Nomination Deadline: June 1
Purpose: CCCC recognizes works in Technical and Scientific Communication across these six categories:
- Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
- Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
- Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
- Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical or Scientific Communication
- Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
- Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
The selection committee may decide not to grant an award in a given category if the quality of submissions is deemed insufficiently high.
Eligibility: The awards competition is open to works published in calendar years 2023 and 2024 for the 2025 award. To be eligible for the awards, a nominee must be a member of CCCC and/or NCTE at the time of nomination. To nominate a work for the awards, the author, editor, publisher, or reader must be a CCCC and/or NCTE member.
Award Specifics: For a work to be considered, the nomination must include:
- A copy of the article or full citation information for a book. For articles in journals or collections, the individual article must be submitted. Any work originally written in a language other than English must be submitted in translation.
- Identification of the category for which the work is to be considered. Each submission may be nominated in only one category. Individuals submitting nominations are encouraged to consult with authors about the category most appropriate for their work. Self-nominations are permitted.
- Information about the author. This should include the author’s name, telephone number, mailing address, and email address.
Nominations should be sent by June 1, 2024, to cccc@ncte.org.
Winners will be notified in January and are presented with a certificate during the CCCC Awards Session at the CCCC Convention.
Past Winners
2024
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Michael L. Black, Transparent Designs: Personal Computing and the Politics of User-friendliness, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Amber Lancaster and Carie S. T. King, “Localized Usability and Agency in Design: Whose Voices Are We Advocating?,” Technical Communication, 2022
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Jessica Edwards and Josie Walwema, “Black Women Imagining and Realizing Liberated Futures,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2022
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Jianfen Chen, Sarah Hughes, and Nupoor Ranade, “Reimagining student-centered learning: Accessible and inclusive syllabus design during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Computers and Composition, 2023
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Candice A. Welhausen, “Wicked Problems in Risk Assessment: Mapping Yellow Fever and Constructing Risk as an Embodied Experience,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2023
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Kristin C. Bennett and Mark A. Hannah, “Transforming the Rights-Based Encounter: Disability Rights, Disability Justice, and the Ethics of Access,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2022
2023
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Andrew Fiss, Performing Math: A History of Communication and Anxiety in the American Mathematics Classroom, Rutgers University Press, 2021
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Rebecca Walton and Godwin Y. Agboka, Equipping Technical Communicators for Social Justice Work: Theories, Methodologies, and Pedagogies, Utah State University Press, 2021
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Lynda C. Olman, “Decolonizing the Color-Line: A Topological Analysis of W.E.B. Du Bois’s Infographics for the 1900 Paris Exposition,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2022
Honorable Mention
Jason Tham, “Pasts and Futures of Design Thinking: Implications for Technical Communication,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 2022
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Godwin Y. Agboka and Isidore K. Dorpenyo, “Curricular Efforts in Technical Communication After the Social Justice Turn,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2022
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq and Rebecca Walton, “Reviewer as Activist: Understanding Academic Review Through Conocimiento,” Rhetoric Review, 2021
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Laura Gonzales, Robin Lewy, Erika Hernandez Cuevas, and Vianna Lucia Gonzalez Ajiataz, “(Re)Designing Technical Documentation About COVID-19 with and for Indigenous Communities in Gainesville, Florida, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 2022
Honorable Mention
Godwin Y. Agboka, “What is on the Traditional Herbal Medicine Label? Technical Communication and Patient Safety in Ghana,” Technical Communication, 2021
2022
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Huaton Sun, Global Social Media Design: Bridging Differences Across Cultures, Oxford University Press, 2020
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Michael J. Klein (Ed.), Effective Teaching of Technical Communication: Theory, Practice, and Application, WAC Clearinghouse and University Press of Colorado, 2021
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Naoko Ozaki, Jillian Hill, and Mike Duncan, “The Rhetoric of Kamikaze Manuals,” Technical Communication, 2020
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Shannon Butts and Madison Jones, “Deep Mapping for Environmental Communication Design,” Communication Design Quarterly, 2021
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Fernando Sánchez, “Examining Methectic Technical Communication in an Urban Planning Comic Book,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2020
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Steven Fraiberg, “Unsettling Start-Up Ecosystems: Geographies, Mobilities, and Transnational Literacies in the Palestinian Start-Up Ecosystem,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2021
2021
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Rebecca Walton, Kristen Moore, and Natasha Jones, Technical Communication after the Social Justice Turn: Building Coalitions for Action, Routledge, 2019
Honorable Mention
Heidi Yoston Lawrence, Vaccine Rhetorics, The Ohio State University Press, 2020
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Edward A. Malone, David Wright, and Daniel Reardon (Eds.), Special Issue on Transmedia, Participatory Culture, and Digital Creation in Technical Communication, 2019
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Edward A. Malone, “‘Don’t Be a Dilbert’: Transmedia Storytelling as Technical Communication during and after World War II,” Technical Communication, 2019
