Undergraduate Research Journal

Conducting research is one of the most rewarding ways to contribute to your field's academic community. As a student going through the process of research, from initial ideas to actual data collection and analysis, publication is the final step in gaining the recognition you need for your work. In addition, publishing will help you gain insight into the professional world of your individual field, and it prepares you for further work at the graduate level. It is also an excellent way to add to your curriculum vitae or resume when applying for professional positions. The presence of an undergraduate research journal on campus also reinforces IU South Bend's status as a major research university and helps in its accreditation.

Any student who has completed undergraduate research or a mentor-based program or fellowship can submit to the URJ. We accept and encourage submissions from all the schools at IU South Bend. The work must be approved by a faculty mentor prior to submission.

Submissions are to be made via email. Actually, an electronic version is required to distribute to the editors and back to you for corrections. The text should be in a word document containing the title page, author, contact information (email and phone), 120 word or less abstract, manuscript body, and finally references. Please provide all of this in ONE DOCUMENT. Faculty checklist should be filled out and submitted along with paper. If your paper required IRB approval, please include approval # or paperwork. All graphics and should be high resolution to ensure quality printing and should appear in the document where appropriate.

Yes. In fact, most papers do. The co-authors may be fellow undergraduates, graduate students, or a faculty member or mentor.

Each volume of the research journal is published near the end of the spring semester. Submissions for the journal are due by February 1st, so that they make it into that spring's volume. You can submit your research at any time before the deadline, and are encouraged to do so.

Accommodations may be made for late submissions, but usually only by a few days. Once the manuscript has been sent to the printers, we cannot change it. If you would like to submit your paper after the deadline, please contact the editor in advance so that we can get it included in time.

The URJ aims to publish the best of undergraduate research in each Issue. It is expected that the article should convey the subject matter as clearly as possible and keep terminology to a minimum. The editors read each submission first for both substance and clarity. We ask if the paper poses a research question that is investigated with both data and argument. We see if the author arrives at valid conclusions given the data and evidence presented.

For a statement of expectations on each piece of a research paper, see the suggestions for the submission of a research paper page. Research papers are evaluated specifically according these criteria.

You will be notified via email that your paper has been accepted for publication.

Authors should format their work according to the appropriate style (APA, MLA or Chicago) in their disciplines. The principal aim is to standardize the use of references and citations.

Submitted papers should be complete in their entirety. If there are items that need clarifying or you would like to make minor changes, please contact the editors as soon as possible so that the changes can be included. Due to time constraints with publishing, revisions cannot be guaranteed.

No. Some universities allow this, and others do not. While this is an ongoing concern with copyright ownership, our recommendation is that you submit a summarized or shortened version of your work to the URJ. You can then expand or add to your original work and publish the more detailed paper in the professional Journal.

Again, no. if you think there may be a conflict between publishing your article in a professional journal and our Journal, we encourage you to make minor changes or lengthen your work into a larger article. This allows you to publish the more detailed paper in the professional Journal.

The URJ would be pleased to have you on its staff! Please contact the editor-in-chief to see what positions you can fill. A copy editor is responsible for providing commentary and review on an article. Layout editors are responsible for the overall look of the journal, and the most needed positions are often referees. Referees simply review submissions to verify that they are unique and novel ideas worth publishing. All editing is done in conjunction with other editors and the editor-in-chief.

Digital versions of the URJ can be found on the archives page: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/iusburj/issue/archive?_gl=1*9bbfr5*_ga*Njc0NzE4MjA2LjE2OTYxODc5MDY.*_ga_61CH0D2DQW*MTY5ODE3MTQ4Ni42LjEuMTY5ODE3MzY0NS41OC4wLjA.&_ga=2.170709152.169641035.1698171487-674718206.1696187906. Please contact iusb.urj.editors@gmail.com for further assistance with obtaining a copy of the URJ.