Prize Submission Instructions

Submission Requirements and Deadlines

1. The 2024-2025 HLS Student Writing Prizes submission window is now open. To submit a paper for prize consideration, students should complete and submit the online Spring 2025 HLS Student Writing Prize Submission Form.
2. The deadline for prize submissions is 5:00pm ET on April 28, 2025 unless otherwise noted below. There will be NO deadline extensions.
   • Special Deadline for the Klemens von Klemperer Prize: 5:00pm ET on Monday, March 31, 2025. There will be NO deadline extensions.
   • Special Deadline for the John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics: Midnight on Friday, April 25, 2025. For further information about the Olin Prize, please contact Matthew Hunt.
3. Nominating statements from HLS faculty/appointed instructors supervising the paper, where required for submission as detailed in the prize description, should be emailed by the faculty/instructor to writingprizes@law.harvard.edu by the prize submission deadline.
4. Submissions for the following prizes are NOT collected by the Office of Academic Affairs and must be submitted in accord with the process and deadlines noted below:
   • Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize: Please submit one electronic copy of your paper via email to Deborah Han. Please do not remove your name from your paper submitted for the Yong K. Kim’95 Memorial Prize.
   • John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics: This is a $2,000 prize awarded for an outstanding paper written by an HLS student analyzing a legal topic from an economic perspective. Prior to submitting a paper for consideration, a student must request that the professor under whom the paper was written email a statement of evaluation of the paper directly to Professor Steven Shavell by the deadline below.  Upon fulfillment of that requirement, the paper should be submitted by email to Matthew Hunt, Program Administrator, by midnight on Friday, April 25, 2025. The prize is generally awarded in May.  For further information, please contact Matthew Hunt.

Paper Requirements

1. Only papers submitted by current HLS degree candidates enrolled at HLS during the 2024-2025 academic year will be considered for the spring 2025 student writing prizes. Submissions by cross-registrants, Berkeley Exchange students, and students visiting HLS will not be considered for student writing prizes. Eligible submissions by J.D., LL.M., or S.J.D. HLS degree candidates will be considered.
2. Papers must have been written and completed by the HLS degree candidate student while enrolled at HLS and under the independent supervision of an HLS faculty member/appointed instructor or in conjunction with an HLS course or clinic taught by an HLS faculty member/appointed instructor.
3. Co-authored papers are eligible for submission, but all co-authors must have been HLS degree candidate students enrolled at HLS when the paper was written, and enrolled at HLS during the 2024-2025 academic year. Each co-author should submit a copy of the eligible paper with their own prize submission form and indicate “(co-authored)” after their paper title in the paper title field on the submission form.
4. Papers that have been edited by others in preparation for submission to a journal or other publication, or previously submitted to a journal or other publication, may not be submitted for a student writing prize in such edited form. Such papers may be considered for HLS student writing prizes only if an original, unedited version of the paper is available and submitted
5. Only one unique paper may be submitted for one writing prize per submission form. If you would like to submit the same unique paper for a second writing prize, please complete and submit a separate submission form. If you would like to submit a different unique paper for a prize, please complete and submit a separate submission form.
6. Unless otherwise noted in the prize description, students may submit a single unique paper for no more than two writing prizes. Multiple unique papers may be submitted, but each unique paper may be submitted for no more than two writing prizes. Each unique paper is eligible to win only one of the prizes for which it is submitted. This rule applies to winning papers submitted in a prior prize year.
7. Please be sure your name does NOT appear on the paper itself.
8. Please save and upload your paper as a PDF file with the file naming convention: “Last name_Paper title“. Please do NOT submit your paper in a Word document file. Please be sure to attach the correct paper for the prize for which you are completing the submission form.

Winning Papers

1. The name and paper title of all prize winners will be published on the HLS Website by June 1, 2025.
2. The names of graduating prize winners and prizes won will be listed in the Commencement Program. Please note: non-graduating prize winners’ names will be listed in the Commencement Program in the year they graduate.
3. Student may self-submit prize-winning papers to the School’s DASH student-paper repository.
4. If a prize has more than one winner, the prize monetary award will be divided among the prize recipients.

Any award is subject to the constraints of federal immigration law.