备战John Locke竞赛的宝子和家长们，是不是越准备越迷茫？
报名时间怎么定？选题有什么要求？评分标准到底是什么？网上关于竞赛的疑问五花八门，分不清真假，生怕被非官方信息带偏，耽误备考节奏。
为了帮大家省去筛选信息的时间，避开备考误区，今天这篇文章，所有问答均转载自John Locke竞赛官方，权威无偏差、无多余解读，纯纯官方原版内容。
覆盖报名、选题、提交、评分、获奖等所有高频疑问，不管是刚入门的新手，还是正在冲刺的备赛党，收藏这一篇，不用再四处查资料，高效搞定竞赛所有困惑！话不多说，直接上官方原版问答。
John Locke竞赛官方FAQ
Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?问：我错过了注册截止日期。我还能注册或提交论文吗？
A. No. Only contestants who registered before the registration deadline, or who purchased the late registration option, will be able to submit an essay.答：不。只有在报名截止日期前注册或购买了迟报名选项的选手才能提交论文。
Q. Are footnotes, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?问：脚注 、尾注、参考文献或参考文献是否计入字数限制？
A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted.答：不。只计算论文正文部分。
Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit?问：文内引用会计入字数限制吗？
A.If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.
答：如果你使用基于文内的引用格式，如 APA，你的文内引用会包含在字数限制中。
Q. Is it necessary to include footnotes or endnotes in an essay?问：在论文中必须包含 footnotes 或尾注吗？
A. You may not include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should acknowledge any other authors on whom you rely.
答：你 可能不 包含脚注，但可以包含文内引用或尾注。你应提供任何事实主张的来源，并请关注你依赖的其他作者。
Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?Q.我对一个看起来模糊的问题感兴趣。我该如何解读？
A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.A.你可以根据自己认为合适的方式解读问题，必要时澄清你的理解。完成后，你必须尽可能直接地回答问题。
Q. How strict are the age eligibility criteria?问：年龄资格标准有多严格 ？
A. You must be under 19 years old as of the regular submission deadline (31 May, 2026). If you turn 19 on 1 June 2026 or later, you are eligible to compete. There are no minimum age requirements—students of any age under 19 may participate.
A.截至常规提交截止日期（2026 年 5 月 31 日），您必须未满 19 岁。如果你在 2026 年 6 月 1 日或之后满 19 岁，你有资格参赛。没有最低年龄限制——任何 19 岁以下的学生都可以参加。
Q. May I submit more than one essay?问：我可以提交多篇论文吗？
A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.
A.是的，你可以在任何类别或所有类别提交任意数量的论文。
Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?问：我可以和别人合作写论文吗？
A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.答：不。每篇提交的论文都必须完全由个人完成。
Q. May I use AI software, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc, in writing my essay?问：我可以在写作文时使用人工智能软件，如 ChatGPT、Claude、Gemini 等吗？
A. Yes, you may. But please be warned that an overreliance on LLMs etc will most likely mean that your writing will be very similar to thousands of other essays, and most likely less interesting, less original, and less compelling than essays written by contestants who have used technology as a subordinate collaborator in the creative process, rather than as a lazy short-cut.
A.可以。但请注意，过度依赖大型语言模型等，很可能会让你的写作与成千上万篇其他论文非常相似，而且很可能比那些将技术作为创作过程中从属合作者而非懒惰捷径的参赛者写的论文更不有趣、缺乏原创性和吸引力。
Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence.
由于任何不会导致取消资格的人工智能使用，都只会对我们对您工作与未使用 AI 工作相比的评估产生负面影响，您最安全的做法就是干脆不使用。但如果您选择将其用于任何目的，我们保留根据具体情况作出相关判断的权利，且不会进行任何通信。
Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?问：我可以请别人帮我编辑或以其他方式协助我的论文吗？
A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.
A.你当然可以与他人讨论你的论文，他们提供一般建议、指出你写作或内容中的错误或不足是完全可以接受的，让你自己去解决。
However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them.
然而，你的论文中的任何部分都不得由他人撰写。这意味着你必须自己修改作品，虽然校对者可能会指出错误，但作为论文作者的你必须去纠正它们。
Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize?问：我必须参加颁奖典礼才能赢奖吗？
A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize.
