Editing It's Academic (section)

==Format==
The single-elimination tournament features 81 schools in the [[Washington metropolitan area]], 81 schools in the [[Baltimore metropolitan area]] (including Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore), and nine schools in the Central Virginia region.{{update inline|date=January 2024}} The winners in each region go on to battle each other in the Super Bowl.

Each contest is composed of five rounds. Round 1 is a category round with eight themed questions (e.g. "the letter B" or "famous paintings"). Questions do not appear on the players' monitors but do appear for the home viewers. Each team is given 100 points before this round and teams receive 10 points for each correct answer and lose 10 for each incorrect answer.

In Round 2, each team is individually asked five questions and receive 20 points each for a correct answer, but do not lose points for an incorrect answer.

Round 3 is a toss-up visual round. The monitor displays an image and the host provides a question accompanying the image. Teams receive 20 points for each correct answer and lose 20 for each incorrect answer (10 until April 19, 2014 in Washington, Baltimore, and starting with the 2014 season in Charlottesville; other cities' visual rounds are still 10 points up or down). Eight questions are used. The fourth question is always a math question.

Before Round 4 the captain of each team introduces the sponsors and school administrators and coaches. Teams then select from three question packets. The team to the immediate left of the team that is supposed to answer chooses which packet the answering team will use. Eight questions are given to each team, with 20 points for a correct answer and no penalties. A 25-point bonus is given if a team correctly answers all eight questions, for a total of 185 points in this round. The fourth question is always a science question and the seventh question is always a math question (data from both those questions are displayed on the monitor or team's screen).

Round 5 features quick-fire toss-up questions, each worth +/-20 points. Visual questions are worth +/-30 points. The number of questions varies depending on the time left in the game. The game ends when the buzzer sounds, home viewers may realize that the game will come to a close while the countdown clock appears on the television screen. If a team has buzzed in prior the buzzer sounding, the team is required to answer the question before the game is considered over. If there is a tie in the knockout round (e.g. the final), the presenter may ask one last tie-breaker question to determine the winner.

After the host has announced the teams' final scores, the studio audience is invited down from the stands to join the contestants on camera during the closing credit sequence. In the Washington version from about 1976 to June 2017, the song heard under the credit roll (if there are no musicians from any of the competing schools) was "T.L.C. (Tender Loving Care)" by the band [[MFSB]] (a new theme was introduced in Washington for the 2017–18 season, entitled "Just Let Go", by Marti Amado and Ron Bolton, music production by Network Music which is used throughout the show).

As a result of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.]], later episodes in the 2019–2020 season were played in a remote format, with teams in separate locations, and without buzzers. Teams were recorded separately, and were not aware of other teams' scores.  The competition will return to the studio in late winter/early spring 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Meyer|first=Jacob Calvin|title=Centennial High School wins first virtual 'It's Academic' competition for Baltimore region|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/cng-ho-centennial-wins-virtual-its-academic-20200625-emptho6rwrgp7apsjievbhgvdm-story.html|access-date=2020-08-30|website=baltimoresun.com|date=25 June 2020 }}</ref>{{update inline|date=November 2023}}

===Discontinued rounds===
Prior to the adoption of the current format, there were several other formats of play.

====Category round====
The "very fast"<ref name="washington-1983">[[WRC-TV]] (Washington) in association with Altman Productions. 23rd season premiere. ''It's Academic''. Presented by [[Mac McGarry]]. Featuring Churchill, Mount Vernon and Northwestern. Original airdate 1983-09-25.</ref> category round consisted of questions pertaining to the same category. In some cases, the question was the same throughout the round:  teams were given different items, and had to answer the common question on the basis of each item (e.g., given a state, name either senator from that state<ref name="buffalo-1979">[[WIVB-TV]] (Buffalo) in association with Altman Productions. 1978–79 championship. ''It's Academic''  Presented by [[Van Miller]]. Featuring Grand Island, Iroquois, and Jamestown. Original airdate 1979.</ref>). In other cases, all the answers in the category round shared an announced characteristic in common (e.g., geographical locations whose names begin and end with "A"<ref name="washington-1983" />). Teams used their buzzers in this round, earning 10 points for a correct answer, but losing 10 points<ref name="buffalo-1979" /> (later 20 points<ref name="washington-1983" />) for wrong answers.

====Timed round====
In all forms, a team individually answers questions from a packet within a time limit. In one form, at the beginning of the game, teams get one minute to answer questions for 20 points each. In this form, teams are not penalized for wrong answers, in order to help the teams in "building score".<ref name="buffalo-1981">[[WIVB-TV]] (Buffalo) in association with Altman Productions. ''It's Academic'' Presented by [[Van Miller]]. Featuring Williamsville East, Bishop Timon, and Salamanca Central. Original airdate 1981.</ref> In another form, teams have one and a half minutes to answer questions for 20 points each. However, 20 points are deducted for a wrong answer. Teams may pass a question, losing 10 points; however, the other two teams may buzz-in to answer the passed questions (with a few exceptions) for plus or minus 20 points after the time runs out for the team's turn. Every question that is fully read must be answered or passed within a reasonable time. However, if a question is not finished when time expires, the team may reject it without penalty or answer the question at their own risk. In this form, getting all 10 questions (later eight) correct originally earned the team a 50-point bonus, later reduced to 25.<ref name="washington-1983" /><ref name="buffalo-1981" /><ref name="central-virginia-1988">Altman Productions. ''It's Academic''  Presented by [[Mac McGarry]]. Featuring Albemarle, St. Anne's-Belfield, and Madison County. Original airdate 1988.</ref>

====Scrimmage round====
A "scrimmage round" was once used during the 1977–78 Buffalo season championship, as well as in Washington and Baltimore through much of the 1970s, and also in Cleveland at about that time. Teams were instructed to "use [their] lights and buzzers" for a "one-minute scrimmage round." 10 points were scored for a correct answer, with no penalties.<ref name="buffalo-1978">[[WIVB-TV]] (Buffalo) in association with Altman Productions. 1977–78 championship. ''It's Academic'' Presented by [[Van Miller]]. Featuring Nichols, Lancaster, and Williamsville East. Original airdate 1978.</ref>