Impactful Research Prize

Current status (January 2026)

Evaluator prizes (2024-25)

For the 2024-25 cycle, we are focusing on evaluator recognition, with $6,500 in prizes for evaluators who provided exceptionally credible, insightful, and detailed evaluations. We are currently finalizing the winners and will announce them soon.

Author recognition (2024-25)

Given limited funds and a relatively small pool of author-submitted work during 2024-25, we are shifting from monetary "author prizes" to recognition-based awards highlighting two dimensions:

• Flowing Water Scholar: Recognizing the most valuable author engagement and response—openness, epistemic modesty, willingness to update, growth mindset, and constructive dialogue with evaluators.

• Polaris Research: Recognizing the strongest and most useful research, based on highly credible and detailed evaluation manager reports, careful evaluations, and high "merited journal tier" ratings.

Future prizes (2026 and beyond)

We aim to establish an ongoing author prize with a monetary component for 2026 and beyond. This will particularly reward authors who submit their work and engage meaningfully with the evaluation process. The structure and scale will depend on our funding situation.

To be considered for future recognition:

• Submit your research for Unjournal evaluation

• Engage with the evaluation process by responding substantively to evaluator feedback

• Sign up as an evaluator

Updates will be announced on unjournal.org and our Bluesky feed. Contact [e-mail] with questions.

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2023 Pilot Prize (completed)

Our inaugural Impactful Research Prize was awarded in early 2024. See Impactful Research Prize Winners for the full announcement.

Winners:

• First Prize ($2,500): Takahiro Kubo and co-authors for "Banning wildlife trade can boost demand"

• Second Prize ($1,000): Johannes Haushofer and co-authors for "The Comparative Impacts of Cash Transfers and a Psychotherapy Program"

We also recognized exceptional evaluators: Phil Trammell, Hannah Metzler, Alex Bates, and Robert Kubinec.

How we chose the 2023 prize winners

The prize winners were selected through a multi-step, collaborative process involving both the management team and the advisory board. Selection criteria included research quality and credibility, potential for real-world impact, and authors' engagement with The Unjournal's evaluation process.

1. Initial Evaluation: All papers evaluated by The Unjournal were eligible. Evaluations and ratings from external evaluators informed the initial shortlisting.

2. Management and Advisory Board Input: Committee members wrote brief statements about particularly prize-worthy papers.

3. Meeting and Consensus: A prize committee of four volunteers discussed shortlisted papers and allocated points among 10 candidates to narrow to a shortlist of five.

4. Point Voting: The shortlist was shared with all management and advisory board members, who allocated up to 100 points among the finalists.

5. Special Considerations: At least one winner needed to be author-submitted or show substantial engagement. Early-career researchers received slight preference.

6. Final Selection: Prizes went to the papers with the most points.

Original 2023 pilot prize details

The pilot prize was announced in late 2022 as part of The Unjournal's first year. First-prize winners received $2,500 (increased from the original $2,000 thanks to a contribution from EAecon), and runners-up received $1,000.

Prize winners had the opportunity to present their work at an online seminar and prize ceremony co-hosted by The Unjournal, Rethink Priorities, and EAecon.

Eligibility: All work evaluated by The Unjournal was eligible. Engagement with the evaluation process, including responding to evaluator comments, was a factor in determining winners.

Note: In a subsection below, Recap: submissions, we outline the basic requirements for submissions to The Unjournal.