entries will be pre-screened or pre-evaluated by the Best Paper Award Committee.

8. The finalists shall present their papers during the first day of the conference proper; otherwise they will be disqualified.

9. Non-finalists will be presented in the regular paper presentation schedules.

10. Members of the Best Paper Award Committee shall not join the competition.

11. For the final judging, the criteria for selection of the Best Oral Paper shall be as follows:

                                      Contribution to the main theme  – 40%

                                        Completeness of the parts     – 30%

(intro, framework, Methods, results discussion and conclusion) 

                                        Practicability  – 20%

                                        Clarity of presentation  – 10%

12. The decision of the committee is final and shall be respected. The committee shall not entertain questions regarding the selection of the winners.

Poster Paper Competition

Mechanics of the Competition

1.      A poster paper submitted for presentation in the conference will automatically become an entry for the competition.

2.      The paper should follow the official format for presentation. (See format below)

3.      The submission of entries shall indicate that the author/s are declaring that the papers are original and have no conflict of business interest.

4.      Submitted papers should not have been submitted, reviewed, or accepted for publication in any peer-reviewed journal at the time of submission.

5.      The entry should contain a title (limit of 15 words), author/s’ name/s, author/s’ affiliation, abstract (limit of 200 words), keywords (limit of 5 keywords), Introduction, Objectives, Framework (if applicable), Methods or Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion (and Recommendations, if applicable), Acknowledgement (if any), and Literature Cited.

6.      Only one entry per author/s will be considered in the competition. PSSN reserves the right to choose an entry for the competition in case of multiple poster papers submission of the same author/s.

7.      The criteria for the screening will be as follows:

Contribution to the body of knowledge - 25%

Relevance to the Theme - 25%

Organization - 25%

Over-all presentation – 25%

8.      Only one paper will be selected as the winner.

9.      Members of the Best Poster Paper Award Committee shall not join the competition.

10.  The decision of the committee is final and shall be respected. The committee shall not entertain questions regarding the selection of the winners. 

Poster Paper Format

1.      Size: The whole poster should fit into a 30" by 40" (76 cm x 102 cm) sheet or board, laid in portrait.

2.      Title of poster. All caps and centered, except for scientific names that should be written in italics. Use letters equivalent to 72 points (about 2 cm) for the main title and 40 points (less than 1 cm) for the subtitle. The size of the footnote should be legible within 1 meter distance. 

3.      Author's or authors' name/s. should be in full, all caps and centered. Use 40 points. Affiliation/address should be written in caps and lower case, italics and centered.

4.      Abstract: Limit abstract to 200 words, and should have keywords.

5.      Text. Use type letters that are legible. Use simple typeface. Use upper and lower case standard letters. Use no more than 2 colors. Good color combinations are black on white, black on yellow, black on pink, dark red on white, dark blue on white, and dark blue on yellow. The best is a dark type on a light background because it is easiest to read.

6.      Illustrations, Tables, Graphs, & Photographs. Should be 5" x 7" (12.5 cm x 18 cm). Labels and captions on illustrations should be readable within two meters.