The award is generously funded by John R. Hayes himself. Professor Hayes (Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh) is one of the most influential writing researchers. He has been a pioneer in introducing cognitive psychology in writing research. There is hardly one article on writing processes that does not cite one of his publications.

In 2016, the prize was awarded to Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen, from Iowa State University, for his article "Pauses in spontaneous written communication: a keystroke logging study", Journal of Writing Research 6(1), 61-84. doi: 10.17239/jowr-2014.06.01.3.

In 2014, the prize was awarded to Kimberly Epting, from the Elon University, for his article “Read and think before you write: Prewriting time and level of print exposure as factors in writing”, Journal of Writing Research 4(3), 239-259.

In 2012, the prize was awarded to Joel Bloch, from the Ohio State University, for his article "A concordance-based study of the use of reporting verbs as rhetorical devices in academic papers”, Journal of Writing Research 2(2), 219-244.

In 2010, the prize was awarded to Ronald T. Kellogg, from Saint Louis University, for his article "Training writing skills: A cognitive development perspective", Journal of Writing Research 1(1), 1-26.

Initiated at the Porto SIG Writing Conference, in 2012, the John Hayes lecture is given at each new SIG Writing Conference by the previous recipient of the John Hayes award.

At the SIG Writing Conference 2016 (Liverpool), Kimberly Epting delivered the third Hayes lecture titled “So many variables, few overlapping effects: Investigating situational factors that influence writing process measures”.

At the SIG Writing Conference 2014 (Amsterdam), Joel Bloch delivered the second Hayes lecture titled “MOOCs, flipped classrooms, and open access materials – Oh, my”.
Click here to see the presentation.

At the SIG Writing Conference 2012 (Porto), Ronald T. Kellogg delivered the first Hayes lecture on “Working memory in written composition: A progress report”.