Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
The submission file is not a PDF.
The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements that are consistent with the format and citation style most used in the discipline being submitted. Please specify your documentation style (e.g., APA, MLA...).
The author must provide 4-6 keywords that characterize the article content and provide terms for indexing the submission.
The undergraduate author (or corresponding author) must sign and adhere to the conditions outlined in the Publication Agreement form. It must be uploaded with a submission.
In the case of research with human or animal subjects, the author(s) confirm(s) that required research ethics approvals have been granted.
Author Guidelines have been followed.
The work submitted falls within the below criteria:
Research Snapshots
Research Snapshots provide a concise overview of students’ ongoing research, its significance, and, potentially, any preliminary results, but they can also take the form of an original mini-analysis. They are ideal for students engaged in ongoing research that cannot yet be represented in a full research article. While Research Snapshots are not peer-reviewed, they undergo extensive review by USURJ’s Editorial Board to ensure that high-quality work is submitted. To get a better idea of what Research Snapshots are, please review the following examples from education, health and human sciences, and liberal arts.
Interdisciplinary
An interdisciplinary research paper communicates knowledge through “research that combines the skills and perspectives of multiple disciplines” (Aboelela et al. 2007, 330). Repko and Szostak (2016) write that the “prefix inter means ‘between, among, in the midst,’ or ‘defined from two or more’ . . . [so] the starting point for understanding the meaning of interdisciplinary studies is between two or more fields of study” (3). For example, research papers may bring together the field of history and the field of psychology in an analysis of the history of mental illness. Some research papers, though, come from fields of study that are already interdisciplinary, such as Women’s and Gender Studies, Rural and Urban Development, or Land Use and Environmental Studies. In sum, an interdisciplinary research paper submission will extend beyond a single disciplinary perspective to form an integrated understanding or meaning (Repko and Szostak, 2016).
Social Sciences
“[A research paper is] any paper that presents original research, which may be quantitative, qualitative, or theoretical; synthesizes or presents a new theoretical conclusion from existing research or literature; serves as a review or collection of existing research or theories; presents a new perspective on pre-existing or original research; interprets data from a prior study; or attempts to cohesively and coherently account for a paradigm or approach within topics traditionally represented by the social sciences.”
Humanities and Fine Arts
Research papers in the humanities and fine arts cover a broad spectrum and may deal with literature, history, philosophy, visual or performing arts, linguistics, classics, or any topic focused on the study of human culture. Such research papers focus on comparison, analysis, and/or aesthetics more than the empiricism stressed in the natural, health, or social sciences.
Health and Natural Sciences
For health sciences and natural sciences, research can take a few different forms. At the undergraduate level, some students will be performing their own experiments and creating original, primary research articles. Undergraduate students may also synthesize the ideas in primary research articles and write a "review article.”*

* A review article critiques and/or synthesizes current research in a given area. It assesses the current state of knowledge of a given topic, assesses the implications of current research, comments on validity, draws new conclusions, and suggests future directions for research in this area.

Author Guidelines

Complete submission of Research Snapshots or Research/Review Articles to USURJ requires that you upload the following two documents:

Upload 1: Submission File

Guidelines for Research and Review Articles

In addition to the guidelines listed in the Submission Preparation Checklist, Research and Review Articles must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • A title is provided that indicates the topic of the work.
  • The author must submit an abstract that should be no longer than 250 words. An abstract is a very condensed version of the paper. It states the main point of the article, review, or research paper in five to seven sentences. It will appear at the top of the first page of the article. Readers use an abstract to decide whether the author’s topic or approach interests them.
  • Authors must provide 4-6 keywords that characterize the article content and provide terms for indexing the submission.
  • The author(s) should suggest two faculty members who would be appropriate to review the article. If they are unsure about who to suggest, they should talk to their supervising professor and/or the department head for suggestions. Suggestions can include graduate students or non-U of S faculty. IMPORTANT: Contacting the potential reviewers will compromise the blind review process. Do not suggest the supervising professor as a reviewer. Please contact us if you have any issues with this step!
  • The guidelines on Ensuring a Blind Peer Review must be followed.
  • There are no restrictions on number of references* or figures used.
Guidelines for Research Snapshots

In addition to the guidelines listed in the Submission Preparation Checklist, Research Snapshots must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • A title is provided that indicates the topic of the work.
  • A maximum of 400 words (excluding references and the supervisor’s statement).
  • A maximum of 10 references*.
  • A maximum of 2 figures, including images, graphs, charts and tables.
  • All results and conclusions must be the author’s original work.
  • Authors are encouraged to reflect on their research experience.
  • Providing a short, 50- to 100-word supporting statement from the supervising professor is strongly recommended. This will be published along with the snapshot to contextualize and show the importance of the student work.
  • Authors must provide 4-6 keywords that characterize the article content and provide terms for indexing the submission.

Important considerations:

  • Publishing part of an ongoing research as a Research Snapshot does not bar the author from submitting a full research or review article on the same topic later on.
  • If results published in the Research Snapshot are to be included in an article later, the results taken from the Research Snapshot must be cited appropriately.
  • Research Snapshots are not considered peer-reviewed publications.

*References: As USURJ is a multidisciplinary journal, it does not prescribe a specific format for references and citations (such as APA, MLA, or Chicago). Instead, authors should use whatever documentation style is common in their discipline (such as APA, MLA, or Chicago) and take care to use it consistently. 

Upload 2: Publication Agreement

Fill out the USURJ Publication Agreement (be sure to read it carefully as it contains very important information regarding ethics, author rights, and co-authorship). You can photograph it (save as a common file type, such as a jpeg), or scan it.

Note: If you have any questions, check out our FAQ page, or contact usurj@usask.ca.

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