UConn Undergraduate Science Journal






What is the Undergraduate Science Journal?

The UConn Undergraduate Science Journal is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the select publication of independent research conducted by UConn undergraduate students within all STEM disciplines, that is any research that explores the physical sciences using the scientific method. Every submission will undergo a double-blind peer review process by the USJ’s Student Editor Committee and will be scored on scientific value, methodology, writing, and results. The top papers will be reviewed by the Faculty Review Committee, which consists of appointed faculty members from Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Computer Science and Engineering, and Cognitive Science and will be scored on a similar rubric. Any UConn student with a complete scientific research paper that meets the USJ requirements is eligible to apply. Members of the club will gain insight into the process of scientific writing and publishing scientific research through editing, scoring, and publishing the journal. The applicants will learn the process of submission and approval of scientific research papers. The journal is set to promote student scientific research among the UConn undergraduate student body and hopes to eliminate some barriers of getting STEM research published by undergraduate students.

Peer Review Process

Step 1: Student Review Committee

The Student Review Committee is a team of highly motivated undergraduate UConn students under the direction of the Managing Editor. The committee will review student papers through a double blind review process (see below) and score each paper based on the Official USJ Rubric (we will link the rubric here when we develop it). Every member of the UConn Undergraduate Science Journal is eligible to apply to become a part of the Student Review Committee.

Step 2: Faculty Review

The Faculty Review Committee is a team of UConn faculty from various scientific disciplines that has been selected to review undergraduate student papers and score them based on the Official USJ Rubric - Faculty (we will link this one too) through a double blind review process.

What is the Double Blind Review Process?

A double blind process is a review process in which the identity of the author of a submitted paper is concealed from the reviewer and the identity of the reviewer is concealed from the author. This process was decided to be the fairest review process by the USJ leadership and will serve as an assurance of impartial paper selection for publication.

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