About Keystone Undergraduate Res

The Keystone Journal of Undergraduate Research (KJUR) is an online multidisciplinary, faculty-reviewed publication dedicated to showcasing outstanding undergraduate research completed at one of the 14 Pennsylvania State System universities. Undergraduate research helps to span the gap between knowledge and practice, and it adds value to a student’s overall educational experience by contributing to the process of self-discovery. The publication serves as a forum to foster scholarship of undergraduate students by providing them with an opportunity to publish their intellectual work in this statewide forum. The Journal seeks to stimulate interest in all academic disciplines, and is an acknowledgment of the State System university's commitment to faculty-mentored undergraduate education.

The Journal seeks articles written by students who have had the opportunity to conduct research outside of their formal classroom experience and within their major field of study. Manuscripts submitted to the KJUR should reflect student work that has been developed as part of independent study mentored by a system faculty member. The working relationship between the student and faculty member must be one whereby the faculty mentor can ethically claim to be an author of the research. While class assignments such as term papers or research projects can yield meaningful experiences and can serve as a starting point for independent research, they generally lack the insight or depth of understanding that the editors feel is appropriate for publication in this journal.

To be eligible to submit an article to the Journal, student authors must have completed their projects under the direction of a State System faculty mentor when the authors were undergraduates. The student has up to six months after graduation to submit a manuscript to the Journal.

We are proud to announce the Call for Papers for Volume I, Number 1 of the Keystone Journal of Undergraduate Research. Undergraduate students who wish to submit the results of their faculty-mentored research for possible publication in the inaugural issue of KJUR must complete the paper submission process. Manuscripts can be submitted at any time. The first 10 manuscripts to be fully accepted by the editors will be published in the inaugural issue.