Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration. 

Student Writing Competition 2025 Guidelines. 

(Washington, DC: 2024) https://doi.org/10.21949/1521738 

FHWA-HRT-24-068

EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

Public Roads is proud to announce its second annual Student Writing Competition, a contest that

encourages high school, undergraduate, and graduate students interested in or actively pursuing STEM 

majors to demonstrate their knowledge by writing an article that relates to the transportation industry. 

The competition aims to highlight students’ capabilities and acumen in the world of transportation 

research while giving them early insight into the process of writing scholarly work. 

Selected works will be showcased in the Winter 2025 issue of Public Roads magazine. 

DEADLINE CALENDAR

• Date the competition opens: March 1, 2024. 

• Date applications are due: 11:59 p.m. (EST) on April 1, 2024. 

• Date articles are due: 11:59 p.m. (EST) on May 1, 2024. 

• Date applicants are notified: December 2024. 

NO APPLICATIONS OR ARTICLES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE STATED DEADLINES. 

ELIGIBILITY

All students must be enrolled at a school located in the United States.

• High school students (grades 10–12 or equivalent).

• Undergraduate or graduate students. 

• Two entries (articles) will be allowed but a separate application must be submitted for each 

topic.

FORMAT

• Articles should be a minimum of 500 words (one page) and a maximum of 1,000 words (2 

pages).

• Photos are encouraged. Please visit the Photos and Other Visuals section on our website for 

tips. Students must have permission to use any images not belonging to themselves. Public 

Roads will require students and/or their parents (if applicable) to provide written permission to 

use their personal photos prior to inclusion in the magazine. 

• Topics must be related to the transportation industry and address at least one of the goals and 

objectives of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Strategic Plan 2022–2026

relating to safety, economic strength and global competitiveness, equity, transformation, and 

organizational excellence. Articles can also speak to efficiency, resiliency, mobility, 

innovation, and accessibility. 

• Entries will be identified by a designated number to ensure unbiased review of each

submission, which will appear in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration. 

Student Writing Competition 2025 Guidelines. 

(Washington, DC: 2024) https://doi.org/10.21949/1521738 

FHWA-HRT-24-068

• Neither the author’s name nor the name of the author’s school should appear anywhere on

the entry. (Note: While entries are reviewed anonymously, the selected authors will receive a 

byline in the magazine when their articles are published.)

• All entries MUST be submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx). Include the title 

of the piece in the file name as well as at the top of the entry. 

• Work must be original. Any borrowed ideas or language must be appropriately

acknowledged with noted references/citations. Inclusion of URLs is encouraged to help

support fact checking as part of the editorial process.

• Public Roads reserves the right to perform minor edits on submissions to align with standard 

FHWA and Public Roads style. Final copies of winning articles will be sent to the respective 

student(s) prior to print.

• Promotional language or endorsements, such as recommending use of a specific brand of

equipment or product, is prohibited. Students are encouraged to write their articles in general

terms. 

• Students are also prohibited from promoting/endorsing/slandering any political official,

party, or legislation. 

• Guidance on how to write an article for Public Roads can be found at: Guidelines for 

Authors: Public Roads Magazine | FHWA (dot.gov). 

• Current and previous articles can be found at Public Roads Magazine | FHWA (dot.gov). 

JUDGING CRITERIA

• Does the article address one or more of the goals and objectives of FHWA?

• Does the topic explore trends in the industry or present data in a meaningful way?

• Does it offer reasonable and feasible implementation? 

• Does it demonstrate knowledge and understanding of transportation systems? 

• Was the information presented in a clear, concise manner?

• Was the document free of grammatical and punctuation errors?

• Was the topic or theory approached in a unique way?