All approved and registered papers presented at COMUNICON 2025 will be eligible for the COMUNICON Award. The award aims to recognize excellence in academic work developed in the field of communication and consumption. The Evaluation Committee is composed of internal and external researchers from the PPGCOM ESPM.

REGULATIONS

I. Definition and Objectives

Art. 1 – The COMUNICON Award aims to recognize the excellence of academic and scientific work presented at the Working Groups Meeting on Communication and Consumption during the International Congress on Communication and Consumption (COMUNICON), held biennially by the Graduate Program in Communication and Consumer Practices at ESPM.

Art. 2 – The main objectives of the COMUNICON Award are:
a) To highlight and promote high-quality studies and research in the field of communication and consumption.
b) To foster the dissemination of excellent scientific work in the area of communication and consumption.
c) To encourage the production of scientific knowledge in communication through research at the intersection of communication and consumption.
d) To stimulate critical reflection in research on communication and consumer practices.
e) To promote innovation in research in communication and consumption.

II. Categories

Art. 3 – The COMUNICON Award will be granted to the best papers presented in the Working Groups Meeting on Communication and Consumption at the COMUNICON International Congress, in the following categories, defined according to the academic status of the main author as indicated at the time of paper submission:

a) Undergraduate students and/or graduates
b) Master’s students
c) Master’s degree holders
d) Doctoral students
e) PhD holders

§1 – In the case of co-authored papers nominated for the award, the category in which the paper will compete will be based on the academic status of the main author, as indicated at the time of submission.

III. Scientific Committee, Judging Committee, and Evaluation Stages

Art. 4 – The Scientific Committee of the COMUNICON Award will consist of all the Coordinators of the Working Groups of the Working Groups Meeting on Communication and Consumption at the COMUNICON Congress.

Art. 5 – The evaluation process will follow two stages. In the first stage, each Working Group Coordinator will designate an evaluation committee within the group, which will select and nominate one paper per category (as defined in Chapter II, Art. 3) to be forwarded to the Judging Committee. The nominated papers and their authors will be announced on the congress website.

§1 – The evaluation committee of each Working Group may decide not to nominate any paper in one or more categories if it deems the submitted work lacks sufficient merit for award consideration.

Art. 6 – In the second stage of evaluation, the COMUNICON Award Judging Committee will be formed, composed of internal and external evaluators appointed by the PPGCOM-ESPM faculty board.

Art. 7 – The following criteria will guide both the Scientific Committee’s nominations and the Judging Committee’s deliberations:
a) Social and scientific relevance of the topic
b) Relevance of the topic for advancing communication and consumption studies
c) Theoretical and methodological adequacy and rigor
d) Originality and innovation in contributing to the field of communication and consumer practices

Art. 8 – The Judging Committee will deliberate and publicly announce the winning papers of the COMUNICON Award.

IV. Award

Art. 9 – The award is symbolic in nature. The winning authors and the members of the Judging Committee will be announced on the congress website. Authors of the winning papers in each category will receive a certificate acknowledging the award.

§1 – At its discretion, the Judging Committee may grant Honorable Mentions to nominated papers that are not awarded. The same evaluation criteria described in Art. 7 of Chapter III will apply. Authors receiving Honorable Mentions will also receive a certificate recognizing the distinction.

Art. 10 – Any omissions in this regulation will be resolved by the board of the Graduate Program in Communication and Consumer Practices (PPGCOM) at ESPM.