The deadline for nominations for this year's communication awards competition was April 14.  The criteria that will be considered for each category is outlined below.

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative – a program of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, with the support of the W.M. Keck Foundation – will award four $20,000 prizes in 2010 to individuals or teams (up to four individuals associated with the creation of the work being nominated) who have developed creative, original works that address issues and advances in science, engineering and/or medicine for the general public. Nominations were accepted in four categories: Book; Magazine/Newspaper; Film/Radio/TV; and Online. The winners will be honored on October 22, 2010 at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C and are expected to attend in person.

Eligibility
To be considered for a 2010 National Academies Communication Award, the work should:

• be accessible and appeal to a broad, public audience;
• demonstrate clarity, creativity, originality, and accuracy;
• address issues and/or advances in science, engineering, and/or medicine;
• cover topics that have an impact on society; and have been published, broadcast, or released in 2009, in the United States and in English.

Nomination Form 
Nominations must have been submitted on the online nomination form by April 14, 2010; copies of the nominated work must be submitted as described for each category.  Self nominations were permitted; there was no nomination fee.  Nominators were encouraged to submit to the category that most closely described the work(s) being nominated.

Books Category
Books published in the U.S. in 2009 will be considered.  Nominators were required to submit two copies of the book, with the publisher and year of publication printed on the book. NAKFI will verify advanced publication dates with the publisher. 

Newspaper/Magazine
Works published in the U.S. in 2009, compromising a single article, or up to as many as four articles that are unrelated or that constitute a formal series, will be considered.  Nominators were required to submit three original copies of each article clearly showing the byline and the name and date of the publication and a signed copyright release that authroizes the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative to reproduce the article for review purposes.  Nominators who were not able to provide copyright release were required to send an additional 20 copies of the article(s), or a PDF file of the article(s) on CD-ROM.

TV/Radio/Film
Submissions that include a single story or movie; a series; or as many as six brief, unrelated stories that aired on a U.S. station or were released in theaters or on DVD in 2009 will be considered.  Nominators were required to submit three CDs or DVDs labeled with the nominee's name(s), the titles of stories included on the DVD or CD, and the original airdate (with the name of the U.S. station and program on which the stories aired) or release date.  These must have been submitted in protective cases and included a signed copyright release that authorizes the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative to reproduce the CD or DVD for review purposes.  Submission of copies of the program transcript were also encouraged.  Nominators who were not able to provide copyright release were required to submit an additional 20 copies of the CD or DVD.

Online
Works created specifically for the Web, which were posted in English online in 2009, will be considered.  Entries may include as many as six online articles, hypertext documents, podcasts, commentaries, etc., or any combination thereof.  Preference will be given to nominations that make the best use of the medium, including multi-media presentations that incorporate a combination of videos, blog entries, interactive features, and/or other capabilities unique to this communication vehicle.  Nominators were required to include links to the unique URLs for each work(s) that will be active through October 1, 2010.