Content
The Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR) is pleased to announce a paper competition in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS). The lead author of the winning paper will receive a half-page of survey question space on a future NASIS administration and present their paper at a colloquium as part of the NASIS 50th Anniversary Celebration. Papers are due by 5:00 p.m. on August 16, 2027. Details for the paper competition are below.
Eligibility
The NASIS Paper Competition is open to all University of Nebraska students, staff, and faculty. Papers entered into this competition may be sole-authored or coauthored. Participants are invited to submit an original, unpublished paper that uses data from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS). Papers submitted for this competition must represent new scholarly work. Papers that have been previously published or presented at professional conferences prior to the paper competition are not eligible.
Data Requirements
All submissions must use data from at least one administration of the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey. Because NASIS employs a probability-based survey design, participants must use complex survey data analyses (e.g., accounting for survey weights and stratification) appropriately in their analyses. More information about each survey design can be found in the methodology reports. Papers that do not account for the survey design and weighting procedures may not be considered competitive.
Replication Code and AI policy
To be considered for this competition, all code from the analysis must be submitted in addition to the paper. NASIS data may not be uploaded into any large language model or other Generative AI program, website, or chatbot, including university-licensed Copilot accounts. Papers must be written entirely by the research team; no AI-generated text will be considered acceptable.
Obtaining NASIS Data Questionnaires and methodology reports for recent NASIS administrations are available through the BOSR website. If you need documentation for a NASIS administration that is not currently posted online, please contact BOSR at bosr@unl.edu.
Public NASIS datasets are available one year after release of the NASIS to that year’s clients. To request a dataset, please email bosr@unl.edu with details about the year(s) or dataset(s) of interest.
Evaluation and Recognition
The winning paper will be presented as part of a colloquium at the NASIS 50th Anniversary Celebration. The lead author for the winning paper will be awarded a half-page of survey question space on a future NASIS administration. Question space will be determined by BOSR researchers according to standard formatting conventions.
Past and present BOSR directors will evaluate submissions. One winning paper will be recognized during the NASIS 50th Anniversary Celebration in fall 2027. In addition, submitted papers may be featured as BOSR Research Snapshots to highlight the value and impact of NASIS data.
Length and Formatting
Paper submissions should be no longer than 6500 words, excluding abstract, tables, figures, references, and appendices. All submissions should use 12-point font, double spacing, and 1-inch margins on all sides. No specific reference style is required, but all references must use a consistent format.
Submissions should include a (1) cover letter, including a statement about use of AI in the manuscript’s production and analysis consistent with guidelines above, (2) an abstract (300 words maximum), (3) manuscript with embedded tables and figures, and (4) replication code.
Submission Deadline
Completed papers must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on August 16, 2027.
Questions?
For questions about the competition, obtaining public datasets, survey questionnaires, or the use of NASIS data, please contact bosr@unl.edu.