Human Factors Prize: Recognizing Excellence in Human Factors/Ergonomics Research

The Human Factors Prize was established in 2010 by Editor-in-Chief William S. Marras. The prize recognizes excellence in HF/E research through an annual competition in which authors are invited to submit papers on a specific topic for that year. The topic is selected by the editor in chief in consultation with a Board of Referees chaired by Immediate Past Human Factors Editor Nancy J. Cooke. See below for the current year's topic.

The prize carries a $10,000 cash award and publication of the winning paper in the Society's flagship journal, Human Factors. The award will be formally conferred at a special session at the HFES Annual Meeting, where the recipient will present his or her work.

A separate FAQ Web page has been set up for the Human Factors Prize

2012 Topic
Human Factors, the flagship journal of HFES, invites contributions that explore how the science of human factors/ergonomics can facilitate the design of many types of products. The specific product is not the focus; rather, we are seeking research that would facilitate product design in general. With this in mind, a contribution that describes how HF/E science has influenced an aspect of a product - the display on a smart phone, for example - would also be appropriate, as long as the focus is on the research behind that aspect.

Click here to view the FAQ page containing more details about the topic.

2011 Prize Winners
HFES congratulates the winner and finalists.

Eligibility
Submissions must cover original (unpublished) research in the topical area and comply with the requirements in the Human Factors Instructions for Authors.

Review articles or brief reports are not eligible for the Prize.

Any researcher is eligible to submit relevant work; membership in HFES is not required.

Deadlines
The deadline for submissions is June 1–July 1, 2012. Submissions may be turned in at any time during that date range.

Where to Submit
Submissions must be uploaded to the Human Factors online submission and review site. You will have an opportunity to indicate that you wish to have your submission considered for the Human Factors Prize.

Evaluation Process
A board of six referees chaired by Immediate Past Human Factors Editor Nancy J. Cooke will review each submission (see below). Three of the referees will be selected based on the alignment of their expertise with the selected topic. Submissions will be independently reviewed by each of the six referees, except in cases in which a referee has a conflict of interest with the submitting author(s)or institution(s). In the event of a conflict, the referee will be replaced by an outside referee giving each submission an equal number of referees.

Submissions requiring more than minor revisions will be ineligible for the award and returned to the authors for possible revision and resubmission per standard journal procedures.

The referees will independently score the remaining manuscripts on the following criteria and will then convene to determine the winner:

• Importance of implications for product design
• Originality of research
• Exemplary of the science of human factors
• Contribution to the human factors/ergonomics knowledge base
• Clarity of written exposition
• Soundness of methodology

The winning submission, along with other acceptable submissions, will be published in the last 2012 issue of Human Factors.

Board of Referees
The 2012 Board of Referees includes a distinguished group of HF/E researchers and practitioners.

Continuing Board Members:

• Nancy J. Cooke (Chair), PhD, Professor of Cognitive Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, and Science Director, Cognitive Engineering Research Institute
• David Rempel, MD, Professor and Ergonomics Program Director, University of California, San Francisco
• Christopher D. Wickens, PhD, Alion Science & Technology Corporation

Product Design Board Members:

• John M. Carroll, PhD, Pennsylvania State University
• Brian M. Kleiner, PhD, Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
• John D. Lee, PhD, Professor, U. of Wisconsin, Madison
• Donald A. Norman, PhD, Cofounder, Nielsen Norman Group