RURJ Submissions-Now Open!

RURJ Submissions-Now Open!

The RURJ is now collecting journal submissions for the 2024 publication!

Please see below for specific eligibility and submission requirements. Submissions must also include the Mandatory Forms signed and sent with the submission.

***All submissions are to be sent to aresty.rurj@rutgers.edu no later than Friday, February 23, 2024. If you have conducted research in the STEM, social sciences, or humanities at Rutgers and are either a current undergraduate student or recent (<1 year) alumnus, we encourage you to submit your work by emailing it to us at aresty.rurj@rutgers.edu with your submission and the subject line “2024 Manuscript Submission - [Your Name]”. Papers should be targeted to the undergraduate population and average 2,000–3,000 words in length.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MANDATORY FORMS

RUBRICS:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE HUMANITIES RUBRIC

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE STEM RUBRIC

ELIGIBILITY

1. Current Rutgers University undergraduates from all Rutgers campuses (New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark) or alumni within 12 months of their graduation date are eligible for submission of research done at Rutgers to the journal. Recent alumni should have begun their research project during their undergraduate years.

2. Only research conducted at Rutgers, including literature reviews, are acceptable. Non-Rutgers students who conducted research at Rutgers-affiliated labs are eligible for submission. However, Rutgers students who conducted research at non-Rutgers affiliated labs are not eligible for submission.

3. Priority is given to those who have not previously been accepted to the journal as an author or co-author and/or those who have not previously been listed as an author on a publication. The maximum number of submissions per submission cycle is 1 per person.

4. All subject areas and disciplines are equally eligible for submission to the journal and will be evaluated impartially.

5. If interested in non-traditional submission, inquire further at aresty.rurj@rutgers.edu. Senior theses are welcome, so long as they adhere with the RURJ submission guidelines.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

REQUIREMENTS

1. Presented research must have original or novel work with strong evidence accompanying all discussed conclusions.

2. Research involving human subjects, including student surveys, must show documentation of IRB approval prior to the start of research.

3. Authors must demonstrate willingness to implement suggested recommendations and revisions of peer and faculty reviewers according to the timeline provided in “Logistics” to be considered for publication. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in rejection of the paper.

4. When submitting a manuscript, authors must also consent by waiver, if accepted, to future

publication in the journal. See “Copyright” for details.

5. Submitted manuscripts must be written in English with few typographical or grammatical errors.

6. Authors are to submit a maximum of one paper per submission cycle. Authors who are interested in submitting multiple papers may inquire further.

WORD COUNT

Manuscripts should average 2,000 words (1,500-3,000). Author should aim to produce writing that can communicate with intelligent non-experts. The intended demographic of our journal is other undergraduate students and prospective Rutgers students. Jargon and technical writing should be explained and manuscript should attempt to provide sufficient background for those not well versed in respective disciplines.

FORMATTING

1. Submissions should be written in English.

  • Submission must be letter-sized (8.5” x 11”), 12-point font, Times New Roman,

double-spaced, 1-inch margin.

  • Submissions WITHOUT a significant number of characters or equations that

are difficult to format must be a Word document (.doc or .docx).

  • Submissions WITH a significant number of aforesaid characters and/or

equations should be typeset in LaTeX as a TeX (.tex) file. If in doubt, inquire

further.

  • Relevant figures and tables must be embedded into manuscript with appropriate

legends in the following file formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF. High-resolution figures will be

requested upon serious consideration for publication. You may submit in vector file

formats and/or RAW file formats upon approval.

  • As manuscript organization differs among research fields, please model structure and

style of submissions on standard manuscripts published in professional journals within

your specific field.

2. Submissions MUST follow either APA (eg. STEM fields) or Chicago style (eg. humanities) depending on the field of research.

3. The manuscript must be submitted with all personal identifiers removed.

CONTENT

It is recommended to follow the general guidelines for structure and content from papers in your field. To ensure all relevant areas of content are addressed, guidelines for data-based (STEM and some humanities) and source-based (humanities) research are presented below.

Data-based submissions should have the following:

1. Title Page. An abstract of 150-250 words should be included at the beginning of the research paper and should include the question investigated, the overall purpose of the study, the basic design of the study, the major findings from results, and a conclusion based on the analysis of results. Provide a list of key terms relevant to the paper.

2. Introduction. Provide the relevant background of the research subject. Clearly includes the thesis. Thesis represents the author's own novel and independent finding.

3. Methodology. Discuss protocols used, methods of analysis, and description of appropriate statistical tests. Should be detailed enough that the methods are replicable.

4. Results. Include results, including contradictory findings, unexpected findings, etc. NEVER INCLUDE RAW DATA: instead, include graphs/charts with a caption. Ensure appropriate visuals are labelled and a brief description of visual is included.

5. Discussion/Conclusion. Discuss contradictory findings, highlight failures of the research, and propose areas of potential improvement. Present how the results contribute to recent research advancements and propose suggestions for future research. Restate the initial research question.

6. References. References and in-text citations are to be in APA or Chicago styles as per the guidelines detailed in “Formatting”. Ensure reputable and relevant sources are used.

7. Acknowledgments. The contributions of others, i.e. contributors other than authors, must be provided if applicable.

Source-based submissions should have the following:

1. Title Page. An abstract of 150-250 words should be included at the beginning of the research paper and should include the question investigated, the overall thesis of the study, the general sources analyzed, and a novel conclusion based on the analysis of sources. Provide a list of key terms relevant to the paper.

