Rules & Eligibility

Submissions are now closed for the 2023 National Magazine Awards: B2B.

The annual National Magazine Awards: B2B competition is open to Canadian print and digital magazines and to Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents whose work has appeared in them during the 2022 calendar year.

For this competition, the NMAF’s guiding principle for magazine publishing is that the publication—whether print or digital—must:

  • Self-describe as a trade, association, alumni or professional (B2B) magazine;
  • Have a permanent editorial staff in Canada;
  • Be published in English or French or a combination of both;
  • Be editorial in nature (that is, it must have and submit a clear editorial mandate);
  • Be the product of an editorial process.

The NMAF reserves the right for its judges to decide whether a publication qualifies as a trade, association, alumni or professional (B2B) magazine.

All submissions must satisfy the following rules:

  1. Original work which appears in the December 2022/January 2023 issue of a bi-monthly magazine is eligible, but not that which appeared in a December 2021/January 2022 issue. A single issue dated January or Winter 2023 is NOT eligible for submission. Submissions from digital magazines must be original work that was first published during the 2022 calendar year.
  2. Sponsored content: The NMAF requires all submitters disclose sponsored content on the entry form. Sponsored content is defined as editorial content financially supported by an external sponsor, but produced independently from that sponsor. Sponsored content is eligible for awards, provided that the submitter affirms that no third party exerted an influence on or played a role in the editorial process (including, but not limited to research, angle selection, reporting, writing, content and image creation, editing). The NMAF entrusts its juries with the final decision as to whether sponsored content should be considered for an award.
  3. Awards are intended for Canadian content creators (Canadian citizen or permanent resident eligible to work in Canada) and as such:
  • Awards for illustrations are limited to Canadian illustrators and are open only to work commissioned by the magazine.
  • Awards for photography are limited to Canadian photographers. Note: Previously published photos and/or stock photography will be ruled inadmissible except in the Editorial category of Best Cover.
  • Awards for art direction are open to Canadian art directors and their staff or freelance associates.
  • Awards for writing and visual are open to Canadian staff or freelance contributors.
  • Awards for editorial categories are open to Canadian editors, art directors and freelance contributors.
  1. Except where stated, there is no limit on the number of entries submitted per category. Finalists will be proportionate to the number of entries submitted in a category up to a maximum of ten finalists.
  2. All submissions must be accompanied by permission, not for sale or profit, to use the entries of finalists in the awards presentation, blog, website, and social media, and to include any winning entry in perpetuity on the Foundation’s website.
  3. Entries that do not conform to the rules or fit category definitions may be disqualified without notice. Entry fees for disqualified or withdrawn submissions will not be refunded.
  4. A minimum of three (3) submissions must be received in a category for a judging panel to be convened. The NMAF also reserves the right to cancel any category in which the jury decides no entry is of sufficient quality to merit an award. In the event that a category is cancelled, entry fees will be refunded to submitters.The decision of the judges will be final.
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