2026 Changes from Previous Rules & Procedures

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Previous Participants MUST submit their 2026 project application for SRC pre-approval no later than Nov 14, 2025

All previous participants must file a continuation form (Form 7) and submit their application for SRC pre-approval by the pre-approval deadline as required for continuation projects. SRC, not the student(s), will determine whether or not the project is a continuation of previous work.

Project Notebook/Logbook Required

All participants must document their process and results in a project notebook or logbook, which must be brought on both Check-in Day and Judging Day. This record may be kept either digitally or on paper. Judges will evaluate all projects, but students without a lab notebook on fair day are not eligible for awards, even if their project is the best.

New Minimum Quality Requirements

All participants should review the updated Minimum Quality Requirements which, for the first time, include requirements for AI/Machine learning projects.

Last day to change title, category, field of study, or to withdraw a project

The deadline to do this is February 20, 2026 at 8PM. Be sure you set reminders and alarms because changes to your title, category and field of study will not be accepted after 8pm. 

Abstract Upload Deadline; projects without abstracts will be withdrawn

The deadline to do this is February 27, 2026 at 8PM. Be sure you set reminders and alarms because any project without an Abstract in their Judging Folder will be marked withdrawn after 8pm. 

Frequent Rule Violations

  • No culturing bacteria at home.
  • All studies involving the use of prions or prion-like proteins are prohibited.
  • Students who are developing an app or have an engineering project that builds a device that needs to be tested may do so only if they follow all the rules for human participants. This includes reporting health (mental, physical and environmental) issues. These projects need SRC/IRB pre-approval by the SRC.

Highlights of Important changes to the ISEF 2025-2026 International Rules for Pre-Collegiate Research

Details at ISEF website.

ETHICS STATEMENT MODIFIED

Under Integrity (page 3) final sentence has been reworded for clarity.
The project should reflect independent research done by the student(s) and presented in their own words with proper citation. The presentation of fraudulent data, the evidence of plagiarism or the inappropriate use of AI are prohibited and grounds for the project to fail to qualify. 

The last sentence of the last paragraph has been reworded for clarity. 
Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own and fabrication of data. A violation of this ethics statement may result in disqualification from participating in ISEF and ISEF-affiliated fairs, and forfeiture of any awards, prizes, and acknowledgment received. 

HUMAN PARTICIPANT RULES

Under Prohibited Studies, 1d was added.
Students are prohibited from disclosing results or data from their study to the human participants. 

Under Rules, #2a, written parental permission is now required for all human participant projects working with minors (students under the age of 18).
All human participant studies involving minors (students under 18 years of age) must receive assent from the student participant and written parental permission from a legal guardian. 

Under Documentation and Approval, #3 was added. 
3. When working with a facility where participants live or attend programming (e.g. retirement home, daycare, prison, etc.) written approval from the facility must be obtained as well as informed consent for the individual participants. 

VERTEBRATE ANIMAL RULES

Under What are considered vertebrate animals? #6 has been added.
6. Cephalopods are to be treated as vertebrate animals 

Under What are considered vertebrate animals? a NOTE has been added to clarify the difference between a vertebrate animal project and a tissue project. 
NOTE: A project is not considered a vertebrate animal study if tissue is obtained from an animal that was euthanized for a purpose other than the student’s project. (See Tissue & Body Fluid Rules) 

Under Prohibited Studies, rule 6 was edited to include barbed hooks and live bait.
Students are prohibited from fishing with barbed hooks, live bait, or from performing electrofishing.

POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS BIOLOGICAL AGENTS (PHBA) RULES

Under Prohibited Studies, language was added to clarify the prion prohibition.
All studies involving the use of prions or purified prion-like proteins are prohibited. This includes studies working with amyloid-b (Ab), tau, a-synuclein, transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa, and amyloid fibrils.

Under Rules, #3 has been edited to clarify BSL-2 safety 
Research determined to be a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) must be conducted in a laboratory rated BSL-2 or above and follow BSL-2 safety conditions throughout the study. (Commonly limited to a RRI).  

Under Rules, #7 and #8 have been added 
7. Projects involving water samples collected from active Harmful Algal Blooms are considered BSL2 studies.
8. Insect and arthropod vector-borne pathogens such as Malaria, Lyme, etc. are considered BSL-2 studies. 

Under Rules, #9 was added to clarify the prion rule.
9. Studies involving animals or animal tissues that have been bred to express prion-like proteins (such as C. elegans and Drosophila) are permissible if conducted in a BSL-2 laboratory setting at an RRI.

TISSUES & BODILY FLUID RULES (page 16-17)

This is a new section that has been added to clarify what constitutes a tissue project and how to conduct such a project safely. None of the information listed in this section is new material or new rules but was simply pulled from other areas of the rules book. 

