Principles
- Independence: judges evaluate nominations independently using the published scoring framework for each category.
- Integrity: judges must disclose conflicts of interest and recuse where required.
- Confidentiality: nominations and scoring are confidential until official publication.
- Transparency: criteria and weights are published as Category Scoring Frameworks.
Evaluation Stages
- Administrative screening for completeness, eligibility basics, and integrity checks.
- Judge assignment based on subject-matter expertise and conflict-of-interest screening.
- Scoring by multiple judges using the category’s criteria and weights.
- Quality assurance (consistency checks, anomaly review, verification requests where needed).
- Finalization & publication on the official winners list.
Scoring Methodology (Summary)
Scoring scale: Each criterion is scored from 1 to 10.
Weights: Each criterion has a percentage weight; weights sum to 100%.
Final Score: For each nomination, we calculate the average of judges’ weighted scores and convert it to a 0–100 scale.
Winner Determination
Each category produces one winner or no winner — not all categories produce a winner each cycle. This ensures that only genuinely excellent nominations receive the Category Winner designation.
Minimum Standards for Winners
To be designated as Category Winner, a nomination must meet both of the following thresholds:
- Final Score threshold: at least 80.0 out of 100.0
- Primary Criterion threshold: at least 8.0 out of 10.0 on the criterion with the highest weight in that category
If the top-scoring nomination in a category fails to meet either threshold, the category will have no winner for that cycle. This quality control ensures that winning represents genuine excellence.
- No “pay-to-win”: nomination fees cover administrative processing and do not influence scoring or outcomes.
Exact thresholds, tie-breaking rules, and disqualification grounds are defined in the Terms & Conditions (Section 12).
Feedback
Where available, judges may provide concise feedback intended to be constructive and professional. Feedback is not guaranteed for every nomination and may be edited for confidentiality and compliance.
Appeals and Disputes
Scoring decisions are final. The Organizer may correct administrative errors or resolve eligibility issues in accordance with the Terms & Conditions.