The ninth annual Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) competition, the only contest dedicated exclusively to recognizing excellence in digital journalism, is now open for submissions and will accept entries through May 31, 2008.

(Enter the Online Journalism awards by submitting an entry here.)

Winners will be announced at the Online Journalism Awards Banquet during the annual conference of the Online News Association, which will be held September 11-13 in Washington, DC.

The awards are open only to websites or areas of websites where journalists have originated the content or selected and amplified the information. Search services and portal sites, as well as news services may submit content they have created that fits the eligibility requirements.

The contest is open to all Web sites around the world. In response to the growth and development of online news since the award's inception in 2000, the Online News Association this year adopted several changes in the competition, including the addition of two new categories.

The addition of the General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English recognizes the globalization of online journalism and the ONA's move toward inclusion of the extraordinary work of International members.

Online Video Journalism acknowledges the growth and development of stories covered on the web beyond text and photos. This award will honor excellence in video journalism original to the Web.

A complete list of categories and entry requirements can be found at www.journalists.org/awards

The competition is for work published between July 1, 2007 and May 31, 2008.

Contest rules, entry forms and information are available at http://journalist.org/awards.

Winners of the 2007 Online Journalism Awards included Florida Today's space coverage and Wired.com's defense reporting, The Oakland Tribune won the second year of the Knight Public Service prize for "Not Just a Number." The organization took the lead to combat an epidemic of violence in its community and made that community an integral part of the ongoing and evolving project.

A panel of industry-leading news professionals will judge the entries. The Online Journalism Awards were launched in May 2000. Detailed information about the 2008 Online Journalism Awards can be found at www.journalists.org