Page 16, under Rules
4. The culturing of samples from fresh/frozen tissues or body fluids or meat and meat by-products obtained from food stores, restaurants, or packing houses must be considered biosafety Level 1 studies and must be conducted in a BSL-1 laboratory or higher.
6. Human breast milk of unknown origin, unless certified free of HIV and Hepatitis C, and domestic unpasteurized animal milk are considered BSL-2. All other breast milk is considered BSL-1.

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS, ACTIVITIES, OR DEVICES RULES

Last sentence of the Introduction was added. 
Hazardous activities are those that involve a level of risk above and beyond that encountered in the student’s everyday life. The student researcher must minimize the impact of an experiment on the environment. 

Under Rules, #5 was added.
5. Projects using chemicals with a Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) safety rating of 1, 2 or 3 or National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) safety rating of 3 or 4 must be conducted in a school or laboratory setting. Projects conducted with chemicals outside these ratings may be conducted in a home setting under the following conditions: 

a. Projects in a home setting must follow standard lab practices for chemical handling, safety, ventilation, and specific disposal procedures used as outlined in the Safety Data Sheets (SDS).  

b. Any cookware, utensils, and/or equipment used during the experimentation cannot be reused for food preparation. 

c. Be conducted with a Direct Supervisor with proper training and knowledge of the chemicals being used.

Under Rules, #6 was added.
6. Disposal procedures shall be described in sufficient detail to ensure compliance with EPA Guidelines as outlined in the appropriate Safety Data Sheets. Examples include minimal quantities of chemicals that will require subsequent disposal; ensuring that all disposal is done in an environmentally safe manner. Proper chemical, sharps and other hazardous materials disposal must follow local, state, and federal guidelines.  

Under Rules, the following heading and text were added.
CHEMICALS
1. Projects using chemicals with a Globally Harmonized System (GHS)* safety rating of 1, in any of the classifications, must be conducted at an RRI.
2. Projects using chemicals for their intended purpose and with GHS safety ratings between 2 – 5 in any of the classifications, may be conducted in a home, school, or RRI setting.
3. All projects using chemicals NOT for their intended purpose and with GHS safety ratings between 2 – 5 in any of the classifications, must be conducted in a school or RRI laboratory setting. A chemical is NOT used for its intended purposes when it is mixed with other chemicals, changes temperature, larger volumes are used, etc.
4. All projects using chemicals in a school lab or home setting must be conducted under the following conditions:
a. Follow standard lab practices for chemical handling, safety, ventilation, and specific disposal procedures used as outlined in the Safety Data Sheets (SDS).
b. Discard or repurpose any cookware, utensils, and/or equipment used during the experimentation; they cannot be reused for regular household use.
c. Be conducted with a Direct Supervisor with proper training and knowledge of the chemicals being used.

*NOTE: Chemicals may also be rated on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) scale. This scale runs from 0-4, with 4 being the most hazardous. A GHS rating of 1 is equivalent to an NFPA of 4.

FORMS

Student Checklist (1A)
Added clarification on question 6 section b that Form 7s for all previous project years are required.
• Continuation/Research Progression Form (7); include forms for all previous years 

Regulated Research Institutional/Industrial Setting Form (1C)
First bullet under number 1, received data was added
• Used equipment and/or received data 

Qualified Scientist Form (2)
Question 3 was added
• 3. Did you provide any data; if yes, please provide source or describe 

Risk Assessment Form (3)
Added second sentence to number 3.
• 3. Describe the safety precautions and procedures that will be used to reduce the risks. If you conducted fieldwork, include permits received and safety plans, as applicable.  

Human Participants Form (4)
Under IRB USE ONLY section, combined numbers 3 and 4 and removed the No checkbox Under IRB USE ONLY section, #6. Was added.
• 6. Facility for “protected groups” used, written approval has been obtained.   Yes / No 

Human Participants Form (4)
SCVSEFA has its own IRB; leave the bottom portion of form 4 blank for our use.

Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents Risk Assessment Form (6A)
Added sentence to the end of the intro.
• The student researcher must minimize the impact of an experiment on the environment.

Under Section 1: Project Assessment, reworded number 2.
• 2. Describe the biosafety level of the experimentation site.

Under Section 1: Project Assessment, in number 3, changed “hood type” to “safety cabinet type”

Under Section 1: Project Assessment, deleted number 4.

Provided links to the BSL-2 checklist throughout the document

Under Section 3, checkbox 2 was added.
• This project involves the culturing of Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs). It has been conducted in a BSL-2 or higher lab at a Regulated Research Institution and the required IBC pre-approval is attached. Date of IBC approval ____________________ 

Final SRC signature box as removed. SRC should be signing Form 1B either 2a or 2b, depending on if the project needed pre-approval from the fair’s SRC (2a) or if the project was done at an RRI and received pre-approval from the RRI and not the fair’s SRC (2b).

Continuation/Research Progression Projects Form (7)
Added to the bottom of the form another checkbox for additional Form 7s