Rounds Official Rules Template

In short

• This is a fill-in template. Part B, with its fields filled in and its notes removed, is the official rules of one round.
• Every round run under it is free to enter, has no prize and no sponsor, and turns only on scores given against five published criteria. Nothing is decided by chance.
• Entering means scoring other entries, and the rules say so before anyone enters. That is the one place on the site where reading someone else's work is a condition of taking part.
• Tillyard writes the prompt and adds up the scores. It judges nothing, and no person at the company picks a finalist.
• Entrants own their entries and give us only the permission needed to run the round.
• The Record states counts and that other entrants did the scoring. It never shows a score.
• A prize or a sponsor needs an attorney's review of that round before anything is published. The blocks in Appendix 3 are for counsel to adapt and are not in force.

This summary is for whoever fills the template in. For any round, the text of that round's published rules governs.

Part A: how to use this template

A1. What this template is for

A round is a time-limited call for entries on a set prompt, scored against published criteria. Every round needs its own rules, shown before anyone enters, because the rules are what make three things true:

1. that a round is free, has no prize and turns on nothing but the scores given against the criteria;
2. that entrants know, before they enter, that entering means scoring other entries;
3. that the line on a member's Record says exactly what happened and who did the scoring.

The same text serves every round. Only the fields change.

A2. The two kinds of bracket

• Company placeholders are things only the president knows. They are written in capitals and are the same in every round: Tillyard, 10602 York Rd SW, Etna, Ohio 43062, support@tillyard.org, legal@tillyard.org, accessibility@tillyard.org, tillyard.org and October 21, 2026.
• Round fields are filled in for each round. They are listed in A3 and are written in lower case, so that a round field is never taken for a company placeholder.

Where the template says Choose one, keep one option and delete the others. Where it says Optional, keep the paragraph or delete it. A paragraph that begins "Template note" is guidance for whoever fills the template in, and is deleted before publication.

A3. Round fields

A4. Choices to make for each round

1. Who scores. Section 10 has two options. Option A, other entrants, is the one the site is built for. Option B, readers from the open reading pool who chose to score, is drafted so that the rules are ready if the site ever supports it. Do not publish Option B for a round the site cannot run that way.
2. Blind or not. A round with no link can be blind. A round that needs a link to work hosted elsewhere usually cannot be, because the link may show whose it is.
3. AI help. Section 8.4 has three options.
4. Prize. The default is no prize, and section 3.4 says so. Do not add a prize of any value without an attorney's review of that round. Appendix 3 has a prize block for counsel to adapt.
5. Sponsor. The default is no sponsor, and section 18 says so. Do not add a sponsor without an attorney's review of that round. Appendix 3 has a sponsor block for counsel to adapt.

A5. Before a round's rules are published

Confirm each of these before publishing:

1. Every round field is filled in and matches what the site will actually do.
2. The prompt was written by Tillyard, names no real company, product or private person, was not written for a business or a sponsor, and does not serve any need of the company's own.
3. The prompt stays clear of the subjects in section 7.5, and any fixed label is set.
4. The five criteria, what a 2 and a 0 look like for each, and the tie-break criterion are in section 9.
5. The dates avoid the quiet weeks in the timetable.
6. No prize and no sponsor, or an attorney has reviewed this round.
7. The round's page and the entry form carry the short notice in Appendix 1, including the sentence that entering means scoring other entries.
8. The rules have a version label, and the site records it against each entrant.
9. All template notes and editor's notes are removed.
10. No sentence in the published rules promises a time, an outcome or an action that the site does not carry out by itself.
11. The published rules contain none of Tillyard's listed words outside a sentence that denies them, and no exclamation marks.

A6. One page of rules, or one for each round

There are two ways to publish Part B. Pick the one the site supports on the day.

1. One page for every round. At the date of this template the site serves a single page of rules for all rounds, at tillyard.org/pursuits/rounds/rules, records a rules version against each round and each entrant, and shows each round's own dates, task, word range and link rule on that round's page. To publish Part B this way, fill the fields that are the same for every round (the numbers in A3 that say "currently"), and replace each field that differs from round to round with a pointer to the round's page: for example "the date and time shown on the round's page as 'Entries close'", and in section 9 "the five criteria shown on the round's page, with what a 2 and a 0 look like for each". Keep section 1 as a list of what the round's page shows. The round's page then carries the short notice in Appendix 1 with that round's own values, and must show the criteria and the tie-break criterion before anyone can enter.
2. One page for each round. Fill every field and publish Part B as that round's own rules. This is the clearer form and the one a round with a prize or a sponsor would need. It depends on the site being able to show a different rules page for each round.

Either way, three things must be true before the "Enter the round" button works: the entrant can read the whole of the rules, the entrant can see the criteria and the tie-break criterion, and the entrant ticks that they have read the rules, with the version shown.

A change to the rules that affects a round already open needs a new version label and the steps in section 16.3. A change that applies only to later rounds needs a new version label and nothing more.

Part B: the rules

Template note: Everything from the next heading to the end of section 24 is the round's rules. When the rules are published on their own page, the next heading becomes that page's title.

Official rules: [round name], [term]

Rules version [rules version], published [rules date].

These are the rules of one round. Read them before you enter. When you press "Enter the round" and tick that you have read them, you agree to them, and the version you agreed to is recorded.