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Cecilia D. Shelton, “Shifting Out of Neutral: Centering Difference, Bias, and Social Justice in a Business Writing Course,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2020
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Avery C. Edenfield, Steve Holmes, and Jared S. Colton, “Queering Tactical Technical Communication: DIY HRT,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2019
Honorable Mention
David Wright, “Sounding Off: Toward a Rhetoric of Sound in Technical Communication,” Technical Communication, 2019
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Lucía Durá, Lauren Perez, and Magdalena Chaparro, “Positive Deviance as Design Thinking: Challenging Notions of Stasis in Technical and Professional Communication,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2019
Josephine Walwema, “A Values-Driven Approach to Technical Communication,” Technical Communication, 2020
2020
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Elizabeth L. Angeli, Rhetorical Work in Emergency Medical Services: Communicating in the Unpredictable Workplace, Routledge
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Angela M. Haas and Michelle F. Eble (Editors), Key Theoretical Frameworks: Teaching Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century, Utah State University Press
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Natasha N. Jones and Miriam F. Williams, “Technologies of Disenfranchisement: Literacy Tests and Black Voters in the US from 1890 to 1965,” Technical Communication, 2018
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Daniel Kenzie and Mary McCall, “Teaching Writing for the Health Professions: Disciplinary Intersections and Pedagogical Practice,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2018
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Madison Jones, “Sylvan Rhetorics: Roots and Branches of More-than-Human Publics,” Rhetoric Review, 2019
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Rebecca Walton and Sarah Beth Hopton, “All Vietnamese Men Are Brothers: Rhetorical Strategies and Community Engagement Practices Used to Support Victims of Agent Orange,” Technical Communication, 2018
2019
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Christa Teston, Bodies in Flux: Scientific Methods for Negotiating Medical Uncertainty, University of Chicago Press
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Natalia Matveeva, Michelle Moosally, and Russell Willerton (Editors), Special Issue on Plain Language, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 2017
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Lilly Campbell, “Simulation genres and student uptakes: The patient health record in clinical nursing simulations,” Written Communication, 2017
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Julie Watts, “Beyond Flexibility and Convenience: Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Assess the Value of Online Graduate Education in Technical and Professional Communication,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2017
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Jordan Frith, “Big Data, Technical Communication, and the Smart City,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2017
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Lynda Walsh, “Visual invention and the composition of scientific research graphics: A topological approach,” Written Communication, 2018
2018
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder, Communicating Technology and Mobility: A Material Rhetoric for Transportation, Routledge
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Clay Spinuzzi (Ed), Special Issue on the Rhetoric of Entrepreneurship: Theories, Methodologies, and Practices, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2017
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication Honorable Mention
Derek G. Ross (Ed), Topic-Driven Environmental Rhetoric, Routledge
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Kenneth C. Walker, “Mapping the Contours of Translation: Visualized Un/Certainties in the Ozone Hole Controversy,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2016
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Scott Warnock, Nicholas Rouse, Christopher Finnin, Frank Linnehan, and Dylan Dryer, “Measuring Quality, Evaluating Curricular Change: A 7-Year Assessment of Undergraduate Business Student Writing,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2017
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Natasha N. Jones, Kristen R. Moore, and Rebecca Walton, “Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Communication,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2016
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Jenni Virtaluoto, Annalisa Sannino, and Yrjo Engestrom, “Surviving Outsourcing and Offshoring: Technical Communication Professionals in Search of a Future,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2016
2017
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Sean Zdenek, Reading Sounds: Closed-Captioned Media and Popular Culture, University of Chicago Press
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Pavel Zemliansky et al. (Eds), Rethinking Post-Communist Rhetoric: Perspectives on Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication in Post-Soviet Spaces, Rowman & Littlefield
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Chelsea Redeker Milbourne, “Disruption, Spectacle, and Gender in Eighteenth-Century Technical Communication,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2016
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Rebecca K. Britt and Kristen Nicole Hatten, “The Development and Validation of the eHealth Competency Scale: A Measurement of Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, Usage, and Motivation,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 2016
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Joanna Wolfe, “Teaching Students to Focus on the Data in Data Visualization,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2015
2016
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Huiling Ding, Rhetoric of a Global Epidemic: Transcultural Communication about SARS
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Miriam F. Williams and Octavio Pimentel (Eds.), Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Sam Dragga and Gwendolyn Gong, “Dangerous Neighbors: Erasive Rhetoric and Communities at R.” Technical Communication, 61:2, 2014, 76-94
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Jim Suchan, “Gauging Openness to Written Communication Change: The Predictive Power of Metaphor.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 28:4, 2014, 447-476
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Clay Spinuzzi, “Toward a Typology of Activities: Understanding Internal Contradictions in Multiperspectival Activities,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 29:1, 2015, 3-35
