Publish your findings and data from Independent Study, summer projects, or other original research projects. This is the most complete (and rewarding) submission type, with figures and methods if applicable, and should be submitted at the conclusion of the project.

Present details of your current project and most recent findings and progress. This is an opportunity to showcase your project, especially if it is ongoing and will be submitted for departmental honors or further publication.

Describe a past or current research project with relation to its broader field of study. This is the best option for undergraduates who cannot publish data, but are actively participating in exciting research.

Deadlines for Volume 4: Publication in Fall 2007

4 May 2007	Intention to Submit for May 2007 deadline
25 May 2007	Deadline for all submissions for the 2007 issue
29 June 2007	Notification of acceptance for the 2007 issue
28 September 2007	Final Revision by authors due
9 November 2007	2007 Print and Online Publication of Volume 4

Deadlines for Volume 5: Publication in Fall 2008

28 September 2007	Intention to Submit for May 2007 deadline
12 October 2007	Deadline for all submissions for the 2008 issue
9 November 2007	Notification of acceptance for the 2008 issue
23 November 2007	Final Revision by authors due
Winter 2008	Online Publication
Fall 2008	Print Publication

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The Northwestern Undergraduate Research Journal (NURJ) is now accepting manuscript submissions for the 2007 issue.  Submissions must be authored by Northwestern University undergraduate students who have performed research, independent studies, senior theses, or course work in science or engineering during undergraduate study.  This research can be performed at another institution, as long as the research supervisor agrees that the Northwestern student can publish in NURJ.

Several exemplary works will be selected by a rigorous review process to create an academic journal that represents the caliber of research at Northwestern University.  Authors who publish in NURJ maintain the right to present their research and ideas in any form, in whole or in part, in any other conference or publication.  Contributors should be aware, however, that many other academic journals and conferences require exclusive rights to published ideas.  NURJ simply maintains the non-exclusive right to reproduce published articles.

Submissions are initially reviewed by the NURJ Student Review Board.  Guided by this review, a member of the NURJ Faculty Review Board will review the work for validity.  Finally, the editorial staff will make a decision about the acceptance or rejection of an article, and the author(s) will be notified.

• NURJ is intended for a general well-educated audience.  Since not everyone will know the details of your project, provide enough introduction so it can be generally understood.
• Be sure to include the following sections:  For scientific papers: Title; Abstract; Introduction, Background, and/or Past Work; Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion (including conclusion and future work); and Acknowledgments. All papers should have a Title, Abstract, and Acknowledgments (be sure to acknowledge your advisors, contributors, and funding).  Feel free to merge sections as needed, but do not neglect discussing any of the sections.
• Edit your paper.  Don't turn in a paper you haven't read through yourself.  Be sure it follows the style rules outlined in the Submission Guidelines

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Submission Type

• There are three types of submissions to reflect the approach and amount of work completed toward an original research project:
  • Research article
  • Research report
  • Review article

Research articles communicate the methods, results, and conclusions of original research projects to the fullest extent.  This is the most rewarding and complete type of submission and can be considered on par with senior theses in depth. Not only are results presented, but explanations are also provided for them.

Research reports are shorter in length but also discuss the methods, results, and conclusions of original research.  This type of submission is suitable for presenting ongoing research projects or portions of research projects conducted by the undergraduate author(s).

Review articles take a critical, evaluative, or cumulative look at current and past research results in order to address current issues in research.  New conclusions may be drawn from the synthesis of past results, or past research may be related to ongoing research projects or the future of research.  The review article is similar to the background information and discussion presented in research articles, and should be interesting and accessible to most readers.  This type of submission is appropriate for authors who cannot publish hard data on current projects.

Length

Appropriate word length depends on the type of submission.  Research papers should not exceed 3,750 words in length (approximately 15 pages).  Research reports should range from 1,000 to 2,000 words (approximately 4–8 pages).  Research reviews should be at least 1,000 words.  Special allowances may be made for longer articles provided they are well-written and informative. 

Organization

• All Articles should provide the following
  • Title
  • 100-150 word Abstract at the beginning, describing the purpose of the research
  • Acknowledgments of contributors, advisors, and funding
• Scientific Research articles should additionally have the following main sections
  • Introduction including background information and context of the work
  • Methods and Materials used for experimentation
  • a brief summary of the Results
  • Discussion of the results, conclusions, and future work
• Nonscientific Research articles should include the following sections
  • Introduction
  • Body sections as necessary
  • Conclusion
• Reports should address background information, methods, results, and conclusions, although discrete sections are not necessary.
• Reviews should include the following
  • Introduction
  • Body sections as necessary
  • Conclusion

Format

All articles must be submitted in Microsoft Word document format (.doc).  Pages should be double-spaced and numbered with 12 point font.  Figures and graphs with captions should be embedded in the text or at the end of the document (and should be submitted externally; see below).  Any references cited must also be included at the end of the document (endnotes).

References

Referencing should follow the style most appropriate to research in the field of study.  Consistency is expected throughout the manuscript.  Endnotes are preferred, with citations appearing as superscripts within the text.  In the example below, the citation is made in the Journal of the American Chemical Society format.  In general, articles in social science should follow the Chicago style, and English papers should follow the Modern Language Association format.

The following is an example of formatting:

Figures

All figures must be original.  If a figure is used that is the intellectual property of someone else, a release form must be signed and handed into the NURJ office (M471 in Tech).  These forms are available on the website under Forms.

Figures should be submitted electronically in CMYK or Grayscale in TIFF (.tiff) format.  The resolution should be at least 300 dots per inch (dpi) for color images and 600 dpi for grayscale images.  Figures should be named with author’s last name followed by the figure number (e.g. Jones4.tif).  Do not embed image files in the Word document; or if images are embedded, also send image files separately.