Call for Application – The 2025 CALA Jing Liao Award for the Best Research

CALA Best Research Awards Subcommittee (2024-2025) now invites CALA members to submit their research works published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 for the competition of the 2025 CALA Jing Liao Award for the Best Research.

Jing Liao (1954-2011), a long-time CALA member and a devoted and accomplished librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was a perfect exemplar of the pursuit of excellence in research and service in her career. Honoring the memory of Jing Liao, the establishment of this memorial fund encourages CALA members to achieve excellence in research relating to information science and library-related fields.

CALA members in good standing for three consecutive years are eligible to apply for a $500 cash award.  

*There is no supplemental travel fund available for the 2025 cycle. The winner is encouraged to apply for CALA CALA Conference Travel Grant if they wish to receive the award in person at the 2025 ALA/CALA Annual Conference (June 26–30, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA).

CALA Best Research Awards Subcommittee (2024-2025) will use the Guidelines for Jing Liao Award Application and Selection below to evaluate the research works submitted by CALA members, and ensure a fair and transparent process. The CALA Jing Liao Award for the Best Research Committee is charged with the task of calling for applications and selecting a work that best fits the criteria for the award.

Guidelines for Application:

Qualified CALA members who are willing to apply for the Award should follow this new guideline for the competition:

• A cash award in the amount of $500 will be granted to the author(s) of the winning publication;
• Applicants must be CALA members in good standing for three (3) consecutive years, including the award year;
• Applicants must demonstrate excellence in scholarly research by publishing works in any online or printed peer-reviewed publications, including books, book chapters, conference proceedings, e-journals, and Open Access journals, focusing on the fields of Library and Information Sciences.
• Applicants may submit one work, in either English or Chinese, published in the previous year for consideration;
• The first author of the research publication must not be a past recipient of the award.
• If multiple authors are included for the submitted publication, the applicant must be the first author (primary project lead) and fulfills the requirement above.

Selection Criteria:

The following criteria will be used to evaluate and select the best research works received:

• Scholarly value: This criterion explores which research work has demonstrated more creative ideas, new discoveries, deep influences, and innovative approaches to promote any type of Library and Information Science research.
• Research focus: This criterion examines if the author has sufficient ability, experience, knowledge, and skills to deal with the addressed research subjects.
• Range and scope of research: This criterion measures the extent and the range of the researcher’s perceptions and thoughts in his/her research work.
• Methodology: This criterion examines if the researcher utilizes an effective methodology to generate accountable conclusions, such as the connection between the population and the sample for quantitative analysis.
• Discovery: This criterion explores if the submitted research work has any new discoveries or suggestions different from other previous research in the same fields.
• Influence: This criterion measures the potential implication or promotion for further studies in the related research fields.

Application Package:

A complete application must consist of the following documents:

1. A short cover letter including a statement of your CALA membership history and current status;
2. The full text of your publication, published between January 1 to December 31, 2024;
3. A complete citation of your publication in Chicago, APA, or MLA style, including its DOI link or URL if available;
4. A recent curriculum vitae.

After the approval of the CALA executive board, the CALA Jing Liao Award for the Best Research will be announced in June 2025.

How to apply:

Please submit the application package as one single PDF document including all the required application documents to bestresearch@cala-web.org by Monday March 31, 2025.

Sincerely,

CALA Best Research Awards Subcommittee (2024-2025)

Yali Feng (Co-Chair)

Jinxuan Ma

Wei Zhang (Co-chair)

Meingjie Zou