Student-run Journal Research Articles

Improving Student Journal Visibility via the Directory of Open Access Journals

In this interview with Judith Barnsby, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), we look at how student-run journals could enhance their visibility by joining DOAJ. We highlight the general and student journal-specific application requirements for inclusion in DOAJ, known challenges with the application process, and recommendations for student journals that want to apply. The interview is conducted by Mariya Maistrovskaya, University of Toronto Libraries, the Interviewer.

Trends and Issues in Student-Run Peer-Reviewed Journals of Education

The purpose of this mixed methods bibliometric study was to identify the trends and issues in student-run peer-reviewed journals of education and to determine predictive factors of journal longevity. To that end, a search for journals was conducted, yielding 11 journals and 1,105 records. Journals were coded for editorial procedures, goals, and guidelines. Records were coded for publication characteristics, author characteristics, and keywords and abstracts. The analysis consisted of calculating descriptive statistics for journals, authors, and affiliations, implementing text mining on titles, keywords, and abstracts, and fitting a logistic regression model to predict journal longevity. Results revealed that student-run journals are somewhat prone to gaps in publication, but that effective editorial practices such as requiring abstracts and publishing issues consistently predict journal longevity. Three themes emerged across journals: a transformative focus, leaning into the margin, and inconsistent guidelines & processes. Recommendations for student-run peer-reviewed journals of education are to (a) form sustainable editorial structures, (b) follow consistent publication patterns, (c) solicit authors purposefully, and (d) continue leaning into the margin.

The Hogsback Project

At the University of Montana Western, we emphasize making experiential learning the focus of our institution. We feel that students profit from research experiences that connect courses across disciplines, especially in the general education curriculum. The Hogsback project was designed toengage students in the cycle of research by investigating how individual worker behaviors of the western harvester ant, Pogonomrymex occidentalis, affect their environment. To facilitate implementation, professors incorporated the Hogsback research into existing course structures and projects. We established a student-run journal, called The Hogsback Journal, for research to be disseminated to involved participants. To date, 536 students, thirty-four classes and twelve professors have been involved in the research. Students have participated in a wide variety of fieldsincluding soil science, statistics, mathematical modeling, ecology, biology, and geology. Paper submissions to The Hogsback Journal far exceeded expectations with fifty in fall 2021, fifty-nine in spring 2022, and fifty-six in fall 2022, becoming the hub through which research is disseminated. Based on the Hogsback project, we present a multidisciplinary approach to creating experiential course projects that we call HUB research that applies outside of STEM disciplines. We demonstrate how to implement a HUB research project using existing courses and structure of the block. Once established, a HUB research project serves as a central organizing feature for research that students can participate in to fulfill the educational goals of their courses. HUB architecture allows students to engage in successive courses giving them a more sophisticated understanding and perspective from different disciplines. Research is driven by an inquiry-based research cycle. As it evolves at block-accelerated speed, HUB research is a powerful engine for multidisciplinary research.

What Is the Role of Graduate Student Journals in the Publish-or-Perish Academy? Three Lessons from Three Editors-in-Chief

To be prepared to face the “publish-or-perish” reality of contemporary academia, early career scholars must develop capacity and confidence. While the publication practices of International Relations have received increasing attention in the last 20 years, concern remains around the preparedness of graduate students to participate confidently and competently in the publication process. As three former Editors-in-Chief of a graduate student journal, we suggest that student-run journals can play an important role in professionalization during graduate school. We then reflect on our journal’s context as well as on reforms initiated to improve the policies and practices during our editorial tenure. Bringing our experiences to bear on previous findings in the literature, we outline three key lessons that can help support successful journals at other institutions. First, given the high turnover rate, starting early is key to maintain early enthusiasm and flatten intensity spikes. Second, editors must remain mindful of what we call the ‘workload paradox’—or how the comparatively low workload of some graduate journals can make it harder to manage an editorial team. Finally, we argue that graduate student journals should be understood as places of learning and primarily valued as professionalization and pedagogical spaces.