答：没有人必须出席颁奖典礼。你可以在不去伦敦的情况下赢得奖品。但如果我们邀请你来伦敦，那是因为你的文章足够好——在第一轮评委看来——至少有资格争夺一等、二、三等奖。
Q. Is there an entry fee?Q.有报名费吗？
A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 25.00 GBP (for the seven day extension) or 75.00 GBP (for the twenty-one day extension).答：不。除非您在正常截止日期后提交论文，否则参加我们的全球论文比赛无需收费，否则七天延期需支付 25.00 英镑 ， 延期二十一天需支付 75 英镑 。
Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted?Q.如果我没有进入候选名单，参加你的论文比赛还能获得证书吗？
A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.答：不。证书仅授予入围论文。入围入围的选手若在伦敦参加颁奖典礼，将获得纸质证书。如果您无法前往伦敦，您可以下载电子证书。
Q. Can I receive feedback on my essay?问：我能在我的论文上获得反馈吗 ？
A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.A.我们很希望能对论文提供个人反馈，但遗憾的是，我们收到的参赛作品太多，无法对具体论文进行评论。
Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.Q.入围论文作者名单的发布截止日期已过，但我没有收到邮件告知我是否入围。
A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).答：登录您的账户，检查您的每篇论文的“候选状态”。
Q: Am I too young to participate in the Essay Prize competition?问：我参加论文奖比赛会不会太年轻？
A: No! The competition is open to students of any age under 19 as of the regular submission deadline of 31 May, 2026.答：不！比赛对19岁以下所有学生开放，截止日期为2026年5月31日。
Q: Can I win a prize in multiple categories?问：我可以在多个类别中获得奖品吗？
A: Yes, it is possible—though extremely rare. You may submit essays in as many categories as you wish (up to one essay per category), and each submission will be considered independently.答：是的，有可能——虽然极为罕见。你可以提交任意多个类别的论文（每个类别最多一篇），每篇提交都会被独立考虑。
If more than one of your essays is judged to be of outstanding quality, you could potentially win a prize in more than one category.如果你的多篇论文被评为杰出质量，你就有可能获胜多个类别的奖项。
Q: If I purchase the late submission option, will my essay be penalised in the grading process?
问：如果我购买迟交选项，我的论文会影响评分流程？
A. No, this will not affect how your essay is graded.答：不，这不会影响你的论文评分方式。
Q: Should my essay be in American or Commonwealth (British) English?问：我的论文应该用美式英语还是英联邦英语？
A: Either is acceptable. You may write your essay in American or Commonwealth (British) English—just be consistent throughout. Judges will not penalise you for your choice of variant.答：两种方式都可以接受。你可以用美式英语或英联邦英语写作——只要始终保持一致即可。裁判不会因为你选择的变体而处罚你。
Q: May I write my essay in a language other than English?问：我可以用英语以外的语言写论文吗？
A: No. Only essays written in English will be considered.答：没有。仅考虑用英语写的论文。
Q: I do not have a teacher to list as my referee. What should I do?问：我没有老师可以列为我的裁判。我该怎么办？
A: You can list another responsible adult who is familiar with your academic work. This could be a tutor, summer programme teacher, or other academic mentor who is not related to you.
答：你可以列出另一位熟悉你学术工作的负责任成年人。可以是导师、暑期项目教师或其他与你无关的学术导师。
Q: If I want to purchase the late submission option, but I am submitting more than one essay, do I pay the late fee multiple times?
问：如果我想购买迟交选项，但我提交的数量超过了一篇论文，我需要多次支付滞纳金吗？
A: No. The late submission fee applies per contestants, not per essay. You only need to pay once, even if submitting multiple essays.答：没有。迟交费按选手计费，而非按论文计费。即使提交多篇论文，你只需支付一次费用。
Q: Can I submit an essay on a question from last year?问：我可以提交去年的问题作文吗？
A: No. Essays must respond to one of the current year’s officially listed questions. Previous questions are no longer eligible.
答：没有。论文必须回答当年度官方列出的问题之一。之前的问题不再符合资格。
Q: I uploaded the wrong draft of my essay? What should I do?问：我上传了错误的论文草稿？我该怎么办？
A: You may delete your submission and re-upload, as long as it is before the deadline. (note, your referee will need to approve your essay each time)答：你可以删除你的投稿并重新上传，只要是在截止日期之前。（注意，每次都需要你的评审批准你的论文）
Q: Does my essay need to align with the John Locke Institute's views?问：我的文章需要与约翰·洛克研究所的观点保持一致吗？
A: Emphatically not. A large proportion of prizewinners have argued positions that are heartily disagreed with by most of our faculty. Academic integrity requires that we acknowledge the best essays regardless of whether or not we agree with their conclusions.答：绝对不是。许多获奖者提出了大多数教职员工强烈反对的观点。学术诚信要求我们认可最好的论文，无论我们是否同意其结论。
Q: How can I enter the Junior or Senior Category?问：我如何进入初级组或高级组？
A: Your category is determined solely by your age on the submission deadline. Students who are under the age of 15 as of 31 May will be judged in the Junior Category. All other eligible students will be judged in the Senior Category. You do not need to apply separately for a category.答：您的类别仅根据提交截止日期的年龄决定。截至5月31日未满15岁的学生将在初级组接受评判。其他符合条件的学生将在高级组接受评判。你不需要单独申请某个类别。
Key Dates
Registration opens: 2 February, 2026.
Registration deadline: 31 March, 2026. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission).
Submissions open: 1 April, 2026.
Submission deadline: 31 May, 2026
Late entry deadline: 7 June, 2026 (for the seven-day extension) or 21 June, 2026 (for the twenty-one-day extension).
Notification of short-listed essayists: 7 July, 2026.
Academic conference: 2-4 October, 2026.
Awards dinner: 3 October, 2026.
