Purpose
To recognize outstanding contributions to applied research on religion from both academic and non-academic settings. It will be awarded to RRA members, not academic units, denominational offices, or other organization types.
Qualifications
Submissions can include solo-authored or co-authored books, peer-reviewed articles, or research project reports by current RRA members. A book, article, or report may be nominated by its author or by any other RRA member if they deem it to be of outstanding quality. Individual RRA members may nominate at most one book, article, or report. Eligible books, articles, and reports should have been published or released in the previous three years (calendar year 2021–2024).
Criteria
The committee will evaluate each submission using four criteria:
- Implications for and impact on religious communities, leaders, and practitioners – implications and practical impact should be clear and evident throughout the submission
- Accessibility – the extent to which people can find, understand, and use the research. Efforts actively to engage religious leaders and practitioners in using the research are important and should be evident. This could include (e.g.) articles, citations, reviews in mainstream or religious publications, talks, workshops, podcasts, or other materials prepared for or presented to religious leaders and practitioners, and evidence of how that denominational institutions have used the findings.
- Research quality – sound methodology, research design, and adherence to ethical guidelines.
- Innovation – the advancement of applied religion research in new topics and approaches or new contextualization and applications of past or current topics
The nominator should address each of these criteria in his or her nomination letter.
Award
The award will be presented at the annual meeting. It includes a certificate and $500. Procedure: Nomination letters must be submitted in electronic format by April 30 to committee chair Dr. Molly James, mjames@episcopalchurch.org. RRA members who have received a nomination will be notified and must share with the committee a copy of their book, article, or report (electronic is acceptable) as well as a 2-page CV focusing their work over the past three years no later than May 15, 2024. Mailing/transmittal of books is the responsibility of the publisher and/or the author. Notification date is July 1.