AOAC Awards Program Policy Documents 4/2020

AOAC INTERNATIONAL POLICY ON ADMINISTRATION OF BEST MANUSCRIPT AWARD TO AUTHORS Background

The subgroup of the Editorial Board on Best Manuscript Award to Authors recommended and the Editorial Board concurred with the establishment of a Best Manuscript Award to Authors award. A formal recommendation is hereby being made to the Board of Directors to establish the award, with the first award to be presented for the best manuscript, of all original research published in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL in the 2018 calendar year, at the awards ceremony during the opening session at the 2019 annual meeting. The award would be presented to the best manuscript’s corresponding author, or their designee. The following policy states the purpose, criteria and procedures for awarding the Best Manuscript Award to Authors award. Policy I. Purpose The purpose of the Best Manuscript Award to Authors award is to recognize the most outstanding original and creative journal article published in the peer reviewed Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL in the calendar year and to promote and to improve the Journal’s visibility and encourage other quality submissions of basic and applied research in the analytical sciences, within the Journal’s scope, as determined by the Editorial Board. II. Criteria A. Candidate papers must be peer reviewed, original research papers published in the Journal within the calendar year of the award. B. Candidate papers must be judged to have outstanding overall scientific merit; study design, writing quality; technical quality; and potential impact of the work in advancing the field of analytical science, especially human health, and the mission of AOAC. C. Candidate papers must be innovative and have an influence that can go beyond what is expected of the average paper, with a high impact in the scientific literature. Note: Review articles and short communications do not qualify for the award. Papers under consideration from Special Guest Editor Sections should be submitted to additional peer review from the Section Editor and one additional reviewer.