In order to encourage both amateur natural historians and young professional naturalists, the Board of Directors of the Irish Naturalists' Journal have instituted an annual prize for the best scientific paper published in the Journal during each calendar year.
2004-2005
The Irish Naturalist's Journal Prize for 2004-2005 for the best paper in the 'Amateur Natural Historian' category was awarded to Geraldine A. Holyoak for her paper entitled 'Widespread occurrence of Vertigo geyeri (Gastropoda: Vertiginidae) in north and west Ireland' which appeared in I.N.J. 28 (4): 141-150 (2005).
2003-2004
The Irish Naturalist's Journal Prize for 2003-2004 for the best paper in the 'Young Professional Naturalist' category was awarded to James J. Bell for his paper entitled 'The distribution and prevalence of sponge species in a semi-submerged temperate sea cave' which appeared in I.N.J. 27 (7): 249-265 (2003).
2002-2003
The Irish Naturalist's Journal Prize for 2002-2003 for the best paper in the 'Amateur Natural Historian' category was awarded jointly to Conor Ryan and Peter Wilson for their paper entitled 'Observations on the behaviour of a pod of killer whales Orcinus orca L. that visited Cork Harbour in 2001' which appeared in I.N.J. 27 (5): 187-191 (2003).