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Editorial Policies
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Focus and Scope Section Policies Peer Review Process Publication Frequency Open Access Policy Archiving |
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| Focus and Scope | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal is a refereed journal of outstanding scholarship featuring the work of Vanderbilt University students. We welcome submissions from all undergraduates in every academic discipline represented on the Vanderbilt campus whose outstanding contributions warrant dissemination to the widest audience of Journal readers. As you craft your submission, feel free to reference the following guidelines we seek to follow in evaluating each submission: • Originality or Innovative Quality - the extent to which the submission provides an exceptional opportunity for our readers to discover new dimensions of academic research. • Content - the variety of techniques, experiences, results, research data, or publishable findings within the article. The best articles will contain noteworthy research findings for the group of readers most directly interested by the subject area. • Readability - the degree to which the submission can be easily read by a diversity of readers who may not have advanced training in the discipline of interest. Since the goal of addressing a broad audience is a high priority for the Journal, readability is greatly stressed by reviewers. If you are an undergraduate engaged in departmental honors work, independent study, research assistantship, or summer research, we are particularly interested in your submission. If you uncertain about the level of interest in your academic research project, please feel free to submit a short abstract to the editors for a preliminary assessment prior to writing an article. We will help you define your writing efforts for the greatest contribution to a future edition. |
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| Section Policies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Peer Review Process | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal conforms to the highest standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity in the evaluation process for submissions. Both sections of the Journal maintain a blind, peer-review process that protects the scholastic value of academic research by verifying the methodological and content validity of submissions. Prospective contributors are highly encouraged to submit a short abstract to the Editor for a preliminary assessment prior to writing an article. Undergraduates who conduct research prior to the issuance of a Call for Papers are encouraged to consult faculty members before submitting their manuscript for review. Following the receipt of the full submission, the Editor will guide each submission through a blind, peer-refereed process to ensure continuity and fairness for every author. Articles will be sent to members of the Editorial Review Board with all references identifying the author removed. Reviewers will evaluate submissions on the basis of original or innovative quality, content, and readability. Upon receiving two reviews on a paper, the Section Editor will make one of four decisions on each article (Accept, Accept with Revisions, Revise and Resubmit, or Decline) and notify the author(s) of the outcome immediately. Authors who are encouraged to Revise and Resubmit should consult experienced faculty members for assistance in revising the article immediately. Authors are welcome to consult the Editor for specific advice in revising the article for publication. The final step in the review process will be an endorsement of the final publishable article by the same faculty member who endorsed the original submission. |
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| Publication Frequency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal is currently published on an annual basis in electronic format. With the approval of the Editorial Board, the Editor will also consider the publication of special issues in collaboration with another academic organization. |
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| Open Access Policy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 This journal provides open access to all of it content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources. |
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| Archiving | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More... |
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Open Submissions
Open Submissions
Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Jean and Alexander Heard Library System, and the Office of Innovation through Technology