CFP: Essay Prize in Informal Logic/Critical Thinking/Argumentation Theory

The Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking (AILACT) invites submissions for the 2020 AILACT Essay Prize.  This will be the 16th year in which the prize has been offered.

   ●         Value: $700 U.S.

   ●         The prize-winning paper, and any “honourable mention” paper, will be considered for publication in Informal Logic upon the conditions listed below.*

   ●         Papers related to the teaching or theory of informal logic or critical thinking, and papers on argumentation theory, will be considered for the prize.

   ●         There are no restrictions on authorship.  Authors need not be members of AILACT.

   ●         Previously unpublished papers, and papers published or accepted for publication between January 1, 2017 and September 1, 2020 are eligible.  Maximum length: 6,000 words (exclusive of footnotes and references). Authors may not submit the same paper, or a similar paper, more than once following the first submission.

   ●         Entries will be assessed on the basis of their argument, scholarship, style, and importance to the field. There is a limit of one entry per author.

   ●         The jury members for the 2020 AILACT essay prize, approved by the AILACT Board of Directors, are Jean Goodwin, Distinguished Professor, Department of Communication, North Carolina State University; Hans Hansen, Professor of Philosophy, University of Windsor; David Sherry, Professor of Philosophy, Northern Arizona University. The jury's decision is final.

   ●         To submit a paper, attach a PDF or MS Word or RTF document to an email with AILACT ESSAY ENTRY on the “subject” line and send it to Derek Allen ([email protected]) with a covering note giving your name, a mailing address, and the word-length of your paper exclusive of footnotes and references.  Please send the paper ready for blind-reviewing (the author not identified on the paper or file containing the paper or in the description of the document’s properties that is part of the file, and self-identifying references removed from the text, notes and references). Each page should be numbered.

   ●         The deadline for receipt of submissions is September 1, 2020.  The winner will be announced by December 15, 2020.  AILACT will publicize the name of the winner on its web site and at AILACT sessions held at American Philosophical Association divisional meetings in 2021.

   ●          For further information about the essay prize, contact Gilbert Plumer ([email protected]).
For information about AILACT, visit our web site: https://ailact.wordpress.com/.

* The prize-winning paper, and any "honourable mention" paper, will be eligible for consideration for publication in Informal Logic if it has not already been published or accepted or committed for publication elsewhere and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and if the author consents to its consideration for publication in Informal Logic. The editors of Informal Logic will arrange for blind review of the paper if these conditions are met. The author will be expected to revise the paper in light of the reviewers' suggestions, or to justify not doing so.