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Rules
Eligibility
- Only rising high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors may apply.
- In other words, students graduating between 2021 and 2023.
- You must be enrolled in a high school or equivalent within Long Island.
- You must obtain parental consent.
- You must read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- You may select one prompt, and only your first submitted entry will be considered.
- You must submit your entry by July 15th, 2020.
Guidelines:
- Your work should fall into the 750-1000 word range, excluding citations.
- You must include a citation section. This section does not contribute to the word count.
- We encourage that you avoid 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:
- Plagiarism in any way, shape, or form is not acceptable. We will be evaluating all pieces using plagiarism tracking software to compare against other entries as well as internet sources.
- You can refer to this guide to help with citations and avoiding plagiarism.
- 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 or Imgur link is fine.
- Refer to our citation guide to see how to format in-text citations and the citation section. The Abbreviated SBYIR citation formatting is preferred.
How to Apply:
- Head to the Apply Page.
- Begin your application by filling out the Applicant Information Page. We will only use this information for the competition itself. Your submission remains anonymous during the judging period.
- For the Submission Entry Page, paste your written submission into the text box provided.
- Read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Submit! You will receive a confirmation email acknowledging your application.