Judging Panels

Each of the three LAUR categories (Humanities & Fine Arts, Social Science, and Science & Engineering) has its own judging panel. 

Each judging panel is composed of two faculty members from departments corresponding to the category, and two librarians or library staff members who have expertise in the corresponding academic disciplines.

Entries will be evaluated based on the criteria explained below.

Entry Components and Judging Criteria

Entries will be judged on three components: Research Narrative, Creative Project or Research Paper, and Bibliography.

Notice: 2026 Judging Criteria Guidelines and Evaluation Rubrics are currently being finalized. Updated criteria will be posted by February 27. Please check back then for the latest submission guidelines.

Research Narrative (45 points)

The research narrative (between 500-1000 words) is the most important part of your application. It should describe your research process and demonstrate how the UCSB Library and its resources helped you create your project. ​

Guiding questions for each discipline will be added by February 27. Please check back for updates.

If you are submitting a project with more than one author, and the other authors are not entering the award, please explain your individual contribution to the project in your Research Narrative. This way our judges can assess your contribution to the project. 

If you are submitting a project with more than one author as a group, please designate a single student to submit the project on behalf of everyone. In the event that your group is awarded a prize, the award monies are split among the group, and each individual author will be recognized at the ceremony and on social media.

Creative project or research paper (25 points)

Your project should be your original work that reflects expert and sophisticated use of Library materials, services, and resources. If your project is in a format that cannot be submitted electronically, such as an art installation or exhibition, please submit a document that provides a detailed description of the project in sufficient detail to allow it to be judged. In either case, your research journey should be evident.

Bibliography (30 points)

Format your bibliography using the citation style appropriate to your project’s discipline. 

  • At the top of your bibliography, please indicate the style you used (e.g. APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA). 
  • Cite all sources that you used, even if you did not quote or paraphrase from them.
  • Your bibliography should include a wide range of library materials and resources appropriate to the discipline and to your project. These may include scholarly and popular articles, primary sources, data, original compositions, sound or video recordings, computer models, and more.