In short: this round

• Entering is free. There is nothing to buy, no prize, and nothing is decided by chance.
• You answer a set prompt in your own words, inside the word range, before entries close on [entries close].
• Entering means you agree to score [scores each] other entries by [scoring ends]. If you return fewer than [min returned], your own entry is left out of the standings.
• Entries are scored against five published criteria, each from 0 to 2, with a reason for each score. Tillyard adds up the scores and judges nothing.
• The highest-scored entries are listed as finalists, and only when enough entries were scored. Ties are broken by one named criterion and then shared.
• Your entry must be your own work, made for this round. You say what help you had from AI tools.
• You own your entry. You give us only the permission we need to show it to the entrants who score it and, if you choose, to members afterward.
• What goes on your Record is a statement of fact: that you entered, how many entries there were, that other entrants scored them, and whether yours was among the finalists. No score is published.
• Scores are not reopened. If you think a scorer broke these rules, you can report that score.

If this summary and the full text below ever differ, the full text governs.

1 The round at a glance

2 Who runs this round

2.1 The organizer

This round is run by Tillyard, an Ohio nonprofit corporation. Post goes to 10602 York Rd SW, Etna, Ohio 43062. In these rules we, us and our mean Tillyard.

2.2 What we do in a round

We write the prompt and the criteria, keep the timetable, draw which entries each entrant scores, and add up the scores by the method in section 12. We do not score entries, pick finalists or judge anything.

2.3 Status of the company

We are not a school, a college, an employer or a public body, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by any college or university. A round is not a class, an examination or an assessment by us.

2.4 Words used in these rules

Words with a set meaning across our documents, such as member, staff, round, entrant, entry and finalist, are defined in Definitions. For these rules: An entrant is a member who has entered this round. An entry is what an entrant sends in. A scorer is an entrant scoring someone else's entry. A score is a scorer's five numbers, with their reasons, for one entry. The standings are the order of scored entries worked out under section 12. A finalist is an entry, and its author, placed among the highest-scored under section 12.4. Staff means the owner of the company and any person working for us under a paid contract who holds a staff account. Members are never staff.

2.5 "May", "aim" and numbers

When we say we may do something, we are describing something we are allowed to do and can choose not to do. When we say we aim to do something, we are describing what we try to do, not a commitment about a result or a time.

3 Free to enter, no prize, nothing decided by chance

3.1 Free

There is no fee to enter, at any stage.

3.2 Nothing to buy

No purchase or payment of any kind is needed to enter, and none improves your result. Leaving a tip for Tillyard, or not leaving one, has no effect on a round.

3.3 Nothing decided by chance

Standings depend only on the scores given against the published criteria. Ties are broken by a named criterion and are then shared. Nothing is drawn by lot. The only random step is the draw that decides which entries each entrant scores, and it does not decide any result.

3.4 No prize

Choose one.

Option 1 (default): There is no prize in this round: no money, no goods, no credit, no gift card and nothing else of value. The result of the round is a record of what happened, described in section 13.

Option 2 (non-cash recognition): There is no prize in this round: no money, no goods, no credit, no gift card and nothing else of value. The only recognition is this: the highest-scored entries are listed as finalists on the round's results page, and that fact is written to each finalist's Record as section 13 describes. A finalist line has no cash value, cannot be exchanged or transferred, and is not a title.

Template note: Use Option 2 when the round's page speaks of finalists, so that nobody can say the recognition was hidden. Do not describe anything else as recognition (a feature on the home page, a mention in an email, an item sent by post) without checking with counsel first, because each of those can be a thing of value.

3.5 What a round is not

A round is not a test, a course or an award. It gives no grade, level or pass mark. It is not an assessment by an employer and not an application for work with us or with anyone. It is not work done for us: the prompt is an exercise, and we do not use entries for any business purpose.

3.6 How your result depends on others

How an entry places depends on how many entries come in and on the scores that other entrants give. We do not promise that any entry will be scored by a particular number of people, or that a round will be ranked.

4 Who may enter

4.1 Members in good standing

You may enter if, when you enter and until results are out:

1. you are a member of Tillyard in good standing. Membership itself is open only to people aged 18 or over who study, or recently studied, at a United States college on our list, as the Terms of Use set out;
2. your account is at least [account age] old;
3. you are not paused or suspended; and
4. you have not reached the limit on rounds in a term, currently [rounds per term].

Optional. This round is aimed at members whose fields include [fields]. Members in other fields may still enter.

4.2 Who may not enter

These people may not enter:

1. the owner of the company, staff, and anyone working for us under contract;
2. members of the same household as any of those people, and their close family;
3. anyone who wrote, edited or saw this round's prompt before it opened.

4.3 One entry, your own account

You may enter once, alone, from your own account. Team entries are not taken. You may not enter for someone else or let someone enter for you. Each person has one account.

4.4 When the round is full

This round takes at most [max entries] entries, in the order they are entered. After that the entry desk says the round is full.

4.5 Where a round is not allowed

This round is void wherever the law prohibits it. If the law where you live does not allow you to take part, do not enter.

5 Dates and times

5.1 The timetable

The dates are in section 1. All times are in [time zone], and the site's clock decides whether something arrived in time. The site also shows each time in your own zone as a convenience.

5.2 Names down

From [names from] you can put your name down for this round. Putting your name down says you mean to enter. It is not an entry and it commits you to nothing. You can take your name off again.

