Free participation
Application and review carry no fee. Membership, donations, event attendance, paid advice, and award packages are not conditions of participation.
An approved award includes the digital certificate, registry listing, verification, and permitted digital artwork. Optional purchases follow the award decision and issue of these free benefits.
Separation from sales
Scientific reviewers assess the evidence and a separate decision reviewer checks the outcome. Personnel handling physical award materials have no authority over scores, awards, appeals, or renewal.
The rules exclude purchasing intentions and order values from assessment information. Reviewer compensation must not depend on the number of awards or sales.
Disclosure requirements
Applicants and reviewers must disclose relevant employment, consulting, research funding, manufacturing, testing, investments, disputes, and close personal relationships.
Disclosure covers current relationships and the preceding 36 months, plus older relationships with a continuing material effect. A disclosure is assessed for its effect on impartiality; it does not itself resolve a conflict.
Conflict decisions
Conflicts must be screened before access is assigned. A material relationship identified later can require the affected review to be paused, reassigned, or independently reconsidered.
An applicant may raise a supported concern through the concern form. The program determines the appropriate reviewer assignment.
Funding and accountability
ASA is responsible for funding the free application and review process. Material relationships relevant to understanding a particular award belong in its public disclosure.
Optional purchases confer no additional award rights. Cancelling an order or receiving a refund leaves the award decision unchanged.
Report a concern
Report a suspected conflict, sales pressure, or a purchase presented as a condition of an award. Include the relevant application or award number and supporting facts.