By: CHRISTINA CLARK
Staff Writer
clark66@umail.iu.edu
The IU South Bend 2017 Undergraduate Research Journal is taking submissions until Feb. 1, 11:59 p.m. So far submissions have been on the slower side as students return to school, but Stephen Salisbury, student body president and editor-in-chief of the journal isn’t worried.
“It is not uncommon for submissions to be low at this point in the year. IUSB students always seem to wait until the last minute to participate in these types of opportunities,” he said. “Plus, we don’t do a whole bunch of promotion before the start of spring semester, so we will likely start seeing an upswing in the coming weeks.”
Emphasizing the unique opportunity of publishing undergraduate research, Salisbury encourages students to take advantage of it.
“Publishing your work is one of the top goals of any student in higher education, especially at the master’s and Ph.D level. It is rare to have the opportunity to do so at the undergraduate level, so we’re fortunate to have a consistently high-quality journal that makes this possible,” Salisbury said. “It’s one of those things that future employers or graduate school will likely find very impressive.”
The Undergraduate Research Journal accepts a diverse body of work. The 2015-2016 Journal covers nine areas of study, ranging from anthropology and sociology to economics, decision sciences and information systems to English, political science and nursing, women’s and gender studies and more.
“We will consider any paper you have written during your undergraduate career here at IUSB,” said Salisbury. “We try to highlight original research, but we take well-constructed arguments that use other sources. You do need a professor’s endorsement,” he said.
“Your professor should be able to give you some guidance on whether your product should be submitted. Bearing in mind, also, that this paper does not need to be from this semester or this year, but if you’ve recently completed something for which you got a decent grade, you might as well submit it,” Salisbury said.
For students that are gun-shy of submitting? “The worst that can happen is we decide not to publish it, then there’s always next year.” Salisbury said.
Students were slow to submit to the 2015-2016 journal, resulting in an extended deadline to accommodate later submissions.
Students can access the Undergraduate Research Journal’s website for more detailed information, http://www.iusb.edu/ugr-journal, and any questions or submissions can be sent to journal@iusb.edu.
Submitting research “gives students an edge,” Salisbury said. “It helps them stand out amongst their peers. The fact that they produced new research, exhibited the ability to compile and analyze data and form a persuasive argument is invaluable to possible employers and those considering graduate school applications.”
