URJ welcomes submissions from any undergraduate studying at N.C. State. All pieces should include a coversheet with the author’s name, contact information, year, field of study, and mentor's name and mentor's contact information. Work must be sent as an attachment with “URJ Submission” as the subject line to following address: urjncsueditor@ncsu.edu

Attention: Before submissions will be reviewed, we must recieve a hard copy of the Mentor Approval Form for each paper.

Deadline for submissions: February 23, 2012

Scientific Research

Authors submitting scientific papers have the option of publishing them as research papers, or science news reports.The guidelines for each are presented below:  

Note: All science papers must be submitted as a PDF.

Research paper: must have been conducted under and approved by a faculty mentor or an off-campus scholar (e.g., a mentor for a REU program). Articles are intended for other specialists in the field; therefore the terminology and conventions of the discipline are to be used and followed. Please see the structure of a research paper page for reference on what is included in each section of a research paper.  

Science news reports: inform students of the latest findings or new research directions taking place in the scientific disciplines on campus. The content of the reports is flexible. Students, who have not completed undergraduate research, are eligible to write a report provided that they show familiarity with the discipline. A student submitting a report may want to consider interviewing a faculty member involved in significant research. Reports should be limited to 1,000 words. See our science news reports guidelines page for content and formatting details. If you choose to submit a news report, please indicate that you are submitting a news report instead of a standard research paper.

Style Guide

After deciding what type of work is to be submitted, authors should format their work according to either APA or CBE/CSE as would be standard to the topic's field. The principal aim of these style guides is to standardize the use of references and citations. For examples of various types of citations as well as our adopted editorial policy see:

• Adopted editorial policy

• APA citation example
• CBE citation examples

If you are unsure about which rule applies to the part of your paper in question, please contact the editor to clear up the issue.

Creative Works

URJ is now adding short stories and poetry to its pages. The following guidelines for each are presented below:

Fiction: Regardless of the genre (sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc.), the following standards still apply. Is the story engaging? Are the characters developed, and how is the plot driven forward?  Appropriate grammar and punctuation are also key to understanding a story and will be taken into consideration when a submission is reviewed. Stories should be:   

• No longer than eight pages.
• Double-spaced
• 12 pt Times New Roman
• In .docx format

Note: Longer stories may be considered, but acceptance will be dependent on space.

Poetry: Submissions in this category can be in any form, free verse, sonnets, etc. URJ is looking for poetry with good imagery and metaphor. No matter what the subject is, does your poetry allow us to see the world in new and interesting ways? Poems must be:

• No longer than eight pages
• Single-spaced
• 12 pt Times New Roman
• In .docx format

Note: Up to five poems may be submitted at one time.

Contact:

Editor-in-chief

Sarah Pyatt

urjncsueditor@ncsu.edu

Last Updated: January 23, 2012