RULES RELATING TO THE SUBMISSION OF PAPERS FOR S.T. ACHAR / JAMES FLETT / DR. S. S. MANCHANDA / V. BALAGOPAL RAJU SILVER MEDAL AWARDS
AIM: To recognize and encourage young investigators for their research work and its presentation.

1. Only those who are members (or have applied with full details and membership fees) of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics at the time of submission of papers and till the final presentation and are not in subscription arrears are entitled to compete for the awards.
2. Subject matter for the above awards should be:
   (a) Dr. S. T. Achar Endowment Award in “Pediatrics.”
   (b) Dr. James Flett Endowment Award in “Social and Preventive Pediatrics”
   (c) Dr. S. S. Manchanda Neonatology Research Award in “Neonatology.”
   (d) Dr. V. Balagopal Raju Endowment Award in “Child Health.”

   The main author as well as all the joint authors of any of these and awards should not be above the age of 40 years (Forty) at the time of submission of papers. The presenting author should be listed as first author in the abstract as well as full paper.

3. No member can present more than one paper for the award in one category. One paper should be submitted under only one of the four categories of awards. Those simultaneously submitted for more than one category of awards will be rejected.
4. Joint-author(s) need not necessarily be Member(s) of the Society
5. The paper submitted for any of the above Awards should be one which should not have been presented earlier in any conference and has not been awarded a prize anywhere else till the time of final presentation. Papers already published in scientific journals by the time of presentation will also not be considered.
6. The papers should be one relating to original work done in India within last 5 years.
7. The copy of the papers neatly typed (double spacing) on word document complete in every respect, together with Abstract of not more than 300 words, marked indicating the name of the award for which it is submitted at the top of the document as the case may be, should be submitted to the Secretary General of IAP Email id: awardpaperpedicon@iapindia.org on or before the last date notified from time to time. You should periodically check websites of IAP (www.iapindia.org) for the same.
8. The FULL Award paper should not be more than 2500 words of text (excluding Title page, Abstract, References, Tables, and Figures), and may include up to 4 tables and 2 figures. It should be presented and formatted in the style recommended for Research Papers of “INDIAN PEDIATRICS” You should check Instructions for Authors at www.indianpediatrics.net (Attached the Instruction as Annexure 1) before preparing and submitting your paper for consideration of Award.

   Identity of the authors or place or work should not be disclosed in the Full Paper. These details should be only mentioned on the Title Page (usually the first page) and in the declaration form to be attached with the submission/covering letter.

9. For the Year 2026, the last date of acceptance of papers is 30th September 2026. Papers received after the last date will not be accepted under any circumstances.
10. The paper submitted for the Awards will be judged by a panel of four judges nominated by the Executive Board of which two members will be experts in the particular field.
11. The paper selected for Award will be presented at the joint award session of the annual IAP conference and 10 minutes will be given to each presenter with 3minutes of question & answer.
12. The judges reserve the right to disallow the presentation of award paper if any technical lapse in the concerned paper is brought to their notice at any time before presentation.
13. The decision of the panel of judges will be final and binding on all concerned.
14. The Award presentation will be made during the annual IAP Event.
15. In case the Award is given to a paper where there is more than one author, the principal investigator (the main author) will be awarded the gold medal and a certificate of merit, while each of the joint authors will be awarded a certificate of merit.
16. A member who has once won the gold medal in a particular category of award, he shall not be eligible for that award in that category, a second time although such a member can be a co-author of a paper for that particular category of award.
17. The research work on which the paper for award is presented must be the original and direct work undertaken by the main author (principal investigator). If at a later date it is detected that the work was not done by the person himself or herself, a stringent action will be taken by the Executive Board which can include withdrawal of such an award with public intimation.
18. The Awards will be as under:
    1. Dr. S. T. Achar Award :
       • First Prize: A Medal and a Certificate
       • Second Prize: Only a Certificate
    2. Dr. James Flett Award :
       • First Prize: A Medal and a Certificate
       • Second Prize: A Medal and a Certificate
    3. Dr. S. S. Manchanda Award:
       • First Prize: A Medal with a certificate
       • Second Prize: Only a certificate
    4. Dr. V. Balagopal Raju Award:
       • First Prize: A Medal with a certificate
       • Second Prize: A Medal with a certificate

         “Certificate of participation will be shared via email.”

19. Paper submitted for the award should be accompanied by a certificate (signed original document) in the following format.

    FORM OF CERTIFICATE
    (Thisform hasto be completed in all aspects or else paper will be disqualified)

    Name of the Award:
    Principal Investigator:
    IAP’s Membership No.:
    Title of the paper:
    Name of the main author with degrees (Principal Investigator)
    Name of the Author(s)                                          Date of Birth
    1 )
    2 )
    3 )
    4 )

    I, hereby certify that I have read the award rules and that the facts stated above are true and the above mentioned paper has not won an award before elsewhere and that the paper relates to original work done by me in India. I also certify that I have not submitted this work for any other category of award than mentioned above, and that this research paper has not yet been published in any scientific journal.

    Name of the Author(s)                                         Signature of Author(s)
    1 )
    2 )
    3 )
    4 )

    P l a c e :
    D a t e :

    I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I have read the award rules and gone through the above mentioned paper and further certify that the said paper relates to the original work done by Dr. ___________________ at our institution.

    Signature of the Head of the Department                                (Seal of the Institution)

    Signature of the Head of the Institution

    N.B.

    Please note that if your paper is not selected for the award competition, you will have the option to present it as a poster at PEDICON 2027 in Coimbatore. You may also choose to have your paper published as a free poster paper during the conference.

    Kindly be aware that once your paper is published as a free poster paper at PEDICON 2027, it will not be eligible for publication or presentation at any other conference.