Keystone Journal

of  Undergraduate Research

 

General Guidelines

 

The Keystone Journal of Undergraduate Research (KJUR) is a faculty-reviewed publication for undergraduate work of the highest caliber. The Journal is designed to showcase outstanding scholarship of undergraduates attending the PA University system. Articles published in the Journal should be strong representatives of undergraduate level research and should add to the knowledge base in the field.  Three reviewers and the Issue Editor will decide which submissions will be accepted for publication.

 

Only submissions from students attending a PA state system university will be considered, however, students have up to twelve months after their date of graduation to submit to KJUR, as long as the research took place during their undergraduate years.

  

Eligibility

 

The primary author of the research must be an undergraduate student at one of the state owned universities and the research must be supervised by a faculty member from one of the universities.  The faculty mentor will be listed as an author of the article.  Graduate students may submit a paper if the work was completed as an undergraduate at one of the state owned universities. A paper may have more than one undergraduate author only if the additional authors made significant contributions to the research effort.  The faculty mentor's name will appear as the last author.

 

  1. Only original papers that are not published or accepted for publication elsewhere can be submitted. If you intend to publish your work elsewhere, it is the author's responsibility to prevent possible copyright conflicts.

 

  1. Manuscripts are limited to between 1500 and 3000 words of text, not including references or titles associated with tables, graphs, diagrams, equations, or photographs. All image files must be scaled no larger than 6 inches wide and 6 inches high with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Make sure that fonts are clear and readable at this scale. All figures and tables should be imbedded into the document at an appropriate place. Captions should not be part of the image.  If a manuscript is accepted, the author may be asked to provide separate files for each figure and table.

 

  1. If human subjects or living animals were used in the research, the research protocol must have been approved by the Internal Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at your respective institution.

 

  1. Faculty members may be listed as an author on a published article if they choose (see Statement on Authorship and Role of Faculty Mentor), otherwise they will be listed prominently as the student's mentor.
     
  2. A Submission Form and signed Approval Form must be forwarded to the Campus Editor in order for the review process to begin.

 

Manuscript Format

Papers should conform to the documentation format provided in the Instructions to Authors. 

 

Figures and tables should be placed within the manuscript.  This will make it easier for the reviewers to read and critique the work.

 

Research Manuscript – This model is generally applicable to studies where the researcher is collecting their own data.  It is typically used by the natural sciences, psychology, health sciences and some social sciences.  Although  specialization areas vary, the research manuscript should conform to the following:

·         Abstract – Summarizes all major parts of the manuscript but emphasizes the results. The abstract should be no more than 300 words in length, and be presented as a single paragraph with no imbedded headings.

·         Introduction – Describe the problem, review the literature, and state the objectives and hypotheses of the research.

·         Method – Describe the research design, data collection procedure, and approach to data analyses.

·         Results – Reports the findings.  This section typically includes figures and tables that summarize the data.

·         Discussion – Relate the significance of the findings to the research objectives and to the exiting literature.  Many authors may also provide suggestions for future research efforts.

·         References – Only include citations mentioned in the manuscript. 

 

Research Paper – This type of paper does not require the collection of original data by the author but it should address a problem or issue that will supplement or expand the literature in the field.  Although the disciplines may vary, the standard format of the body of the paper should include: 

·         Abstract – Same as above.

·         Introduction – Justify the importance of the topic, issue, or position and describe the objectives of the paper.

·         Discussion – Present documentation as it relates to the topic and use that documentation to support the thesis and draw conclusions. Often there is not a heading titled "Discussion" but this section is divided into sub sections.

·         Summary – Reiterates the topic, issue, or position, provides recommendations, or states conclusions.

·         References – Only include citations mentioned in the paper.

 

For specific manuscript formatting (margins, fonts, headings, etc.), please see Instructions to Authors. 

 

Grammar, Spelling and use of Scientific Terms and Jargon
Papers with multiple spelling and grammatical errors will be returned with out further review. You must have your advisor or faculty mentor read and edit your paper before it can be submitted.  The use of jargon is strongly discouraged. If it is used, the terms must be clearly defined in the text. You may use abbreviations but they must be written out on their first use. 
 

Copyright
This journal is published under the Creative Commons license and the lead author retains the copyright. Papers that have been previously published in another journal or papers that you intend to submit to another journal are not eligible for publication here. The author is responsible for ensuring that no duplication of papers exists.