Only one entry is permitted per person, so choose wisely which element you wish to write about! Entries must be written by a single author; multiple-author essays are not permitted.
How to submit
The deadline for receipt of essays is 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 1 August 2011. Essays should be submitted by e-mail to nchem@nature.com.
Essays should make some mention of current research involving the chosen element, but should go beyond a simple dry summary of such uses. We're looking for essays that stand out from the crowd, perhaps by including interesting stories about an element's discovery and/or history, or by highlighting unusual aspects of an element's chemistry or some crucial relevance to our everyday lives beyond simply academic or industrial research. Essays should be written in an informal and entertaining manner that would appeal to a wide audience of chemists. A freely available example of an In Your Element article can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v1/n1/full/nchem.158.html. In addition, the essays we have published on tellurium and phosphorus are freely available to registered nature.com users for the duration of the competition. Essays must be original and should not, either entirely or in part, have been previously published elsewhere, including online-only sources.
Each submission must include:
A short cover letter that clearly states the entrant's current position, contact details, and why they have chosen a particular element.
The article text, in English, strictly limited to 700-800 words, with up to 5 references. The article word count does not include the title, author affiliation or references.
The cover letter and essay should be submitted as a single file, either as a Word document or a pdf file.
Entrants' contact details will only be used in conjunction with this competition. For details about how NPG protects and uses personal information, please see our privacy statement at http://www.nature.com/info/privacy.html.