5.3 Enough names to open

The round opens on [opens] only if at least [min names] members have put their names down. If fewer have, the round moves to the next date on the timetable, the prompt stays sealed, and your name carries over if you asked for that. A round that moves gets a new set of dates, and these rules apply with those dates.

Choose one.

Option 1: Once the round is open, any eligible member may enter, whether or not they put a name down.

Option 2: Only members who put a name down before the round opened may enter.

Template note: Keep the option that matches how the entry desk actually behaves.

5.4 Enough entries to score

If fewer than [min entries] entries have been entered when entries close, there are too few to score each other. The round ends there, nothing is recorded for anyone, and your entry is yours to use anywhere.

5.5 Extensions

If the site paused saving in the last hours before entries closed, the entry window is extended once, currently by 24 hours. We may also extend, pause or resume a round for a reason in section 16. We aim to say so on the round's page.

5.6 If you need more time for a reason related to a disability

Tell us at accessibility@tillyard.org as early as you can and before entries close. We aim to look at what we can do. At present the site can lengthen a round's window only for everyone at once, so we cannot promise an adjustment for one entrant. The Accessibility Statement says how to tell us about a barrier of any other kind.

6 How to enter

6.1 Write your entry at the entry desk

When the round is open, the prompt appears on the round's page for signed-in members. Open the entry desk from there. It has a field for a title and a field for your text.

6.2 Length

Your text must be within [word range] words. The desk counts the words and will not take an entry outside the range.

6.3 Text only

The site takes text. It takes no files, pictures or attachments.

6.4 A link, where this round has one

[link rule].

Optional, for a round with a link. Your link must point to work that you host yourself on another service. Give the link together with its [fixed reference], so that what the scorers open cannot change after you enter. Links must begin with "https". We store the link as text and do not open it ourselves. If you change the work after entering, scorers still read it at the reference you gave.

Optional, for a round with a figure. Give your headline figure in the field provided. It is kept sealed. Each scorer works out their own figure from the source before yours is shown to them.

6.5 What you declare

To enter, you tick or answer each of these. Every box starts empty.

1. "This is my own work, made for this round."
2. "I will score [scores each] other entries by [scoring ends]."
3. "I have read the rules", with the version shown.
4. Where the work came from: your own time, a class, a lab or research group, or an employer. If it came from anywhere but your own time, someone else may own it or limit what you can do with it, so check before you enter.
5. What help you had from AI tools, with a short note (section 8.4).

You may also choose, by two separate ticks that start unticked:

6. to have your name shown with the result if your entry is a finalist;
7. to let members read your entry after results are out.

6.6 Screening

When you enter, your title, text and any link are checked by automated safety tools, as everything written on the site is. If the check holds your entry, it stays with you and is not scored until a person has looked at it. An entry still held when scoring ends is left out of the standings.

6.7 Entered

When the desk says "Entered", your entry is in. That status is your confirmation.

6.8 Changing or withdrawing

Until entries close you can change your entry and enter it again, or withdraw it. When entries close, the last entered version is frozen and is the one that is scored. After that you cannot change it. If you need to leave the round after entries close, write to support@tillyard.org. We may take the entry out, in which case nothing is recorded for it.

6.9 Saving, and things that go wrong

The desk saves your draft as you go. When the site is close to a daily limit, saving to the site may pause, and the desk then keeps your text on your own device and says so. Keep your own copy of anything you care about. We are not responsible for an entry that is lost, late or incomplete because of your device, your connection, your browser or a pause of the kind just described, except that section 5.5 extends the window where the site paused saving near the close.

6.10 Entries we do not take

We do not take entries sent by email, by post or by any route other than the entry desk, entries made after the close, or entries without every declaration in 6.5.

7 The task

7.1 The prompt

[task]. The full prompt appears on the round's page when the round opens. It was written by us for this round and has not been used before.

7.2 An exercise

The prompt is an exercise. Any company, office or public body it describes is fictional, even where it is built on a real public dataset. It was not written for a real business or a sponsor, and it does not ask you to solve a problem of ours. Nothing you write in answer to it is work done for us or for anyone else.

Optional, where the round carries a label. This round carries the label "[label]". Entries in it are practice. They are not advice to anyone and should not be relied on by anyone.

7.3 What to send

Send one piece of writing that answers the prompt, in English, inside the word range, with the sources the prompt asks for.

7.4 Sources

Cite what you rely on. Where you quote, mark the quotation and say where it is from. Where the prompt gives you a dataset or a fact sheet, work from it.

7.5 Subjects that are left out

An entry must not offer advice to a real person about their own law, tax, medicine, engineering or investments, and must not be a design for a structure, a pressure system, mains electricity, a vehicle, a medical device or a weapon.

7.6 Keep the round to yourself while it runs

Until results are out, do not publish the prompt, do not show your draft or your entry to another entrant, and do not look at another entrant's. After results you may do what you like with your own entry.

8 Your own work, and help from AI tools

8.1 Your own work

Your entry must be written by you, for this round. Do not enter something written by another person, something you wrote with another person, or something you have already published or entered elsewhere.

8.1a Coursework, lab work and work for an employer

The entry form asks where the work came from, because a class, a lab or an employer may own what was made for it or limit what you can do with it. An entry has to be written for this round, so the usual answer is your own time. If your entry builds on something you did for a class, a lab or an employer, say so on the form, make sure you are allowed to use it, and write the entry itself fresh for the round.

