June 27, 2018
Contact:
Heather Thorstensen
Manager of Communications
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
hthorstensen@sigmaxi.org or 800-243-6534 ext 216
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. ― Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society’s magazine American Scientist has once again ranked among the top publications from nonprofit associations, and its newly relaunched website is gaining recognition in the digital media category.
The Society’s magazine received three awards on June 25 at Association Media & Publishing’s (AM&P) 38th Annual EXCEL Awards Gala in Washington, DC. The EXCEL Awards recognize excellence and leadership in nonprofit association media, publishing, marketing, and communications. Awards are presented in gold, silver, and bronze tiers. Of the 841 total entries this year, 300 were selected for awards.
American Scientist won two Gold EXCEL Awards in the journals category: one for General Excellence and one for Feature Article. The Gold General Excellence award goes to the judges’ top selection for best writing, content, design, and overall packaging based on two sets of three consecutive issues. The Gold Feature Article award goes to the best in-depth exploration of a single topic. The winning article, “The Biodiversity Conservation Paradox” was written by Mark Vellend, an ecologist at Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, Canada, and was published in American Scientist’s March–April 2017 issue. In the article, Vellend discusses how even in places where nature is perceptibly altered by human actions, the number of species does not necessarily decline.
The magazine also won a Silver EXCEL Award in the digital media category for Website Redesign. The redesigned website at americanscientist.org launched in June 2017 to improve the reader experience, especially for readers using mobile devices. The new site allows readers to choose to view content by subject or media type, such as videos, podcasts, features, blogs, or book reviews.
“We’ve designed the site to host new formats, what we’re calling digital features,” said Robert Frederick, American Scientist’s digital managing editor who was the project manager for the redesign and accepted the awards at the gala. “These new formats will add new dimensions to the users’ experience—audio, visual, yes, but also interactivity—that just isn’t possible in print.”
Sigma Xi has published American Scientist since 1913. The bi-monthly publication features articles written by the world’s leading researchers, who share descriptions of their work and their perspectives on today’s leading issues in science and technology. With the combination of clear editing, beautiful photography, and smart graphics, American Scientist contributes toward Sigma Xi's mission to "promote the public's understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition.”
AM&P has recognized American Scientist and Sigma Xi with EXCEL Awards for multiple years. A full list of 2018 winners is available on AM&P’s website.
Photo captions
Top photo: Robert Frederick, digital managing editor for American Scientist, accepted the magazine’s three EXCEL Awards on June 25 in Washington, DC.
Bottom photo: The redesigned American Scientist website earned the magazine a Silver EXCEL Award.