Maintaining Question Security

In order for quiz bowl tournaments to be fair, it is necessary that the questions used be completely new (in jargon, “secure” or “pristine”) to all competitors. The responsibility for ensuring that this happens at events that use NAQT questions is divided among NAQT itself, the host, and the participating schools as follows:

NAQT recommends that hosts include the following text in their invitations and other publicity materials:

This tournament will use questions provided by National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC. We are using Invitational Series #XX. It is the responsibility of participating schools to make sure that they have not attended (and do not plan to attend) another tournament anywhere that is using the same packet set. Schools can find a complete explanation of their responsibility in maintaining question security at https://www.naqt.com/hosting/security-responsibility.html. Schools who don’t know which packet sets were used at previous tournaments may find this information at https://www.naqt.com/schedule/assigned-packet-sets.jsp. Anyone with questions about question security should write to NAQT at naqt@naqt.com.

Neither hosts nor players, coaches, or anyone else may exchange, show, discuss, or otherwise reveal or suggest the content of NAQT questions from the current academic year in any public forum or in any private conversation. At the end of an academic year, tournament questions from that year may be discussed unless otherwise announced by NAQT. Note that parties remain unable to distribute copies of NAQT sets, packets, or questions for any purpose, at any time, including after the end of the academic year in which they were written.

Please send any concerns about various entities’ responsibilities for maintaining question security to naqt@naqt.com.