Do not enter a piece that you have handed in, or mean to hand in, for a grade, and do not hand in a round entry for a grade afterward without telling your instructor where it came from. A round is not part of any course. Your own college's rules on academic honesty are yours to know and follow, and we take no part in them.

8.2 Help from other people

You may read, research and talk about the subject in general. You may not have another person write, rewrite or restructure your entry, and you may not ask anyone to check it against the criteria before you enter.

8.3 Other people's rights

Do not copy. Do not include anything confidential, anything that belongs to a class, a lab, an employer or a client without their agreement, or personal information about a private person. Do not make an accusation against a real, named person.

8.4 Help from AI tools

Choose one.

Option 1 (default: allowed, and declared): You may use AI tools to help with this entry. You must say what kind of help you had by choosing one of these when you enter, with a short note: none; help with wording, spelling or grammar; help finding or summarizing sources; or help drafting text. Whatever help you had, the argument, the choices and the final text must be yours, and you are responsible for every word and every source in it. Check any source an AI tool gave you. A source that does not exist, or that does not say what the entry claims, may count against an entry under the criteria.

Option 2 (limited): You may use AI tools only for spelling, grammar and small changes of wording to text you wrote yourself. You may not use them to find sources, to plan the entry or to draft any part of it. Say what you used when you enter.

Option 3 (none): Do not use AI tools for any part of this entry. Ordinary spelling and grammar checkers built into a writing program are allowed.

8.5 How we treat what you declare

We rely on what you tell us. We do not claim to be able to detect text written by an AI tool, and we do not run entries through a detector. If we come to believe that a declaration was false, from what a person has observed and not from a tool's guess, we may act under section 15. Any such decision is a judgment made by a person.

Choose one.

Option 1: Scorers do not see your AI declaration.

Option 2: Scorers see your AI declaration beside your entry.

Template note: Keep the option that matches what the scoring form actually shows.

8.6 The prompt and other entries stay out of AI tools

Do not paste another entrant's entry into any outside tool, including an AI tool, when you are scoring (section 10.8).

9 Criteria

9.1 The five criteria

Every entry is scored on the same five criteria.

9.2 The scale

Each criterion is scored 0 ("Not yet"), 1 ("Partly") or 2 ("Clearly").

9.3 Weights

Each criterion carries the same weight. One scorer's total for an entry is the sum of the five numbers, from 0 to 10.

Template note: The site adds the five numbers with equal weight. Do not publish different weights for a round unless the site can apply them, and if it can, state each weight in the table in 9.1.

9.4 The tie-break criterion

The tie-break criterion for this round is [tie-break criterion]. Section 12.5 says how it is used.

Optional, for a round with a figure. One criterion asks whether the scorer reached the same headline figure as the entrant from the same source. The scorer types their own figure before the entrant's is shown.

9.5 Nothing else counts

Scorers are asked to score only against these criteria. Who wrote an entry, where they study, and whether the scorer agrees with the entry's conclusion are not criteria.

10 How entries are scored

Choose one of Option A and Option B.

Option A (default): scored by other entrants

10.1 Entering means scoring

By entering this round you agree to score [scores each] other entries by [scoring ends]. This is part of taking part in the round, and you are told so before you enter and again on the entry form. Nobody is asked to score in a round they have not entered.

10.2 Why entrants score

Scoring is how a round works: every entrant gives to the round what they take from it. It is not a task done for us, we gain nothing from it, and nothing is given or taken away for it apart from what these rules say about your own entry.

10.3 The draw

When entries close, the site puts the entries in a random order and draws [scores each] for each entrant. You never score your own entry. Wherever the entries allow it, you are not drawn an entry from a member at your own college, a member you are connected with on the site, or a member with whom a block exists. In a small round that may not be possible for every entry, and an entry may then be drawn for one fewer scorer.

10.4 Before you see an entry

Before the text of an entry is shown, you tick two statements: "I do not know who wrote this." and "I will keep it to myself."

10.5 What a scorer does

For each entry you give each of the five criteria a 0, 1 or 2, with a sentence or two of reason for each. You then write one thing the entry did well and the first thing its author should fix. You can save a part-finished score and come back to it before [scoring ends].

10.6 If you think you know whose it is

Press "I think I know whose this is". You are taken off that entry. Nothing is recorded against you or the author, and you are not asked to explain.

10.7 If you do not score

If you return fewer than [min returned] scores by [scoring ends], your own entry is left out of the standings and nothing is recorded for it. That is the only consequence. It has no effect on your membership, your standing or any later round.

10.8 How a scorer must behave

When you score:

1. score what is on the page against the criteria, honestly, and for no other reason;
2. keep the entry to yourself. Do not copy it, share it, describe it to anyone, or put any part of it into an outside tool, including an AI tool;
3. do not use the entry's ideas, data or wording in your own work;
4. do not try to find out who wrote it, and do not contact anyone about it;
5. do not agree scores with anyone, and do not score an entry down to help your own;
6. write reasons the author can use. Be specific and fair. Do not guess at who the author is, and do not accuse them of anything. If you think an entry breaks these rules, report it; do not say so in your reasons.

10.9 Sent scores are final

Once you send a score you cannot change it.

