SPAM COMPETITION RULES

May 1, 2007-September 1, 2007, 11:59 p.m.

A. Three levels of score keeping.

1. Team Level. For each submission by a member of the team, the contribution to the team score is 1/(number of authors) for each member of the team on the submission. In other words, if there are three authors and one is on the team, the "score" is .33. If two are on the team, it would be .67. Since teams vary in size, the winning team will be determined by dividing the total score by the number of team members. The winning team members will each get a Caffeine Molecule mug this year!

2. Individual Totals. For the individual level, we will add up the scores (1/(number of authors)) over the course of the competition. The individual winner will get a Caffeine Molecule T-shirt this year!

3. Single submissions. For each submission, each author (who is playing in the competition) will get a prize (no matter how many authors—each still gets a prize). See the web page for the Prizes.

B. What Counts as a Submission?

This is always a thorny issue and I would urge you not to get too worked up about this.  But, the following norms have evolved over time:

1. Any article submitted to a journal or edited volume (no matter what its prior status, it can be an R&R, a new submission, whatever) counts. 

2. A completed chapter of a book counts even if not formally submitted--although it has to really be done--that is, you aren't going to make any further changes to it before submitting it.

3. Grant proposals count if they are submitted to a formal program that is an actual competition (e.g., a grant proposal to ISLA for the summer awards program counts, but the miscellaneous materials fund does not). 

4. Book reviews, Encyclopedia entries, Textbook chapters, Comments, and Replies all count.

5. Editorials, Op-eds, Letters to the editor, etc. do not count. Internal reports (that will not be published in that form) to grant agencies, etc. do not count. Working paper Series, conference submissions/papers, translations of previous published work, reprints (for example of a journal article in an edited volume) all do not count.

6. MA Theses and Dissertations count, but only if they are successfully defended during the competition (submitting a draft to your advisor or committee does not count).

7. Internal work (class papers, department/college reports, etc.) do not count.

8. You can only count an item once during a particular competition.  Sending basically the same proposal to more than one grant agency only counts once.  Sending an article in counts, but if you get an R&R or a rejection and send it out again during the competition period, these subsequent submissions will not count. 

9. Co-authored works count, but your contribution to the team score is 1/(number of authors). No differentials for being first author versus second, etc. Don't try to drive me crazy!

10. This pretty much covers it, but I reserve the right (since I'm running the show and buying the prizes) to make judgments about anything else that comes up that we haven't thought about. 

C. Arguing about the Rules.

1. There will be no arguing about the rules.

2. For more on this issue, see C.1.