About the the Arthur Burns Prize

This award of £500 (donated by Mark Storey, Margot Finn and Tim Hitchcock) will be given in memory of Professor Arthur Burns for the best paper given at the Institute of Historical Research seminar, British History in the Long Eighteenth Century, in the current academic year by a post-graduate or early career historian.

The closing date for applications is Friday 10th July 2026

The judges of the prize will be convenors of the British History in the Long Eighteenth Century. Their decision as to the winner of the award will be final.

Eligibility requirements:

• Applicants are required to have delivered a paper (in-person or online) at the British History in the Long Eighteenth Century seminar during the academic year in which the award is made.
  
  
• Applicants must be post-graduate or early career historians (i.e. within ten years of being awarded their PhD). Early career applicants may have an academic post or be an independent scholar.
  
  
• Papers must not have been published in any form at the date of submission for the prize
  
  
• Papers should follow our Submission Guidelines.

Submission Guidelines

• Papers should be no more than 8,000 words (not including footnotes) and must be fully referenced.
  
  
• Please include an abstract of not more than 400 words and a title page with the following information: name, email address, title, and word length.
  
  
• Papers should be submitted as MS Word documents.
  
  
• For the convenience of the judging panel please use the following standard style:
  • Times New Roman font, 12pt.
  • 1.5 line spacing
    
    
• References should be Footnotes rather than endnotes.