10.10 Scoring one more

If some entries are short of scores when you have finished yours, the site may offer you one more to score, up to [extra scores]. Taking it is your choice. Nothing is given for taking it and nothing is lost by declining.

Option B: scored by readers from the reading pool

Template note: At the date of this template the site runs rounds only under Option A. Do not publish Option B for a round unless the site can run it. If Option B is kept, delete Option A and renumber so that the paragraph headed "In either option" follows on.

10.1 (Option B) Who scores

Entries in this round are scored by members who have chosen to read other members' work and who did not enter this round. Reading is voluntary. A reader may decline any entry offered to them, is not paid, receives nothing for reading, and loses nothing by declining. Readers are members. They are not staff, and they do not act for us.

10.2 (Option B) The draw

Each entry is offered to readers drawn at random who are not at the author's college, are not connected with the author on the site, and have no block with the author.

10.3 (Option B) What a reader does

As in Option A, 10.4 to 10.6, 10.8 and 10.9.

10.4 (Option B) If readers are not free

Readers may not be free to score every entry. An entry that does not receive [min scores] scores by [scoring ends] is not scored, and nothing is recorded for it. That is not a judgment on the entry.

10.5 (Option B) Entrants do not score

Entering this round does not oblige you to score anything.

In either option

10.11 What we do

We add up the scores by the method in section 12. Staff do not score entries and do not adjust scores. Staff may set a score aside, or leave an entry out, only under section 15.

11 Anonymity

11.1 Authors, in a blind round

Keep this paragraph if the round is blind. This round is scored blind. Your name is not shown to scorers, and your entry must not contain your name or anything else that says who you are, such as your college, your handle on another service, or a link to your own site. The entry desk checks for your name in the text and will ask you to take it out.

11.2 Authors, in a round that is not blind

Keep this paragraph if the round is not blind. This round is not scored blind, because the work you link to may show whose it is. We still do not show your name to scorers beside your entry.

11.3 Scorers

An author is never told who scored their entry. Scores and reasons are shown to the author as "Scorer A", "Scorer B" and "Scorer C".

11.4 What we can see

We can see who wrote each entry and who scored it, because the site could not run a round otherwise. We do not tell an author who their scorers were, or a scorer whose entry they scored. We may have to disclose it where the law requires, as the Privacy Notice and the Law Enforcement and Legal Requests Policy describe.

11.5 Do not try to find out

Do not try to work out, or ask anyone, who wrote an entry you scored or who scored yours. If someone contacts you claiming to be an author or a scorer in this round, do not confirm or deny anything. Tell us.

11.6 Finalists

A finalist is named on the results page only if they chose that when they entered. Otherwise the page says "A finalist who chose not to be named".

12 How results are worked out

12.1 When an entry counts as scored

An entry counts as scored when at least [min scores] scores for it have been returned by [scoring ends] and have not been set aside or held under section 15.

12.2 The measure

For each scored entry the site takes the totals its scorers gave (section 9.3) and finds their median: the middle total when the number of totals is odd, or halfway between the two middle totals when it is even.

12.3 Whether the round is ranked

The round is ranked only if at least [min ranked] entries were scored. If fewer were, each scored entry is recorded as entered, the scores and reasons are still given to their authors, and no finalists are listed.

12.4 Finalists

In a ranked round the scored entries are put in order of their median, highest first. The finalists are the highest-placed entries, counted by this rule: [finalist rule].

12.5 Ties

Where two or more entries have the same median, the one with the higher average score on the tie-break criterion, [tie-break criterion], is placed higher. If entries are still level at the last finalist place, all of them are finalists. No tie is ever settled by lot or by anyone's choice.

12.6 Entries left out

An entry is left out of the standings, and nothing is recorded for it, if:

1. its author returned fewer than [min returned] scores (section 10.7);
2. it was withdrawn, or taken out under section 6.8;
3. it did not receive enough returned scores to count as scored;
4. it was held by screening when scoring ended; or
5. it was left out or voided under section 15, or its author's account was suspended or closed before results.

12.7 An example

Three scorers give an entry totals of 8, 7 and 9. Its median is 8. Another entry has totals of 9 and 7 from two scorers. Its median is also 8. On the tie-break criterion the first entry was given 2, 1 and 2, an average of about 1.7, and the second was given 2 and 2, an average of 2. The second entry is placed higher.

12.8 Nobody chooses

No person at Tillyard chooses a finalist, changes an order or breaks a tie. The method above is applied by the site to the scores as returned.

13 Results, and what they mean

13.1 The results page

After scoring ends we aim to publish a results page for the round. It states how many entries came in, how many were scored by [min scores] or more entrants, and how many finalists there are, with the rule that produced them. It names a finalist only as section 11.6 allows. Where a finalist allowed it under 6.5, members can read that finalist's entry.

13.2 What you see privately

On your own page for the round you see how your entry placed, each scorer's five numbers and reasons without names, the one thing each said you did well and the first thing each said to fix. Only you see these. No score is published, and no score is written to The Record.

13.3 What goes on your Record

For each scored entry the site writes one item to its author's Record. It is a recorded item. It never carries the editor's mark, because nobody at the company judged it, and it is not a title.

• For a finalist, the line is of this kind: "[record line, finalist]".
• For any other scored entry, the line is of this kind: "[record line, entered]".

The page for the item says how we know: "[how we know line]" The number of entrants in that sentence is the number who actually scored your entry, which may be fewer than were drawn.

