The Outstanding Research Article Award is just one way to honor the research that is conducted and subsequently published in Gastroenterology Nursing to advance the science of gastroenterology nursing. Over the past few years, however, the decision on who should get the award has become increasingly difficult due to the increased number of research articles published in the journal. To this end, the Research Committee has developed criteria to assist in scoring the research articles (see below). While there is still obviously some subjectivity, the use of the criteria has made it much more objective in comparing one article to another. In addition, these criteria are reviewed annually by the members of the Research Committee to ensure that they are still relevant. The Research Committee members apply these criteria and score all of the research articles from the previous year. Totals are tabulated and essentially the article that receives the highest score is the one that receives the annual award. While the award is modest, it is but one way to recognize the contribution to the advancement of gastroenterology nursing.