NMJAS Rules – New Mexico Academy of Science

Rules & Requirements

Although a project need not be entered in a science fair, the paper MUST reflect actual work by the student – scientific experimentation, theoretical work in an area of pure mathematics or physics, development of a computer model, or engineering project. Papers that simply replicate an experiment or document a literature search are not acceptable for competition.
Each project should have a single author and presenter. In certain cases, with agreement of the Regional and State Director, presentations of team projects may be allowed. But judging rules are the same as for single presenters.
A Registration Form should be submitted online by the deadline for each region. Manuscripts will be submitted separately.
The $15 entry fee can be paid during registration by credit card or PayPal, or by sending a check or school purchase order. This one-time fee covers both regional and state competitions.
The written manuscript and oral presentation carry equal weight in the overall scoring.
The first, second, and possibly third place winners of Regional Competitions will be asked to submit an electronic copy of the manuscript to the State Director for judging at the State Competition. Before submitting the paper to State Competition, be sure to review suggestions by judges for ways to improve the paper and make changes accordingly. There is no further entry fee for the State Competition.

You may receive help in structuring, proofreading, and typing your paper. However, please acknowledge all assistance in your acknowledgment section.
All papers must include a cover page with the following information: Title of paper and division; student’s name, home address, email, phone; school name, address; sponsor’s name, address, email. This page is separate from the Title page of the paper.
For the necessary components and formatting requirements of your scientific paper see The Manuscript.
Papers should be written in Microsoft Word or saved in pdf format. Before submitting, review the manuscript checklist.
You must register your project before submitting the manuscript for consideration. Papers will be submitted electronically, either by email or uploading to this website. Each region has a different submission deadline.
Each paper will be reviewed by and scored by multiple judges before oral presentations using this manuscript judging form.

Regional oral presentations may be held virtually or in person, depending on the region. The State competition will be held in person in Socorro on April 11-12.
If there are more than 12 papers submitted in any region/division, the regional director will select a maximum of 12 projects for the oral competition based on manuscript scores. Students will be notified as soon as possible if they are not advancing to the oral competition. If any region does not have entries that qualify for the state competition, the state director may distribute those slots to other regions with qualified entries.
Presentation time limits will be strictly enforced. Each presenter has 10 minutes maximum for the presentation and 5 minutes after the presentation for judges’ questions. Although other presenters, parents, sponsors, teachers, and friends may attend, only judges are permitted to ask questions.
PowerPoint must be used for the oral presentations if the oral presentations are in person. Requirements and procedures for presentations are listed separately.
The order of oral presentations will be determined by the regional or state director. Failure to appear for the competition on time and ready to present may result in disqualification.
Multiple judges will review and score each presentation using this oral presentation judging form.
In order to promote professional courtesy and to minimize distractions, all presenters are strongly requested to stay for the entire paper session.