Mathematical Geosciences Best Paper Award

Click here for list of Recipients of the Mathematical Geosciences Best Paper Award

A. Description

The idea to honor the best contributors to our journals was approved by the General Assembly, meeting in Sydney, August 24, 1976, the same assembly that approved the creation of the Krumbein Medal. The Best Paper Award is a certificate signed by the President and the Secretary General that is presented individually to each one of the authors of the best paper. In addition, each author receives a free subscription for one year to the journal that published the best paper.

B. Supporting By-Laws

5. The Editors-in-Chief of the IAMG journals, in consultation with the Council, shall be empowered to appoint one (1) Deputy Editor, up to ten (10) Associate Editors, and up to thirty (30) other Editorial Board members.17. Each IAMG journal may select every year the most outstanding paper. Selection of Best Paper shall be made by a committee appointed by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief from members of the journal’s editorial board and the Association at large. Each selection committee shall consist of at least five members. The President shall serve as an ex officio member of the committee. Awards for best papers shall be recognized in an appropriate fashion.

C. Guidelines for Mathematical Geosciences

1. The Selection Committee normally includes the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Associate and Assistant Editors, and Book Review Editor. The Editor-in-Chief may invite others to serve on the committee, if this seems desirable. The Chairperson of the committee shall be on a rotating basis from amongst the members, as decided by the Editor-in-Chief. Selection of the Best Paper for a particular year shall normally be carried out during the first six months of the following year.
2. Members of the selection committee shall review each paper presented in the volume under consideration, and select three papers deemed suitable for the award. The chairperson may require that the selections be ranked in order of preference.
3. Paper selection is performed using the following three criteria:
   1. Innovation: The paper represents a significant advance by introducing a new concept or method with important applications, or a breakthrough on a long-standing problem.
   2. Exposition: The paper is well written, clearly illustrated, and referenced comprehensively.
   3. Impact: The paper has the potential to be widely cited in the literature.
4. The chairperson makes a list of selected papers, including the number of committee members who selected each. The paper with the most selections is the winner. In the event of a tie, or if in the judgement of the committee chairperson there is no clear winner, the list is circulated to the committee for a second round.
5. If the chairperson decides to have a second round, each selected paper is scored by the committee members. Each of the three criteria listed in (3) is evaluated on a scale of 1 to 3 (1=fair, 2=good, 3=outstanding).
6. The chairperson selects the winner with the largest aggregate score.
7. The winner is announced in the first available IAMG Newsletter, an issue of Mathematical Geosciences, and on the IAMG web page.

D. Mathematical Geosciences Best Paper Award Recipients