Submissions

Texas URJ currently accepts original research and meta-studies of any discipline from undergraduate students across the state of Texas. If you are a former student of a Texas university, you may also submit papers that were fully written during your undergraduate studies. All authors must meet the undergraduate criteria; we unfortunately cannot publish papers that graduate students, professors, or post-doctorates contributed to.

Please submit manuscripts in .doc, .docx format. Manuscripts should follow these formatting guidelines:

• One-inch page margins
• 12-point Times New Roman Font, double spaced
• 30 page maximum for all papers (not including citations, etc.)
• Any citation style is acceptable, as long as it is consistent
• Include an abstract of no greater than 200 words
• Include an acknowledgements section recognizing any guidance received, particularly faculty mentors and principal investigators

If you include images in your manuscript, make note of the following:

• All charts and graphs should have titles, and all axes should have labels.
• Every independent image must have an accompanying caption.
• You must have full permission to use all images that are included in your paper.
• During the editing process, we will ask for individual attachments of the images in your manuscript. Because print quality requires a high resolution, you must provide a large source image, or your graphics will appear very small in print.

The journal aims to feature articles that are thought-provoking, rigorous in their academic standards, and an enjoyable read. There are four primary criteria used for selection:

Composition – The manuscript should be well-written in terms of organization of ideas, sentence construction, and general writing mechanics. Papers that contain excessive grammatical mistakes or are confusingly organized are unlikely to be selected.

Originality – The manuscript should present original ideas. Depending on the discipline, for example, this could be fulfilled by conducting original research, synthesizing sources in a novel way, or providing new insight on a topic through primary sources. The author should offer a perspective or interpretation that represents an original contribution to academic research.

Significance – Papers connect the subject under discussion to larger trends within their relevant discipline and show how the research represents a contribution to their field.

Audience – Articles are expected to be comprehensible to undergraduates in all disciplines. Well-written papers are succinct and communicate complex topics clearly. Please consult the archive of previously published articles for examples of recent, successful contributions to the Journal.

Manuscripts will be accepted until January 17th, 2021. The publishing and editing cycle is expected to last for the majority of the Spring 2021 semester. The finalized journal will likely be released in last spring or early summer, depending on the extent of editing required and the availability of professors for review.

Initial Selection – Texas URJ Editors review manuscripts and make initial selections for papers that warrant faculty review.

Faculty Review – All articles that meet a baseline standard are reviewed by faculty members of the University. Each article will be reviewed by a faculty expert that is familiar with the subject matter at hand.

Final Selection – Editors make the decision to accept papers for publication, based on the reviews from University faculty. All authors will receive copies of feedback from faculty, regardless of acceptance status.

Revision and Layout – Authors work closely with editors on several rounds of revisions to the accepted articles, reflecting the comments of the faculty reviewer. Authors should provide additional information and high-quality images as requested at this stage. Printing and Distribution – Every issue is published online prior to the beginning of each Fall semester. A print version will be distributed as soon as possible, which varies based on publisher delay.