Award for Exemplary Student Research

Purpose

The Award for Exemplary Student Research encourages students to focus on practical skills and to refine their research abilities beyond ordinary proficiency to achieve their personal best. The award also serves as a means to showcase extraordinary student research.

Eligibility

To be eligible to win, applicants must:

Be of current 2L (JD), 3L (JD), MLS or LLM status at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Have completed a scholarly research paper in the time period spanning June 2024– March 2025.

Awards

First Place - $500.00
Second Place - $250.00

Requirements

Submissions may be, but are not limited to, papers written for a class or as a journal note. Work product from summer or other employment, Moot Court, or an Advanced Legal Research course will not be accepted.

Submissions must include:

The author’s name, law school year, degree anticipated, and contact information.
A 250-500 word description of the research process. Topics that can be addressed include the purpose for writing the paper, the development of the research question, selection of the research methods, the research steps undertaken, and any lessons learned from the research process. Please do not summarize the content of the paper.

Other requirements:

Minimum 3,750 words
Bluebook format

Application Procedure

Applications must be submitted electronically via the online Submission Form. Submissions will be accepted on an ongoing basis until Monday, March 24, 2025 at 9:00am.

Selection Criteria

A panel composed of two Law Librarians and one Legal Writing Instructor will judge submissions based on how well they demonstrate the following:

Sophistication, originality, or unusual depth or breadth in the use of research materials, including, but not limited to, print resources, electronic search engines and databases, primary and secondary legal resources, interdisciplinary resources, and empirical resources
Exceptional innovation in research strategy, including the ability to locate, select, and evaluate research materials with discretion
Skillful synthesis of research results into a comprehensive scholarly analysis

The Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research is given at the discretion of the panel of judges and is not necessarily awarded every year.

Funding

Funding for the Ross-Blakley Law Library Award for Exemplary Student Research will be provided by the Law Library.

List of past winners: Ross-Blakley Award for Exemplary Student Research Winners