91´«Ã½

The Library Research Round Table of the 91´«Ã½ announces the 2025 Jesse H. Shera Award for the Support of Dissertation Research. This award provides recognition for proposed dissertation research employing exemplary research design and methods. The deadline for submitting entries is December 20, 2024. The LRRT Shera Award Committee will judge the entries for the competition. The decision of the Committee will be announced by the LRRT Steering Committee Chair prior to the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference.

Guidelines

1. The award is restricted to research designs that have been approved by the doctoral candidate’s dissertation committee and that are about to be employed or are in the initial stage of use. Completed research is not eligible for consideration.
2. Any research design is acceptable, but the topic of the research must relate in at least a general way to library and information studies.
3. Candidates should submit a two-part paper based on their approved dissertation proposal:
   o A brief problem statement not to exceed 500 words.
   o A summary of the design/methodology portion of their dissertation proposal, not to exceed 2,500 words
   o A brief statement from the dissertation committee chair, supporting and approving the research.
4. Candidates for this award need not be LRRT members.

5. Papers will be evaluated in a double-blind, peer review process, on the basis of the following criteria:
   o Clarity of the research design.
   o The appropriateness of the design and method(s) for the research problem.
   o Adequacy of the description of the methodological procedures
   o The inclusion of definitions of important terms where needed.
   o The adequacy of the data collection instrument(s) or technique(s).
   o Appropriateness of the proposed data analysis for the research problem and methods.
   o Innovation of the research design.

6. The winner of the award will receive a Certificate and $250.

To submit a paper for the 2025 competition, upload 2 copies (one omitting your name, institution or any other identifying information) in PDF format:

View list of previous Shera Award winners