FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Do I have to attend the Drosophila Research Conference to enter or win the Image Award?
No, the award will be announced at the Conference and delivered to the winner if the winner is not in attendance to receive it. While membership in the Genetics Society of America is strongly encouraged for the benefits it provides to all scientists whose work concerns genetics, it is not required for entry into the Image Award competition.
Q: Does the image have to be a triple-label confocal micrograph?
No. Gels, activity traces, patch-clamp recordings, bar graphs, etc. can beautifully and clearly illustrate and communicate an important scientific result as much as a photograph.
Q: Are movies and videos eligible?
As of 2008, we encourage submissions of these media if they were included in the paper. Examples of finalist and winning videos can be seen in the Archive.
Q: Are images that appear on journal covers eligible?
Yes, as are images that are published as supplemental material.
Q: Does the entry have to be a complete figure as published in the paper?
No. Entries can also be a single panel excerpted from a multipanel figure, or a composite of panels from several figures. However, the entry must consist only of images that have been published in a single paper and must be essentially as published; altering colors from those in the journal is not permitted.
Q: My paper was published on-line in December but the issue date of the journal is January of the subsequent year. Am I eligible?
As of 2006, only images with official journal publication dates within the calendar year (January-December) will be considered for the Award.
Q: I'm confused about the year indicated in the title of the Award. Can you clarify?
The 2006 Award was presented at the 2006 Fly Meeting for images that were published from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005.
Q: Can I submit more than one image?
Yes, although submitting a single entry from a given paper may be the best strategy.
Q: Does the image have to depict Drosophila melanogaster?
Any result of specific interest to the Drosophila research community is eligible. For instance, images of insect species closely tied to Drosophila research have been favorably considered.
Q: The paper in which the image was published was a collaboration between a colleague and I. Can we co-submit for the Award?
The Award is currently made to only one individual. We ask entrants to decide the individual most responsible for generating and documenting the image that was submitted.
Q: Must an entry be an exact copy of the published figure?
No — entries can include composites of several published images. Entries can also include images published as journal covers or in closely related review articles.
Q: If two researchers worked to generate the image, can they share the Award?
At this time, the Award is granted only to an individual. We ask potential entrants to make this determination prior to submission.
