Guest Post: Undergraduate Research Journals

[This post is from Texas A&M University student Jenny Russell, who is an editor of the Texas A&M undergraduate research journal, Explorations. Thank you, Jenny! —BG]

It is never too early to become involved in research. The opportunity for meaningful research is becoming more available at the undergraduate level. Research as an undergraduate can help prepare a student for research at the professional or graduate level.

An important part of undergraduate research is finding opportunities to be published. Through publication, an undergraduate researcher not only practices analytical thought but also learns about an important part of research: communicating findings.

It can be hard to find a journal that publishes undergraduate work. Some schools, however, publish undergraduate research journals. For students whose schools do not publish such journals, there are still options:

• Some universities have journals that include work by undergraduates at other schools. The website of the Council on Undergraduate Research lists many undergraduate journals. William Bassett, editor-in-chief of the Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal, says, “We accept outstanding papers from other institutions to show our commitment to the advancement of undergraduate research everywhere, to support the idea of collaboration between sites, and to give our readers . . . an idea of the kinds of research . . . being done at other schools.”
• Students can start their own undergraduate research journals. At Texas A&M, for example, faculty and students decided to start Explorations several years ago. Explorations is available in print and online, but with little or no funding, one can publish a quality journal only online.