Publishing: Publishing for Undergraduate Students

When you write a term paper or report on a study you devised, you're creating a piece of academic research. You join the conversation of academics through the frame of your work, which is a frame no other researcher can bring to the table. As you know, most undergraduate work is created in answer to a specific course.

Undergraduate work can have a life beyond evaluation, and the effort invested in a project like an undergraduate thesis doesn't need to only serve one institution. Many universities in the U.S. have undergraduate journals that accept submissions on a national scale.

If you're interested in submitting your work to a journal and bringing your research out into the world, check out the links below to see if the journals are right for you! If you need some guidance on how to polish a paper for submission, there are a few tips and tricks below the resource list.

Critique: a worldwide student journal of politics
A peer-reviewed journal that's published biannually and welcomes year-round submissions. Submission guidelines are given on the site. Manuscripts must not exceed 10,000 words. The material must be related to political science.

YRIS: the Yale Review of International Studies
An undergraduate journal with three annual issues; Winter and Spring issues open to undergraduates in the U.S. Submission guidelines are given on the site, along with the upcoming submission deadlines. Manuscripts must not exceed 40 pages. The material must be related to international affairs.

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review
An open-access, peer-reviewed journal that's published biannually and welcomes year-round submissions. Authors must make an account to submit their work. Submission guidelines are given on the site. The material must fall under the social sciences umbrella.

World Outlook: the Dartmouth Journal of International Affairs
A student-run, peer-reviewed journal that's published biannually and welcomes year-round submissions. Students can submit up to a year after graduating with an undergraduate degree. Submission guidelines are given on the site. Manuscripts must not exceed 25 pages. The material must be related to international affairs.

Hemispheres: the Tufts University Journal of International Affairs
The oldest undergraduate journal of its kind. One issue is published each year; submission deadlines are announced on the site alongside submission guidelines. Manuscripts must not exceed 8,000 words. The material must be related to international affairs and each issue has a theme, though broad interpretations of the theme are encouraged.

Understanding submission guidelines:

Many journals will have guidelines for submission provided on their website. Following these guidelines will insure that your submission will be reviewed and considered by the editorial team, so it's important to understand what they are asking from the authors they want to work with. Some common guidelines include:

• Manuscript length
  • If your work goes under or over the recommended guidelines, consider revising the piece
  • The University of Washington has several on-campus writing centers that you can visit for assistance
• Citation style
  • Most social science and political science journals require Chicago, so make sure your citations are in order before submitting
• Required topics
  • Some journals have specific themes they explore with each issue
  • If your work does not relate to the theme, you may need to find another journal that does not have the same restrictions
• Number of submissions
  • Larger or more well-known journals may limit the number of works you're able to submit per issue period
  • If you have a lot of work you'd like to submit, think carefully about how well each piece fits a particular journal
  • When submitting to a journal that only allows one or two submissions per issue period, only submit works that are a good fit for the journal

Before you submit, make sure that you double-check all the required guidelines! If you can, ask a friend, a writing tutor, or an academic mentor to review your submission.

How to select a journal:

The journals we recommend all fit certain criteria. Since undergraduate academic publishing is a field focused on scholarly development, you should look at the way a journal works and decide if your work fits into its scope. Some things to pay attention to might be:

• How often a journal is published
• How recently a journal has been published
• The required length of submissions
• Whether or not the journal is peer-reviewed
• Whether or not the journal is open-access

Avoid journals that require a submission fee or ask you to relinquish your rights to your work. Most appropriate undergraduate journals will not ask for these steps. For further help in evaluating journals, check out this guide for an in-depth look at journal fit and copyright basics!