Step 2: Prepare Your Entry
Submitting your top graded coursework means that you have already done the hard work.
However, to ensure your entry passes our screening process and reaches the judges there are a few simple but important steps to follow.
Firstly, you will need to make sure that your submission choice meets the required word count for your category. Next, summarise your work into a clear and concise Abstract or Artists Statement. Finally, anonymise your entry by removing any personal information or identifying details. Help on these areas are below.
Once you have prepared your entry, you’re ready for Stage 3: Register & Submit.
Prepare your entry with these helpful hints
Check Your Word Count
Word Count Limits
For entry uploads, the word count must be between 2,500-5,000 words, with the exception of the following categories, which can be up to 12,000 words long:
- Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Computer Science
- Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Engineering
- Life Sciences
- Mathematics & Physics
- Medical Sciences
- Mass Communications
The screening process does have an allowance for entries that are slightly over the word count for your chosen category BUT you should consider options listed on the Appendix to help with this.
In general if the word count is over the maximum it can be disqualified.
Papers with a word count below the minimum of 2,500 words will be disqualified.
The word count requirements for our portfolio-based categories, Visual Arts and Architecture & Design, are a bit different. Entrants in these categories submit an Artists Statement between 300 – 1,500 words, explaining their work, and submit up to a maximum of 10 images/slides.
You may make edits to your coursework after you receive your grade in order to improve it upon consultation and approval from your supervisor. This revised entry must still meet our Grade Requirements.
Word Count Guidelines
The following elements DO contribute to the word count:
- Footnotes
- In-text citations
- Image/figure captions
The following elements DO NOT contribute to the word count:
- Abstract
- Appendices
- Bibliography or works cited pages
- Submission title
- Table of contents
- List of abbreviations
- Tables of figures
- Reproduction of Code/Programming
Abstract/Artists Statement Word Count
- Abstracts must be between 100-300 words in length.
- Artists Statements must be between 300 – 1,500 words in length.
The online submission form word counts this section automatically and the limits must be observed to proceed.
Appendix
If you have a small additional pieces of information that are pushing your entry over the word count, you are allowed to place it in the appendix and refer to it in your entry.
It is important for entrants to note that the appendix should ONLY contain information or material supporting the body of the entry, as opposed to introducing any new information.
Writing Your Abstract or Artists Statement
Your abstract/artists statement is a short and concise overview to give the GUA Judges a sense of what your entry is about.
General Requirements
- Abstract Word Count: 100 – 300 words.
- Artists Statement Word Count: 300 – 1,500 words.
- All GUA anonymity requirements apply.
You should consider the following:
Your Motivation- Why did you undertake this research?
- Why is it important or interesting?
- What different methods of research did you use?
- Was it a close-reading, a literature review, a long-term lab experiment, a survey etc.
- What were the conclusions that you drew from your research?
- What happened in your experiment or what argument seemed to stand up to your investigation?
Important Information
During Stage One of the GUA Judging Process, the Judges will only look at your abstract/artists statement, so make sure you take a few minutes and try to impress them!
DO
- Start with the most interesting information – an exciting first line will ensure that judges will read the full paper.
- Use the same chronological order as your paper – this will make your paper easier to follow.
- Use clear, concise language – Judges will be reading a lot of abstracts. Simple and strong statements will stand out.
- Use personal or emotive language – your abstract is still a piece of academic writing.
- Include definitions of terms – your abstract is short, you can include this information in your entry.
- Include references or citations.
- Include information not in your submission – your abstract is a summary of your coursework, not an extension of it.
Anonymise Your Entry
It is very important that your entry upload does not include any personal details or details of your institution.
Failure to remove this information will result in disqualification.
Before you submit your entry, please make sure to remove the following details from your entry upload. You can use the CMD/CTRL + F function to find this information quickly.
- Your name
- Your photograph
- Your supervisor’s name – including where it is mentioned in citations
- Your university’s name, nickname, initial, photo, and logo
- Your student number
- Your module or course name and code
You should either delete this information, or replace it with an X or a short note such as “this citation has been redacted for anonymity.”
It is recommended that you do not drag black boxes over the details, as sometimes these elements disappear when you highlight them, revealing the information.
Please take particular care with the following:
- When referencing online articles via your institution library or website, please redact the name or initial of your institution i.e. www.oed.library.proxy- exclude entirely or redact names.
- Headers and/or footers
- Ethic statements & declarations – remove institution name.
- File name
Interviews
- When citing interviews you carried out ensure you write “conducted by the author” or similar instead of citing your name.
- If referencing your supervisor, remember to redact the institution and your supervisor’s name.
We understand that these redactions may make your work seem improperly cited, however, our judges will understand that this has been done for the purposes of anonymity and will not penalise you. If your work is awarded and you wish it to be published in our online journal you can replace this information afterwards.
We do not require entrants to redact: names of cities, countries, areas, geographic features, hospitals, schools, etc.
The Global Undergraduate Awards prides itself on eliminating bias from the GUA Judging Process it is for this reason that the GUA requires all entries to be submitted anonymously.
