SIGIR currently presents four awards. The Gerard Salton Award is presented every three years to an individual who has made “… significant, sustained and continuing contributions to research in information retrieval”. The Best Paper Award is presented to the individual(s) judged by a separate awards committee to have written the best paper appearing in the annual conference proceedings. The Best Student Paper Award is presented to the author of the best paper written solely or primarily by a student. The Test of Time Award recognizes research that has had long-lasting influence.
SIGIR also co-sponsors (with SIGWEB) the Vannevar Bush Best Paper Award, for the best paper at the JCDL conference.