The Herald and The Scotsman will battle it out for prizes at next month’s Scottish Press Awards after gaining an equal number of shortlist places across their publishing groups.

There were 22 nominations each for Glasgow’s Herald and Times Group, which includes The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times, and Scotsman Publications, which includes The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News.

There was also a strong showing from the Scottish Sun with 15 nominations and the Daily Record with 10.

The awards, which are in their 34th year, aim to recognise the best journalism in the newspaper industry across Scotland at a ceremony which will be held in Glasgow on 18 April.

Five newspapers will battle it out for the title of weekly newspaper of the year and these are the Ayrshire Post, The Falkirk Herald, Hamilton Advertiser, Highland News and The Inverness Courier.

There is no shortlist for the journalist or newspaper of the year but the winners of these categories will be announced on the night.

The full shortlist is:

Sports Photographer of the Year

Ian MacNicol, The Scotsman and Metro Scottish Edition
William Murray, SNS Group
Nicky Ponty, Herald & Times
Kenny Ramsay, The Scottish Sun
Ian Rutherford, The Scotsman Publications Ltd

News Photographer of the Year

Gordon Jack, The Scotsman and Daily Record
Jeff Mitchell, Getty Images
Ian Rutherford, The Scotsman
Roddy Scott, The Scottish Sun
Gordon Terris, The Herald

Cartoonist of the Year

Brian Adcock, Scotland on Sunday
Steven Camley, The Herald
Scott Clissold, Scottish Sunday Express
Pete Davidson, The Sunday Post
Brian Petrie, The Scottish Sun

Young Journalist of the Year

Niamh Anderson, The Scottish Sun
Paul John Coulter, Greenock Telegraph
Alasdair Gill, Dundee Evening Telegraph
Paris Gourtsoyannis, Holyrood Magazine
Euan McLelland, Daily Record

Weekly Newspaper of the Year

Ayrshire Post
The Falkirk Herald
Hamilton Advertiser
Highland News
The Inverness Courier

Arts/Entertainment Journalist of the Year

Brian Beacom, The Herald
Matt Bendoris, The Scottish Sun
Alison Howard, The Herald/Sunday Herald
Phil Miller, The Herald
David Robinson, The Scotsman
Aidan Smith, Scotland on Sunday

Magazine Writer of the Year

Billy Briggs, The Herald Magazine
Teddy Jamieson, The Herald/Sunday Herald
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday
David Robinson, The Scotsman
Peter Ross, Scotland on Sunday
Alison Rowat, The Herald

Political Journalist of the Year

Mark Aitken, Sunday Mail
David Clegg, Daily Record
Paul Hutcheon, Sunday Herald
Iain MacWhirter, Sunday Herald
Alan Roden, Scottish Daily Mail

Columnist of the Year

Erikka Askeland, The Scotsman
Ian Bell, Sunday Herald
Tam Cowan, Daily Record
Bill Leckie, The Scottish Sun
Iain MacWhirter, Sunday Herald

Financial/Business Journalist of the Year

Simon Bain, The Herald
Colin Donald, Sunday Herald
Ian McConnell, The Herald
Scott Mcculloch, Business7
Tim Sharp, The Herald

Newspaper Feature Writer of the Year

Matt Bendoris, The Scottish Sun
Helen Brown, The Courier
Dani Garavelli, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday
Peter Ross, Scotland on Sunday

Sports Feature Writer of the Year

Tom English, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday
Michael Grant, The Herald
Robert Grieve, The Scottish Sun
Bill Leckie, The Scottish Sun
Aidan Smith, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday

Sports News Writer of the Year

Robert Grieve, The Scottish Sun
Keith Jackson, Daily Record
Ronnie MacKay, The Scottish Sun
John McGarry, Scottish Daily Mail
Derek McGregor, The Scottish Sun

Front Page of the Year

Daily Record, BYE BYE LIAR
Edinburgh Evening News, REVENGE OF THE TRAMS
Evening Express, Dear Barney
The Scotsman, BEST OF THE BEST
The Scottish Sun, Day that the taxman finally buried rangers
Sunday Herald, The gold rush

Journalism Team of the Year

Daily Record, Rangers in Crisis
Edinburgh Evening News, Mortonhall Ashes Scandal
Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in Crisis
The Scottish Sun, Gers in Crisis
The Courier, Drowning in Drugs Investigation

Campaign of the Year

Dumfries & Galloway Standard, A75 – Time to Act
Evening Telegraph Dundee, Dundee Born and Read
Evening Times, Clear the Air
The Scottish Sun, Ban Beggs Blood Money
The Sunday Post, Churchcastle

Scoop of the Year

Gina Davidson, Edinburgh Evening News
Dani Garavelli, Scotland on Sunday
Paul Hutcheon, Sunday Herald
Keith Jackson, Daily Record
Allan Rennie/Chris Musson, Daily Record

Reporter of the Year

Gail Cameron, The Scottish Sun
Ryan Crighton, The Press and Journal
Charles Gall, Daily Record
David Pratt, The Herald/Sunday Herald
Marion Scott, Sunday Mail