It’s a pair of special birthdays for UC Merced’s two student-run journals for undergraduates. The Vernal Pool , which publishes creative stories, poems and images, turned 10 this academic year. Meanwhile, it’s the sweet 16th for the Undergraduate Research Journal , which provides an early taste of the lifeblood of graduate and post-grad research — peer-reviewed publication.
Both journals publish once a semester and operate as classes offered through the Writing Studies and Karen Merritt Writing programs, with editorial teams that call for submissions, edit accepted works and present them in a professional-quality publication.
“It’s fairly well known that it’s difficult to get published as a student or even after graduation,” said Faryn Eastman, this semester’s editor-in-chief of The Vernal Pool. “So we serve as a stepping stone to give people that experience so they can put it on their résumé and see what it’s like and if they want to pursue it.”
The journals’ editors get together with accepted authors to prep the written pieces for publication. For young people accustomed to receiving papers graded by an instructor, peer editing can be an eye-opener. A person at the same stage of your life, more or less, is asking questions about tone, word choice and awareness of the intended audience. The research papers, additionally, must stick to strict style rules for elements such as references, citations and formatting.
“At the end of the day, the goal of the URJ is to inspire research and spread the word on the kind of research on campus,” said Evelyn Roque, current Undergraduate Research Journal editor-in-chief. “We guide students on getting in touch with faculty, to start becoming researchers.”
