Apply Now: Massage Therapy Foundation Case Report Contest

Top-rated reports will receive recognition in the way of publication opportunities and cash rewards.

Prize Information

• Grand Prize “Gold” Award:
  • $2,500.00 cash prize for the gold award winner contingent upon the winner undergoing the peer review process for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (IJTMB) or another peer reviewed scholarly journal by the appropriate deadline. Winner will receive $1,000 upon receiving “acceptance with revisions” from the Journal, $1,500 upon receiving notification of acceptance for publication.
  • Up to $1,000.00 stipend each for the student winner to travel to an upcoming AMTA National Convention and present the findings.
  • Invitation to submit a poster for the upcoming AMTA National Convention Poster Session.
  • Local and national press releases announcing the award.
  • A personal keepsake gold plaque.
• Second Place “Silver” Award:
  • $2,000.00 cash prize for the silver award winner contingent upon the winner undergoing the peer review process for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (IJTMB) or another peer reviewed scholarly journal by the appropriate deadline. Winner will receive $800 upon receiving “acceptance with revisions” from the Journal, $1,200 upon receiving notification of acceptance for publication.
  • Invitation to submit a poster for the AMTA National Convention Poster Session.
  • Local and national press releases announcing the award.
  • A personal keepsake silver Plaque.
• Third Place “Bronze” Award:
  • $1,500.00 cash prize for the bronze award winner contingent upon the winner undergoing the peer review process for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (IJTMB) or another peer reviewed scholarly journal by the appropriate deadline. Winner will receive $600 upon receiving “acceptance with revisions” from the Journal, $900 upon receiving notification of acceptance for publication.
  • Invitation to submit a poster for the AMTA National Convention Poster Session.
  • Local and national press releases announcing the award.
  • A personal keepsake bronze Plaque.
• Honorable Mention/s:
  • Local and national press releases announcing the award.
  • A personal keepsake certificate.

Case Report Structure

• Students and practitioners (hereby referred to as “practitioners”) must report on independent clinical interventions on one client. This is a quantitative report which includes completing a literature review on the presenting condition or client goal; creating and implementing a treatment plan in accordance with the literature, the needs of the client, and the practitioners’ expertise; reporting the results; discussing the implications of the outcomes; and offering suggestions for future studies. Because a case report is on one client only, they will not accept a case series on multiple clients. Submissions of this type will not be scored by the reviewers.
• Logistics of the case report:
  • Practitioners must conduct a minimum of five massage therapy sessions with the participating client.
  • It is highly recommended that massage therapy be the only new intervention in the client’s treatment plan.
  • Client confidentiality and the security of health information must be maintained. Do not include any information that may lead to personal identification.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Massage Therapy Foundation’s Case Report Contest is open to massage therapy students and practitioners who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and completed a massage therapy program in the United States or abroad.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Officers, directors, and employees of the Massage Therapy Foundation, its affiliates, agents, and its advertising and promotion agencies, and their respective immediate family members (spouse, children, parents and siblings) and those living in the same household of each (whether or not related), are not eligible to enter.
• Case Reports that have been previously published will not be considered.

Application Requirements

• The case report document must be double-spaced, using 12 pt. font size, in Times (or similar) font with 1inch margins on all sides, written in the English language, and saved as a PDF document. Tables and figures, if included, should be in line with text and not placed at the end of the document.
• The report must be concisely and coherently written and follow the prescribed format.
• The document must be 2000-4000 words, excluding the cover page and references. The entire submitted document should not exceed 20 pages.
• The case report should include an intervention that is interesting, pertinent to the massage therapy profession, and the understanding of massage’s impact is not extensively documented in-peer reviewed journals.
• Reports must be submitted online through the MTF grant portal.

For more information, visit Massage Therapy Foundation.