2. Thesis. Well-defined independent thesis and development of argument through engagement with sources. Well-defined theoretical framework explained and discussed. Thesis represents original, independent thought not derivative of other sources.

3. Sources. Relevant and trusted sources that are critically analyzed to support and further enhance the thesis. Special consideration to bias, reputability, audience, relevancy and accuracy is provided along with detailed analysis of sources utilized.

4. Organization. Logical and coherent structure with subheadings if appropriate.There are no gaps in the authors argument, and multiple viewpoints are discussed. Argument structure utilizes the appropriate analysis approach in humanities research.

5. Conclusion. Novel conclusions based on critical analysis of sources and the synthesis of ideas. Includes significance of findings/conclusions. Includes potential shortcomings and flaws in the research process including potential bias, research method limitations and critiques. Key findings expressed and overall significance of the research is expressed once again.

6. References. References and in-text citations are to be in APA or Chicago styles as per the guidelines detailed in “Formatting”. All relevant references included, plethora of sources selected from a variety of multiple primary/secondary sources.

7. Acknowledgments. The contributions of others, i.e. contributors other than authors, must be provided if applicable. Reference to research lab or affiliate included if applicable.

LOGISTICS

1. Publications will be released on a semester basis; any articles submitted before the publication’s respective deadline will be considered for that issue. Submissions must include the form “Code of Conduct”, “Consent”, and “Acknowledgement of Copyright Policy” signed by the undergraduate researcher and their Principal Investigator (PI)/advisor, if applicable. If research was conducted under a PI/advisor, this needs to be sent directly from the PI/advisor. These forms need to be signed by both the PI/Advisor and the author.

2. Submissions to the journal, if accepted, will be subject to review by undergraduate peers, graduate students, and faculty members at Rutgers University and RWJMS.

  • Acceptance for the reviewing process does not guarantee publication in the journal until the paper meets the standard of the journal.
  • Each manuscript typically goes through 4 rounds of reviews and editing until the final publication. In each round, the author must implement revisions according to the reviews within approximately 2-3 weeks of receipt.

3. The researcher must provide a biography of 100 to 200 words and contact information for publication use along with the paper submission. Your email will be made available on the publication should anyone like to reach out to you regarding your work. This description should briefly discuss a little about the author and the context in which the research was conducted. It is recommended that the researcher also provide a headshot (4" x 5" photo, dimensions of ~1200 x 1500 pixels, PNG/JPEG).

COPYRIGHT

The listed copyright agreements must be read and acknowledged by the signatures of all authors involved before the manuscript can be reviewed for publication.

1. The author accepts responsibility for the originality of the paper as well as factual and experimental accuracy.

  • Any help received from faculty, graduate students, or others in the course of the

research will be recognized by citations by the author and in published issues.

  • The work shall contain no material beyond what is permitted by the “Fair Use”

clause, e.g. material from other copyrighted works without the consent of the

owner of such copyrighted materials. Should the work contain copyrighted

materials, the author must disclose this via the Reproduction Disclosure Form,

and the author must request consent from the copyright holder.

  • If research was conducted under a PI/advisor, the Mandatory Forms need to be sent

directly from the PI/advisor. These forms need to be signed by both the author and

the PI/advisor. If applicable, the “Reproduction Disclosure Form” should be sent directly

from the author.

  • The author will disclose any financial or other interests related to the submitted work that could affect the author’s objectivity or could influence the perception of the article’s content.

3. The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the non-exclusive and open rights to publish their work in Rutgers Undergraduate Research Journal (RURJ) granted by an attribution, non-commercial, and share-alike Creative Commons license. This broad license was developed by an international non-profit organization to facilitate open access to, and free use of, original works of all types. This has been adopted by major institutions globally. Applying this standard license to your work will in short:

  • Accord you ownership of the copyright; patent and trademarks are not licensed - Allow you to have a final say in how your work will be published
  • Provide strong legal protection to you and those wishing to use your work in a non-commercial fashion; i.e., RURJ will serve as a licensed provider - State that the licenser does not make any warranties of the said work. Thus, this license ensures your right to make your work freely and openly available. For the full legal terms of the license, please visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode

4. Papers published in RURJ may be published elsewhere; however, it may be necessary to be aware of other journals’ policy regarding exclusive rights.

  • Use of the licensed material may still be restricted for other reasons, eg. others having copyright in the material.
  • It is also required that the author keep RURJ informed as to where the paper or a significant part of the paper has been published or may be published.

5. The author agrees to communicate and work with Editors and Reviewers sincerely and cooperatively in order to revise the article for publication in the RURJ.

  • The author agrees to deliver to RURJ a complete manuscript copy of the work satisfactory to the Publisher in content, form, and length.
  • If the author should fail to deliver a manuscript that is satisfactory to the RURJ, the Publisher may terminate this agreement by giving written notice to the author.
  • If, when the manuscript is delivered, RURJ determines that it is not satisfactory, the author shall cooperate with the Publisher in changing the manuscript to make it satisfactory to the Publisher.
  • If the manuscript cannot be made satisfactory to the RURJ, RURJ may, at any time within three months after delivery of the manuscript, terminate this agreement by giving written notice to the author.

6. This agreement may not be revoked without the express written consent of both parties.

FINAL CHECKLIST

1. Manuscript without identifiers as .docx file.

2. Short biography with headshot and preferred email address.

3. Necessary signed forms. If applicable, sent from PI/advisor.

4. Reproduction Disclosure Form, if applicable.