Student-Run Journals: Where science students can become scientists

Student-Run Journals: Where science students can become scientists

Predicting the Future of European Property Law

In 1994 Rene de Groot and Steven Bartels published an article in Ars Aequi, a Dutch, completely student run journal, about the future of property law in the European Union. The Treaty of Maastricht had just entered into force and a new era in the European integration process was about to begin. Before any of the challenges brought with EU enlargement in 2004, the financial crisis from 2007 onwards, or the migration crisis in 2015, De Groot and Bartels devoted their attention to a thought experiment: what could the role of property law be in the European Union? Their answers are, looking at it from a 2016 perspective, very accurate, both in terms of developments and their predictions what action would be needed for these to come about.In their contribution De Groot and Bartels focus on security rights, use rights and rules of third party protection (also known as the bona fide purchaser). The main core of their argument is that because property law systems are divergent, comparative research is needed before the European Union can take appropriate action. This statement holds true today and each of these themes deserves attention in the 2016 context, before I return to the main argument on the need for comparative research.

The Paperless Chase

In this symposium issue essay, Dean Mulroy argues that the paperless trend in law reviews is inevitable and mostly salutary, given advantages in cost, speed, access, and environmental impact. This will likely not mean the demise of student-run journals, nor should it. Although student-run journals have drawbacks and the rise of peer-reviewed journals is beneficial, the student-run journal has several significant advantages.

The Impact of a Student-Run Journal Club on Pharmacy Students' Self-Assessment of Critical Appraisal Skills.

After attending an educational session on hosting journal clubs at the 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, Seattle, Washington, two third-year professional pharmacy students created a student-run journal club through the University of Rhode Island's ASCP student chapter. Three journal club sessions were held during the spring semester and were open to all pharmacy students. Students completed an anonymous pre- and post-survey to assess confidence in evaluating medical literature. Of the 18 participants, 5 were lost to follow-up. Significant improvements were found among all participants in their confidence in critically evaluating clinical research, interpreting statistical methods, and completing a journal club during Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotations. This activity can be replicated in academic settings as well as workplace environments where pharmacy students are involved.

Editorial: Dalhousie Journal of Information & Management

Journal initiators and working group chairs introduce the first issue of the then named Dalhousie Journal of Information & Management, outlining their evolution from a Coburg Committee of six, the challenges of starting a student-run journal, and their vision for its future.

EDITORS’ NOTE

You hold in your hands the very first edition of the Pretoria Student Law Journal. It has been a tremendous journey in completing the first edition, due largely to the process of finding our feet in everything from footnote styles to page sizing to the task of editing the articles(which in truth was made simple by the exceptional quality in contributions and contributors). The spirit with which the many who made this possible have worked has enabled the creation of a fantastic opportunity for us, as students, to publish our own concepts and ideas. Academic legal writing in South Africa has, with a few exceptions, traditionally been the domain of lecturers and practitioners. One result of this is that, as students, we tend to forget that law applies to the whole society. As citizens (and especially as legally trained citizens) we have a right – even a duty – to think critically about the laws which govern our society. We need to question and to analyse deeply whether the positive law as it stands necessarily meets its objectives. Where it doesn't, we must highlight its shortfalls precisely because we are part of a broader society. With our Constitutional dispensation and the prominence it gives to the rule of law, we must further determine whether our current law meets the demands that we, as society, set for it in 1993 and 1996. The PSLR represents a forum to students for at least a small portion of this debate. It has been started with two main aims – to stimulate critical legal thought amongst law students and to develop students’ writing and research skills. As a student-run journal for publication by students it is entirely dependant on student support. We appeal for, request, encourage – even demand – criticism, submissions, assistance and any other form of participation, because without it, this project will lack the richness it may otherwise have had it. The PSLR represents a student voice in a previously exclusive domain - it's up to you to use it and make it strong.

The Role of Student-Run Journals in Opening North American Law

The Role of Student-Run Journals in Opening North American Law