British Online Archives Undergraduate Essay Competition – CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Date / time: 23 May, 12:00 pm

British Online Archives Undergraduate Essay Competition - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

 

BOA’s 2025 Undergraduate Essay Competition is open for submissions from UK-based undergraduate students.

The prizes are as follows:
First place: £300
Second place: £100
Third place: £50

Call for Submissions, deadline – 23 May 2025, 12 noon

The top three essays, along with a selection of highly commended submissions, will be published in a dedicated journal on our website. Everyone published in our journal will also receive a 12-month free trial of our entire site.

At BOA, we have grouped our primary source collections under key historical themes. You can use our Themes page to explore collections relating to each essay question. The full essay question list – along with my essay competition details – can be found at the BOA website here: https://britishonlinearchives.com/posts/category/news/860/boas-undergraduate-essay-competition-is-now-open-for-submissions

Submissions are strongly encouraged to have a clear primary source focus. Your institution may have access to some of our digital primary source collections. Log in to our website via your institution to check—if you are unsure, please contact your library. Each student who wishes to submit an essay can also contact us to request a one-month free trial of two of our primary source collections. Please email studentengagement@britishonlinearchives.com clearly stating the essay question you are selecting, up to two collections you would like to trial, the name of your course, your year of study, and your university.

Submissions should be no more than 2000 words (including footnotes) and should use Chicago referencing. Most universities provide guidance on referencing systems. For instance, here is the University of York’s guide which is free to access. Please submit your essays to studentengagement@britishonlinearchives.com before noon on 23 May 2025. Any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered. In your email, please state your year of study, your course, and your university.

Our judging panel: This year our essay competition will be judged by three members of the BOA team who each have extensive experience in both historical research and academic publishing. The judges will be BOA’s Head of Publishing Katherine Waite, Senior Curator Dr Mary Wills, and Academic Liaison Manager Dr Catherine Bateson