The item states counts only: how many entries there were, how many finalists, and how many entrants scored yours. You choose who can see it, as with any Record item.

13.4 How to describe it

Use the words on your Record page, with its link or code. Every line, a finalist's included, goes under projects. It is not employment, so it does not go under Work Experience. Do not describe a result as a prize, an award, a win, a first place, a ranking number, a grade or a qualification, and do not say that Tillyard selected or judged your entry. We did not. How to list this on a résumé gives sample lines.

13.5 What a result does not say

A result says how other entrants scored one piece of writing against five criteria in one round. It is not a statement by us about your ability, and it is not a certificate, a qualification or evidence of proficiency in anything.

13.6 If results change

If a score is set aside or an entry is left out or restored under section 15 after results are out, the site works the standings out again. The results page and the Record items of everyone affected are updated to match, and we aim to tell those whose result changed.

13.7 Emails

If you asked for it, you get one email when a round opens and one when its results are out. Each has an unsubscribe link. Notices on the site are sent either way.

14 Your entry: who owns it, and what we may do with it

14.1 You own it

You keep every right you have in your entry. We do not take ownership of it, we do not ask you to assign it, and it is not a work made for hire.

14.2 The permission you give

So that the round can run, you give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to do the following with your entry, and only the following:

1. store it, and make the copies that storing, backing up and securing it need;
2. show it to the entrants drawn to score it;
3. show it to you;
4. check it with automated safety tools and, where it is reported, held or disputed, have staff read it;
5. if you ticked the box in 6.5, show it to signed-in members after results while your entry is a finalist;
6. show its title and its result on your Record, to whoever you chose in that item's visibility setting, and list the round's counts on the results page.

14.3 What we may not do

We may not sell your entry, license it to anyone else for their own purposes, use it or let anyone use it to train a generative AI model, use it in advertising, or use it in our own business. If there is ever a sponsor for a round, the sponsor gets no rights in any entry.

14.4 How the permission ends

You can withdraw your entry until entries close. After results you can take back the permission for members to read your entry. If the site does not let you switch it off yourself, write to support@tillyard.org. The text of an entered entry is kept for a period after results, currently about 24 months, and is then blanked, leaving only counts. If you close your account, your entry's text is blanked and the counts stay, so that the field size printed on other members' Records remains true. Copies may remain for a limited time in backups, and we may keep an entry that is part of a report or dispute for as long as that needs. Section 7.4 of the Terms of Use says more.

14.5 What you promise

You promise that the entry is your own work, that you have the right to enter it, that it does not copy or infringe anyone else's work, and that your declarations in 6.5 are true.

14.6 Scores and reasons you write

You keep your rights in the reasons you write as a scorer. You give us a licence to store them, to show them to the author of that entry without your name, and to have staff read them under section 15.

14.7 Scores and reasons you receive

The reasons you receive are for your own use in improving your work. Do not publish them in a way that tries to identify who wrote them.

15 Conduct, and when an entry or a score is left out

15.1 The rules everyone follows

The Terms of Use, the Community Guidelines and the Acceptable Use Policy apply in a round as they do everywhere on the site.

15.2 What breaks these rules

In particular:

1. a declaration in 6.5 that is not true;
2. an entry that is not your own work, that copies another entry or another source, or that was written with someone else;
3. entering from more than one account, or entering when section 4 says you may not;
4. putting your name or other identifying details in an entry in a blind round;
5. sharing a draft or an entry with another entrant, or publishing the prompt, while the round runs;
6. agreeing scores with anyone, scoring to help yourself or a friend, or scoring without reading the entry;
7. trying to learn who wrote or scored an entry, or contacting anyone about one;
8. copying, sharing or using an entry you were given to score;
9. reasons that harass, insult or accuse the author;
10. interfering with the site, the draw or the count;
11. using reports or disputes dishonestly to remove a rival.

15.3 What we may do

If we believe a rule in 15.2 was broken, staff may do one or more of these: set a score aside so that it no longer counts; leave an entry out of the standings; void an entry; work the standings out again; withdraw or correct a Record item; and take any other step the Reporting, Enforcement and Appeals Policy allows. We decide case by case.

15.4 How it is decided

A decision under 15.3 is made by a person, in a case. Nothing is left out because of how many reports it received. The site raises signals for staff to look at, such as two entries sharing several paragraphs, a score returned very quickly, a score far from the others on the same entry, or two accounts that appear to share a network. A signal is a prompt for a person to look. It never decides anything by itself, and a signal nobody acts on closes without effect.

15.5 Telling you

We aim to tell you, in neutral words, if your entry or a score you gave has been left out or set aside, and why. We do not say who reported what.

15.6 A second look

You can ask for one second look at a decision under this section, as the Reporting, Enforcement and Appeals Policy describes.

15.7 What we do not promise

We do not promise to notice each breach of these rules, or to act on each report we receive.

16 Changes, pauses and cancellation

16.1 When we may change a round

We may extend, pause, resume, move or cancel this round, or change its dates, if too few people put names down or enter, if scoring cannot be completed fairly, if the site reaches a capacity limit, or if a fault, abuse or something outside our control interferes with it.

16.2 What happens then

We aim to say so on the round's page. If a round is cancelled before results, nothing is recorded for anyone and your entry is yours to use anywhere. If a round is cancelled after results because the results cannot be relied on, the Record items from it may be withdrawn.

