Nash History Journal Prize

Scholarship Information

Phi Alpha Theta invites all chapters to enter their student history journal into competition for the following prizes:

PRINT JOURNALS

Categories:

  1. Universities and colleges that offer graduate courses in History and/or student journals that include the work of graduate students (in any field of study) as authors, editors, etc.:
    First prize=$500, Second prize=$350, Third prize=$250
  2. Universities and colleges that do not offer graduate courses in History and/or student journals that include only the work of undergraduate students (in any field of study) as authors, editors:
    First prize=$500, Second prize=$350, Third prize=$250

For print journals, submit:

  • Five (5) copies of the journal mailed to the address below
  • A letter, from the Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor, that clearly indicates whether the institution offers graduate history courses, how many copies of the journal were published, the manner of the journal’s distribution or sale, and email contact information for the faculty advisor.

ELECTRONIC JOURNALS

Categories:

  1. Universities and colleges that offer graduate courses in History and/or student journals that include the work of graduate students (in any field of study) as authors, editors, etc.:
    First prize=$500, Second prize=$350, Third prize=$250
  2. Universities and colleges that do not offer graduate courses in History and/or student journals that include only the work of undergraduate students (in any field of study) as authors, editors:
    First prize=$500, Second prize=$350, Third prize=$250

For electronic journals, submit:

  • An email sent to jeharris@harding.edu from the Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor that clearly indicates whether the institution offers graduate history courses and/or whether graduate students (in any field) participated in the journal’s production.  This letter must also include the electronic journal’s URL and the email contact information for the faculty advisor.

Competition Rules:

  • Journals may only compete in the print OR electronic category.
  • Only publications that consist primarily of student research papers and other learned essays are eligible.
  • Papers and essays must be the work of presently matriculating students or those who have graduated within 1 year before the journal’s publication date.
  • The journal editor must be a verified member of Phi Alpha Theta. In addition, the editorial staff must include students, and a majority of the student editors must be members of Phi Alpha Theta.
  • The journal must be associated with a recognized chapter of Phi Alpha Theta and must clearly state this within the contents of the journal.
  • Each printed article should be accompanied by a short biography of the author. Formal research essays should use standard historical endnotes or footnotes.
  • Each journal will be judged not only on the basis of the scholarly merit and variety of its papers but also on the overall literary merit of all printed material and the journal’s layout and design, including the artistry of its cover.

Please note:

  • The committee encourages editors at universities to solicit and print papers of undergraduate students in introductory courses along with more polished work of advanced students.
  • The committee is particularly interested in journals containing articles, oral histories, movie reviews, book reviews, review essays, and other scholarly historical content.
  • The committee encourages chapters to publish the work of students from other institutions, but the majority of the work published should be of presently matriculating students or students who have graduated within the academic year of the journal’s publication.

All electronic journal and print journal entrants MUST fill out this form: Nash History Journal Prize Application Form

Send the required documentation to:

* The applicant is responsible for ensuring that all required documentation is received by the competition deadline. Incomplete applications or those submitted after the deadline or by individuals whose membership in Phi Alpha Theta cannot be verified will not be considered for the competition.

All materials must be postmarked by July 1, 2026.

Nash History Journal Prize

Note: In all academic work, the ideas and contributions of others must be appropriately acknowledged, and work that is presented as original must in fact BE original. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT will likely create significant breakthroughs in a wide range of fields, using an AI-content generator to produce scholarly work without proper attribution or authorization is a form of academic dishonesty. In accepting scholarly work for conference presentation, prize/award consideration or publication in the PAT newsletter or The Historian, Phi Alpha Theta expects its members to uphold the honorable standards of our Society by researching, composing and submitting their own original work. In this way, faculty and student members of Phi Alpha Theta can all share in nurturing and protecting the integrity and fairness of our Society’s intellectual enterprise. Submitting content to Phi Alpha Theta that has been generated by someone else, or was created or assisted by a computer application such as ChatGPT, will result in immediate disqualification from conference, award or publication consideration.

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