Awards are a good place to start in order to find out what is currently and historically considered to be the best, or most representative, works in SF/F and prove to be excellent sources for reading lists. The following are some of the major awards for SF/F.

The Hugo Award is presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) for achievement in Science Fiction literature in various categories.

• The Award is named for Hugo Gernsback, the originator of the term, "science fiction" and the creator of the first science fiction magazine
• The Hugo Award categories include novels, short stories, editors, artists, and The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the Best New Writer
• The Awards are administered by the WSFS. Selections are nominated and voted on by attendees at the year's World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon)
• The Hugo Award has been presented annually since 1946

The John W. Campbell Award, not to be confused with the Hugo Award category by the same name, is limited to new novels and has been presented since 1973 at the annual Campbell Conference

• Hosted by the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas
• The members of the award committee confer and decide on the selections for this award. John W. Campbell is considered the "father of modern science fiction" by most professionals in the science fiction community
• From 1939 until his death in 1971, Campbell edited the magazine, Astounding Science Fiction, now named Analog
• The companion award for short science fiction is The Theodore Sturgeon Award first presented in 1987
• Sturgeon was one of the greats of the Golden Age of science fiction during the period of 1939-1950. The Campbell Conference also maintains The Hall of Science Fiction Fame

The Nebula Awards began in 1965 and are awarded to the year's best novel, novella, novelette, and short story.

• The awards are administered by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. and voted on by its members, over 1,000 authors of the SF/F genre
• Other Awards sponsored by SFWA are the Author Emeritus program which honors senior writers in the field, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award which is presented as a lifetime achievement award to a living author
• Fiction from the Author Emeritus program, Grand Master award and short fiction Nebula Awards are published annually as separate anthologies

The Arthur C. Clarke Award has honored British publications annually since 1987.

• Established by and named for an English astrophysicist and the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• This award includes a monetary prize of the year in pounds: this year's winner will receive £2004