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Excellence in Documentation

The Excellence in Documentation Award recognizes the author(s) of the most outstanding article, paper, or other document published by the Society.

Award and Presentation:

The Excellence in Documentation Award may be given annually. Presentation is made at the annual Honors and Awards Gala.

Qualifications:

Any ISA technical paper publication with at least one author being an ISA member, which has not been professionally edited (e.g. InTech articles) and which was not written under contract (e.g. royalty agreement) is eligible for consideration. Documents prepared with an employer’s support and those for which a modest honorarium was paid are also eligible. Documents prepared for, and published by, other organizations are not eligible even if prepared by ISA members. Also eligible are those papers from prior years, previously unrecognized that are determined to be of great significance.

Criteria:

Recognizes and encourages clear, concise presentations of significant instrumentation and control information. Excellence in both organization and presentation of content and exposition are considered. The purpose of the paper must be well identified and documented. The subject must be examined with reference to other writings in the field. Figures must be clearly labeled and described. The author’s conclusion, solution, and treatment of the subject must be fully addressed. The purpose, discourse, and treatment should be self-evident (easily discernible or definite or comprehensible) so that a qualified reader has no unanswered questions. A wide range of formats and grammatical construction are acceptable as long as the document has the following elements in some form:

• Introduction - or abstract, or background
• References - the perspective of other writers in the field
• Organization - a logical sequence of concepts
• Headings and Subheadings - an indication of content
• Figures - clearly and simply drawn with adequate legends
• Equations - Standard symbols, which are identified
• Appendices - for derivations or detailed data

Nomination:

The top technical papers from the previous year's technical conference proceedings as determined from the technical paper review forms are considered. In addition, Division Directors are asked to submit the outstanding paper produced by their Division during the preceding calendar year. Nominations are also accepted from any individual and should be submitted in writing to the Honors & Awards Committee Chairman, c/o Debbie Eby by the established deadline along with a copy of the published paper.

Previous Honorees: