All SCNHD contests adhere to the NHD Contest Rule Book
** The 2023-2024 state and national competitions will be held in person
South Carolina History Day Spectator Policy
In an effort to ensure our student competitors have a fair and fun experience, please adhere to the following policies. Thank you in advance for adhering to these policies.
- TURN OFF ALL CELLPHONES while viewing any student project.
- Refrain from cheering during documentaries and performances. Brief applause at the end is acceptable.
- While walking/waiting in the hallways, keep your voices down so as not to disturb the judging process.
- Please do not speak to the judges concerning the judging of your student’s project. Contact contest officials with any concerns.
- While judging is in progress, stay in your seat and do not interject with your opinions.
- Do not enter a room once judging has started.
- Please eat in designated areas only.
- Judges have absolute authority to remove disruptive individuals from the judging room if they deem it necessary to protect the integrity of the judging process.
- All participants are expected to maintain proper standards of decorum during the event. Individuals who engage in disruptive behavior will be asked to leave the contest area and may be barred from future SCHD competitions.
Personal Property Disclaimer
South Carolina History Day and Coastal Carolina University assumes no responsibility for personal property. It is the owner’s responsibility for arranging the pickup of any items left/lost at the contest.
This contest is for winning projects from the regional contests. The top two projects in each division and category advance to the national contest. The third place serves as the alternate if a position is available.
What to Expect During the Contest
- The contest will be held in person in 2024.
- Projects, excepting exhibits and performances, should be uploaded into the zFairs system to be judged.
- Winners will be announced at the contest.
Project Evaluation
Judges will use NHD Evaluation Forms to evaluate your entry. You are encouraged to use these forms as a guide in developing your project. Then, after the contest, carefully review the judges’ feedback. If your project is moving on to a higher competition level, consider ways to strengthen your work. Between contest levels, you may continue your research, refine your analysis, and revise your project, including your title. However, you may not change your topic (Rule 3, p. 14). There are two evaluation sections:
Historical Quality (80%) - this section is the same for all categories
- Strength of your historical argument
- Research
- Relationship to annual theme
Clarity of Presentation (20%) - this section is different for each category
- How well your project communicates your argument using the tools of your category
Category evaluation forms can be found at nhd.org/categories.
Rule infractions occur if you violate any of the rules stated in this Contest Rule Book. Failure to comply with the rules will count against your entry. Judges will consider rule infractions in their fnal rankings. Note that while rule infractions may preent your entry from advancing, they are not grounds for disqualifcation from a competition.
Disqualification. The Contest Coordinator has the authority to disqualify an entry, which will result in removal from competition, for the following reasons related to academic integrity:
- Entering your project in multiple contests or entry categories within a contest year (Rule 2, p. 14)
- Reusing, individually or as a group, a project (or research from a project) from a previous year (Rule 4, p. 14)
- Plagiarizing (Rule 5, p. 15)
- Tampering with or removing any part of another entry during a competition (Rule 6, p. 15)