Call for submissions: Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize
The Essay Prize will be awarded in association with the annual Law and Social Justice End of Year celebration.
The Essay Prize is open to students enrolled in an LLB or JD program at Sydney University. Students can submit one essay they have written in the academic year 2024 that relates to social justice (broadly defined). Essays should be modified to meet the rules below. Essays should clearly demonstrate their relevance to social justice.
Please direct any inquiries to Benjamin.mostyn@sydney.edu.au .
Rules for the competition are below.
Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize 2024: Rules
1. The Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize is open to any student enrolled in an LLB or JD degree program at Sydney Law School at the time of submission or within the previous six months.
2. Essays can be an original piece of work pertaining to the theme of social justice, or have been written for a Law unit undertaken in 2024.
3. A person may not submit more than one essay to the Competition in any given year.
4. Essays must be no more than 3000 words. Shorter essays are acceptable. Essays exceeding this word limit will not be accepted. Footnotes and a bibliography (required) are not included in the final word count.
5. Essays must be submitted as a PDF document by email to Benjamin.mostyn@sydney.edu.au.
6. The deadline for submission of essays is 5.00 pm (AEDT) on Friday 8 November 2024. No extensions will be given.
7. Essays must meet the highest standards of academic integrity and be fully and accurately referenced according to a recognised referencing standard (eg, AGLC, Harvard, MLA).
8. Each person submitting an essay must declare that the essay is the person’s own original work. By submitting an essay, a person agrees that Sydney Law School may conduct an integrity check for copyright infringement or plagiarism.
9. An essay that is submitted to the Competition must be accompanied by a separate cover page stating:
a. the author’s name, contact email and telephone number
b. a declaration of enrolment (see rule 1)
c. a declaration of time (see rule 2)
d. a declaration of integrity (see rule 8)
10. So that it can be marked anonymously, a submitted essay must not include any information – for example in a header or footer – that identifies the author.
11. Eligible essays will be anonymised and reviewed by a panel of experts against the following criteria:
1. Novelty: does the essay address a cutting-edge issue and/or contribute a novel perspective or analysis
2. Argument: is the argument clear, compelling, well-developed and supported by evidence?
3. Clarity and structure: is the essay written clearly and concisely, and organised in a logical and effective way?
4. Accuracy: is the essay presented neatly and legibly, with few or no content, typographical, grammatical and referencing errors?
12. The best essay will be announced at the Law and Social Justice End of Year celebration. The decision of the judging panel is final.
13. The judging panel may in its discretion decline to declare a best essay and award a prize.
14. Subject to rule 13, the author of the best essay will receive a prize of AUD$1000.
15. The author of the winning essay will be offered academic support and advice to revise their work for submission for publication.
16. The author of the best winning agrees that if their essay is published (by any means, in any forum), that its publication will be accompanied by an acknowledgment that the essay won the Prize in the relevant year.
