Rules

Eligibility

  • This competition is open to all high school students, from freshman to senior.
  • You must be enrolled in a high school or equivalent in the United States.
  • You must obtain parental consent.
  • You must read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
  • You may select up to two prompts, and only your last submitted entry for each prompt will be considered.
  • You must submit your entry by October 12, 2025.

Guidelines:

  • Your work should fall into the 750-1000 word range, excluding citations.  
  • You must include a separate citation section. This section does not contribute to the word count. 
  • We encourage that you avoid the first-person point of view. 
  • Use of diagrams is permitted, but all diagrams that you use should be cited properly or original.
  • You may use anecdotal information/examples of events in your piece.
  • Make sure to use trusted sources. This includes academic journal articles, government resources, or trusted newspapers.
    • If you do use newspaper articles, make sure that they are accurate. This can mean cross-checking the information that they have against other resources.

Citations:

  • APA citation formatting is preferred. Feel free to use APA citation generators but be sure the formatting is correct.
    • Citations should be both in-text and as a list at the end.
    • Citations do not add to the word count.
  • Plagiarism in any way, shape, or form is not acceptable. We will be evaluating all pieces using plagiarism tracking software to compare them against other entries as well as internet sources.
    • You can refer to this guide to help with citations and avoid plagiarism.
  • Plagiarism includes the use of any artificially generated material, regardless of citation.
    • Submissions must not involve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate any portion of your writing. Potential violations of this rule will be closely monitored by the judges at the Young Investigators Review. However, if AI is to be incorporated into your approach to answering our prompts, it is only to be used for the brainstorming process or final checks for grammatical errors. Violation of the aforementioned conditions will result in immediate disqualification from the competition.
  • If you have any diagrams/pictures, please cite them in-text as below.
    • Reducing carbon dioxide emissions can impact landscapes (Figure 1). 
    • Please make sure that your citation section includes the URL for these figures. For original images, a Google Drive link with sharing settings set to “all with the link” is fine.

How to Apply: 

  1. Head to the Apply Page.
  2. Begin your application by filling out the Applicant Information Page. We will only use this information for the competition itself. Your submission will be made anonymous during the judging period.
  3. For the Submission Entry Page, paste your written submission into the text box provided.
  4. Read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
  5. Submit! You will receive a confirmation email acknowledging your application.
  6. Any questions can be directed to younginvestigators@gmail.com.
  7. Good luck!