AP-LS Award for Best Undergraduate Paper

Recognizes an outstanding undergraduate research paper focused on the interdisciplinary study of psychology and law.
Students
Undergraduate
Sponsor

AP-LS Undergraduate Paper Award Committee

Deadline

June 30, 2026

Submit here

The AP-LS Award for Best Undergraduate Paper is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate research paper that is focused on the interdisciplinary study of psychology and law.

First ($500), second ($200) and third place ($150) winners are conferred annually, and winners will be be encouraged to submit their work as a poster presentation at the AP-LS Annual Conference (as first author).

To be eligible for an award the student must be the major contributor to a project on a topic relevant to psychology and law (i.e., the student had primary responsibility for initiating and conducting the project even though the project will usually be conducted under the supervision of a mentor).

Data collection should be complete.

Students may submit their work during their first post-undergraduate year as long as the work was conducted during their undergraduate career.

Submit Here

Submissions (APA-paper and letter of support) must be emailed to to the Chair of the Undergraduate Paper Award Committee at undergrad_paper@ap-ls.org as .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word) files. Deadline for receipt of all materials is June 30.

TipSubmission must include the following:
  1. One copy of the APA-style paper being submitted for consideration.
  • The paper should be a maximum of 25 pages of text (12-point font, one-inch margins), including the abstract and tables/figures.
  • The 25-page maximum does not include the title page and references.
  1. A letter of support from the student’s faculty mentor.
  • Each applicant must have their mentor submit a letter of support to the chair that characterizes the nature and extent of the student’s contribution to the project.
  • This letter should be a maximum of two pages of text (12-point font, one-inch margins).

Applications that do not meet these requirements for the paper and letters of support will be disqualified.

Proposals will be reviewed by members of the AP-LS Undergraduate Paper Award Committee based on independence, originality, contribution to field, soundness of design and analyses and quality of writing.

2026
Liam S. Gorsuch
3rd place · University of British Columbia · advisor: Tonia L. Nicholls
2026
Maddie P. Stine
2nd place · Butler University · advisor: Fabiana Alceste
2026
Lucy Tomlinson
1st place · Arizona State University · advisor: Laura Smalarz
2024
Emma Bergquist
3rd place
2024
Sydney Reuter
2nd place
2024
Katerine Aminot
1st place
2023
Siham Hagi
3rd place · Luther College, University of Regina · advisor: Sarah Zanette
2023
Abey Akinseye
2nd place · Art, Race, and the Carceral System: Perceptions of Criminality in Artful Expressions · advisor: Fabriana Alceste
2023
Mackenzie Thomas
1st place · Differences in Criminogenic Needs and Risk Prediction based on Sexual Assault Typology · advisor: Sandy Jung
2022
Amy Dezember
3rd place · George Mason University · advisor: Allison Redlich
2022
Joseph Avery
2nd place · Princeton University · advisor: Joel Cooper
2022
Stephanie Cardenas
1st place · The Graduate Center, CUNY · advisor: Saul Kassin
2021
Adele Quigley-McBride
3rd place · Iowa State University
2021
Alejandra de la Fuente
2nd place · Maastricht University
2021
Catherine Shaffer-McCuish
1st place · Simon Fraser University · advisor: Kevin S. Douglas
2020
Natasha Bailey
3rd place · University of California, Irvine · advisor: J. Zoe Klemfuss
2020
Elizabeth Purser
2nd place · University of Texas at El Paso · advisor: April Thomas
2020
Elizabeth Quinn
1st place · Northwestern University · advisor: Allison Skinner
2018
Laura Stevens
3rd place · advisor: Michael Lamb
2018
Georgia M. Lundon
2nd place · advisor: Michael Lamb
2018
Kajal Sachdev
1st place · advisor: Bette Bottoms
2017
Eleanor Prince
3rd place · advisor: Michael Lamb
2017
Weyam Fahmy
2nd place · advisor: Brent Snook
2017
Nicholas Michalski
1st place · advisor: Jennifer Hunt
2016
Zsofia Szojka
3rd place · advisor: Michael Lamb
2016
Sydney Wood
2nd place · advisor: Evan Mandery
2016
Julian Siebert
1st place · advisor: Colin Tredoux
2015
Tyler J. Plogher
3rd place · advisor: Margaret Stevenson
2015
Siara D. Johnson
2nd place · advisor: Naomi Goldstein
2015
Hannah Phalen
1st place · advisor: Edie Greene
2014
Samantha Andrews
3rd place · advisor: Michael Lamb
2014
Alan Buttars
2nd place · advisor: Matt Huss
2014
Alex Lyon
1st place · advisor: Gail Goodman/Deborah Goldfarb
2013
Alan Buttars
3rd place · advisor: Matt Huss
2013
Nikoleta Despodova
2nd place · advisor: Elizabeth Jeglic
2013
Dana Forman
1st place · advisor: Dave DeMatteo
2012
Shelby Arnold
3rd place · advisor: Naomi Goldstein
2012
Evan Marie Lowder
2nd place · advisor: Aubrey Immelman
2012
Natalie Harrison
1st place · advisor: Ron Roesch
2011
Christina Stanford
3rd place · advisor: Jeffrey Anastasi
2011
James Lant
2nd place · advisor: Kimberley Clow
2011
Devon Porter
1st place · advisor: Daniel Reisberg
2010
Jennifer Newman
3rd place · advisor: Kim Roberts
2010
Darcy Burgers
2nd place · advisor: Dickon Reppucci
2010
Adam Blanchard
1st place · advisor: Kevin Douglas
2009
Alison Ryan
3rd place · advisor: Daniel Krauss
2009
Adana Lagerstrom
2nd place · advisor: Jodi Viljoen
2009
Kyla Matthews
1st place · advisor: Meredith Allison
2008
Marissa Reiter
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2008
Sarah McFadden
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2007
Kaitlin Bountress
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2007
Haley Deveau
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2006
Hannah Dietrich
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