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Joseph Jeyaraj, “Engineering and Narrative: Literary Prerequisites as Indirect Communication for Technical Writing,” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 44:2, 2014, 191-210
2015
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Amy Koerber, Breast or Bottle: Contemporary Controversies in Infant-Feeding Policy and Practice
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Eva R. Brumberger and Kathryn M. Northcut, Designing texts: Teaching visual communication
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Dmitri Stanchevici, “The Rhetorical Construction of Social Classes in Stalin’s Secret Police.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 43:3, 2013, 261-288
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Miles A. Kimball, “Visual Design Principles: An Empirical Study of Design Lore.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 43:1, 2013, 3-41
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Patricia Sullivan and Kristen Moore, “Time Talk: On Small Changes That Enact Infrastructural Mentoring for Undergraduate Women in Technical Fields.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 43:3, 2013, 333-354
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Peter J. Fadde and Patricia Sullivan, “Designing Communication for Collaboration Across Engineering Cultures: A teaching case.” connexions, 1:2, 2013, 135-158
2014
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Robert R. Johnson, Romancing the Atom: Nuclear Infatuation from the Radium Girls to Fukushima
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart A. Selber, Solving Problems in Technical Communication
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication
Neil Lindeman, “Subjectivized Knowledge and Grassroots Advocacy: An Analysis of an Environmental Controversy in Northern California.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 27:1, 2013, 62-90
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Natasha Jones, Justin McDavid, Katie Derthick, Randy Dowell, and Jan Spyridakis, “Plain Language in Environmental Policy Documents: An Assessment of Reader Comprehension and Perceptions.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 42:4, 2012, 331-371
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Karen Schriver, “What We Know about Expertise in Professional Communication.” In V. W. Berninger, (Ed.), Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Cognitive Writing Research to Cognitive Psychology. Psychology Press, 2012, 275-312
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Yvonne Cleary and Madelyn Flammia, “Preparing Technical Communication Students to Function as User Advocates in a Self-Service Society.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 42:3, 2012, 305-322
2013
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Huatong Sun, Cross-cultural technology design: Creating culture-sensitive technology for local users
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Jessica Reyman and Mary Lay Schuster, “Special Issue: Technical Communication and the Law,” Technical Communication Quarterly
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical or Scientific Communication
Sarah Read, “The Mundane, Power, and Symmetry: A Reading of the Field with Dorothy Winsor and the Tradition of Ethnographic Research,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 20:4, 2011, 353-383
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Jacob E. McCarthy, Jeffrey T. Grabill, William Hart-Davidson, and Michael McLeod, “Content Management in the Workplace: Community, Context, and a New Way to Organize Writing,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 25:4, 2011, 367-395
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Doug Brent, “Transfer, Transformation, and Rhetorical Knowledge: Insights From Transfer Theory,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 25:4, 2011, 396-420
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Cheryl Ball, “Assessing Scholarly Multimedia: A Rhetorical Genre Studies Approach,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 21:1, 2012, 61-77
2012
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Brad Mehlenbacher, Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Margaret Hundleby and Jo Allen, Assessment in Technical and Professional Communication
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical or Scientific Communication
Edward A. Malone, “’Chrysler’s ‘Most Beautiful Engineer’: Lucille J. Pieti in the Pillory of Fame.” Technical Communication Quarterly, 19:2, 2010, 144-183
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Clay Spinuzzi, “Secret Sauce and Snake Oil: Writing Monthly Reports in a Highly Contingent Environment.” Written Communication, 27:4, 2010, 363-409
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
Jason Swarts, “Recycled Writing: Assembling Actor Networks From Reusable Content.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 24:2, 2010, 127-163
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Natasha Artemeva and Janna Fox, “Awareness Versus Production: Probing Students’ Antecedent Genre Knowledge.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 24:4, 2010, 476-515
2010
Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication
Carol Siri Johnson, The Language of Work: Technical Communication at Lukens Steel, 1810-1925
Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication
Christina Hass, Written Communication, Special issue on Writing and Medicine, 26(3-4) July-October 2009, 215-396
Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical or Scientific Communication
Catherine Schryer, Elena Afros, Marcellina Mian, Marlee Spafford, & Lorelei Lingard,
“The Trial of the Expert Witness: Negotiating Credibility in Child Abuse Correspondence,” Written Communication, 26(3), July 2009: 215-246
Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication
Christa Teston, “A Grounded Investigation of Genred Guidelines in Cancer Care Deliberations,” Written Communication, 26(3), July 2009: 320-348
Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical or Scientific Communication
S. Scott Graham, “Agency and the Rhetoric of Medicine: Biomedical Brain Scans and the Ontology of Fibromyalgia,” Technical Communication Quarterly, 18(4), Fall 2009: 376-404
Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical or Scientific Communication
Rachel Spilka, “Practitioner Research Instruction: A Neglected Curricular Area in Technical Communication Undergraduate Programs,” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 23(2), April 2009: 216-237
Click here for a list of recipients of the NCTE Technical and Scientific Communication Awards prior to 2010.