16.3 Changes to these rules

We do not change the criteria, the scoring method or the tie-break after a round has opened. If we must change another rule while the round is open, we give the rules a new version, tell entrants, and let anyone who does not accept the change withdraw.

17 Privacy

This section is a summary. The Privacy Notice and the Data Retention Schedule govern.

17.1 What we hold about a round

Your name down; your draft and your entry, with its title, text, link and reference; your declarations; the scores and reasons you wrote and those you received; the times at which you entered and returned scores; your standing; and any signal raised under 15.4.

17.2 Who sees what

17.3 How long, currently

Drafts that are never entered are deleted after about 180 days without changes, after a notice. Entered text is kept for about 24 months after results and then blanked, with counts kept. Scores and reasons are kept for about 24 months after results. Names put down are deleted at results.

17.4 Automated checks

Text is screened by automated safety tools when it is entered or returned. The signals in 15.4 are produced automatically from entries, scores and timings. No automated check decides a result or a breach.

17.5 Your name

We do not use your name, your entry or your result in advertising or promotion without your separate written agreement each time.

17.6 Nobody outside

We do not share entries, scores or entrants' details with any outside organization, except service providers acting for us, such as the company that hosts the site and the providers of the automated safety tools named in the Privacy Notice, and where the law requires.

18 Sponsor statement

Choose one.

Option 1 (default): This round has no sponsor. No business or organization other than Tillyard has paid for it, proposed it, written or seen its prompt, or has any say in its criteria, scoring or results.

Option 2 (a sponsored round): Use the sponsor block in Appendix 3, after an attorney has reviewed this round.

19 Tax

Choose one.

Option 1 (default, no prize): There is no prize and nothing of value is given in this round, so we report nothing to any tax authority about it. We do not give tax advice.

Option 2 (a round with a prize): Use the tax paragraph in the prize block in Appendix 3, after an attorney has reviewed this round.

20 Disputes about a round

20.1 Scores are not reopened

A score is one entrant's judgment against the criteria. You may disagree with it. Disagreement is not a ground for changing a score, and we do not re-score entries.

20.2 If you think a rule was broken

If you think a scorer broke section 10.8, or an entry broke section 8 or 15, use the report control beside that score or entry. A report opens a case. Section 15 says what may follow.

20.3 If you think the count is wrong

If you think the standings were worked out wrongly from the scores as returned, or that your Record item says something untrue, use the dispute form at tillyard.org/dispute. Anyone can use it, with or without an account. Please do this while the round's scores are still kept (section 17.3); after that we may not be able to check.

20.4 What we decide

Where a matter reaches us we decide what the site displays: whether a score counts, whether an entry stays in, and what the results page and the Record say. Subject to that and to section 13.6, the results are final.

20.5 Disputing costs you nothing

Raising a report or a dispute in good faith never affects your standing.

20.6 A dispute with us

If you have a dispute with us about a round, the sections of the Terms of Use on resolving a dispute with us apply, including the step of telling us first.

21 Responsibility

21.1 Scores are other entrants' views

Scores and reasons are the opinions of other students. We do not check them for accuracy, and we do not stand behind them. Use what helps and leave the rest.

21.2 No promise about outcomes

We do not promise that a round will open, be scored or be ranked, that your entry will be scored by any number of people, or that a result will lead to anything.

21.3 The Terms of Use

The sections of the Terms of Use on disclaimers, limits on our liability, the costs you agree to cover and disputes between members apply to this round and are not repeated here.

22 Governing law, and where cases are heard

The laws of the State of Ohio govern these rules, and federal law applies where it governs, exactly as the Terms of Use provide. A court case about this round must be brought in the courts the Terms of Use name, with the exceptions the Terms of Use give. If you take part as a consumer, choosing Ohio law does not take away any protection the law of the state where you live gives you that cannot be waived by agreement.

23 The agreement for this round, and general terms

23.1 What makes up the agreement

These rules, the Terms of Use and the documents the Terms of Use list are the whole agreement about this round. Where these rules and another of our documents cover the same point about this round, these rules govern, because they are the more specific document, as section 37.5 of the Terms of Use provides. That section also lists the parts of the Terms of Use that prevail over every other document.

23.2 If part of these rules cannot be enforced

If a court finds part of these rules unenforceable, the rest stays in force.

23.3 Not acting on a breach

If we do not act on a breach once, we may still act on a later one.

23.4 Language

These rules are written in English, and the English text governs.

23.5 The version you agreed to

These are version [rules version]. The site records the version each entrant agreed to. Earlier versions are kept and can be asked for at support@tillyard.org.

24 Contact for this round

• Questions about this round: support@tillyard.org
• Accessibility: accessibility@tillyard.org
• To dispute or correct something, with or without an account: tillyard.org/dispute
• Legal notices: legal@tillyard.org, or by post to Tillyard, 10602 York Rd SW, Etna, Ohio 43062

Appendices to the template

Appendix 1. The short notice

This short notice goes on the round's page and above the entry form. It is a summary. It always links to the full rules and says that the full rules govern. The short notice reads:

[round name], [term]. Free to enter. No prize, nothing to buy, nothing decided by chance. Entries close [entries close], [time zone]. Entering means you agree to score [scores each] other entries by [scoring ends]; an entry whose author returns fewer than [min returned] is left out of the standings. Entries are [scoring phrase] by other entrants against five published criteria. Tillyard writes the prompt and adds up the scores. It does not judge entries. You own your entry. Open to members in good standing; staff and their households may not enter. Run by Tillyard. Full rules: tillyard.org/pursuits/rounds/rules.

The general page about rounds can carry these sentences, which hold for every round run under this template:

• "Rounds are free. There is no prize, nothing to buy and nothing decided by chance."
• "Entering means you agree to score three other entries by the scoring date. An entry whose author returns fewer than two is left out of the standings."
• "Tillyard writes the prompts and adds up the scores. It does not judge entries."
• "You own your entry."

Appendix 2. Wording for The Record

Fill these from the round's facts. The site fills the numbers and the short description for each entry from what was recorded. Use counts only. Never print a score, a place number or a percentage.

"How we know", shown on the item's page:

• Blind: "Scored blind by [number of scorers] other entrants against the published criteria. Tillyard added up the scores and judged nothing."
• Not blind: "Scored by [number of scorers] other entrants against the published criteria. Tillyard added up the scores and judged nothing."
• Scored by readers from the reading pool (Option B): "Scored by [number of scorers] students at other colleges who chose to read it, against the published criteria. Tillyard added up the scores and judged nothing."

Words that never appear in a line or on a results page: winner, prize, award, first place, rank number, grade, level, verified, independent, judges, selected by Tillyard.

Appendix 3. Optional blocks, for counsel to adapt

Nothing in this appendix is in force, and nothing in it should be published for a round until an attorney has reviewed that round. The product has no prize, fee or sponsor on any round at present.

3A. Sponsor block (replaces section 18)

18.1 The sponsor

This round is supported by [sponsor name], of [sponsor address]. The sponsor has provided [what the sponsor provided]. Tillyard is the organizer of the round and is responsible for it.

18.2 What the sponsor does not do

The sponsor did not write the prompt and did not see it before the round opened. The prompt is not about the sponsor's products, customers or business problems. The sponsor has no say in the criteria, the scoring, the standings or anyone's standing on the site.

18.3 Your entry and the sponsor

The sponsor receives no rights in any entry and is not shown any entry, unless you separately agree in writing after results.

18.4 Your details and the sponsor

We do not give the sponsor your name, your email address or anything else about you. The sponsor may not contact entrants through us.

18.5 Who may not enter

In addition to section 4.2, the sponsor's owners, officers and staff, and members of their households, may not enter.

18.6 If you post about the round

If you post about this round or the sponsor, say that you entered a round the sponsor supported. The Hosting Terms and Disclosure Policy says how.

18.7 How the Record words it

The Record item for this round says that the round was supported by [sponsor name] and that the sponsor took no part in the scoring.

3B. Prize block (replaces sections 3.4 and 19)

3.4 The prize

[number] prize[s] will be given: [description of each prize], with an approximate retail value of [value] each. The total value of all prizes is [total value]. A prize goes to [who receives it under section 12]. Prizes cannot be transferred or exchanged, and no cash is given in place of a prize that is not cash. If entries are tied for a prize after section 12.5, [how a tie for a prize is settled without chance].

3.4a Scoring where there is a prize

In a round with a prize, entries are scored by [disinterested judges: who they are and how chosen], and not by other entrants.

3.4b Who may receive a prize

A prize is given only to an entrant who is eligible under section 4 when the prize is given, who is at least 18 and of the age of majority where they live, and who returns the forms we ask for within [period]. If a prize cannot be given, [what happens to it].

19 Tax

A prize is income to the person who receives it, and any tax on it is theirs to pay. We may ask a recipient for a completed tax form before a prize is given, and we report prizes to the tax authorities where the law requires. If you are not a United States tax resident, tax may be withheld from a prize. If you study on a visa, ask your international student adviser before you accept a prize.

3C. Notes on Option B

Option B in section 10 depends on the same open reading pool that other parts of the site use. If it is ever used, the Reader Guidelines apply to the readers alongside these rules, and the round's page must say that entries may go unscored if readers are not free.

Appendix 4. Values for the launch rounds

These values are taken from the track catalog as specified on the date of this template. The catalog is the source of truth. Check each value against it before publishing a round's rules.

All launch rounds: five criteria scored 0, 1 or 2; the entry window opens on a Monday at 9 am Eastern and runs 240 hours, except Build Weekend, which opens on a Friday at 6 pm Eastern and runs 48 hours; scoring runs seven days.

Template note: The catalog's track table describes each round by its upper word limit (for example "a 1,000-word decision memo"), and its settings table gives the range. The ranges are used above. Confirm each against the catalog before publishing.

Changes to this document

We may revise this template. When we do, we change the version number and the effective date at the top. A round's own rules carry their own version label, and a change to this template does not change the rules of a round that has already opened.

Contact

• Questions about this template or about rounds in general: support@tillyard.org
• Legal notices: legal@tillyard.org, or by post to Tillyard, 10602 York Rd SW, Etna, Ohio 43062
• Accessibility: accessibility@tillyard.org
• To dispute or correct something, with or without an account: tillyard.org/dispute

Questions about this document

support@tillyard.org

Legal notices

legal@tillyard.org

By post

10602 York Rd SW, Etna, Ohio 43062

For anything else, see where to send what.

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