Introducing the Undergraduate Research in Natural and Clinical Science and Technology (URNCST) Journal

Abstract

Despite the increase in popularity of undergraduate research, many students are either unaware or unable to publish their work formally, and therefore miss a key component of the research process. Undergraduate researchers often only spend 3 to 4 months on a research project and rarely have enough and/or sufficiently impactful data to publish their work in a professional-level journal. While a number of undergraduate research journals aim to provide students with the opportunity to receive peer-reviewed feedback and publish, the vast majority of these publications are lacking for a myriad of reasons. This editorial serves to introduce the Undergraduate Research in Natural and Clinical Science and Technology (URNCST) Journal, a new and innovative publication that remedies what is lacking in most undergraduate research journals that exist today. The URNCST Journal possesses 8 key characteristics making it the ideal research journal for undergraduate students to publish their work: open-access; peer-reviewed; rapid turnaround time; international; broad and multidisciplinary; indexed; innovative; and social media promoted. It is our hope that graduate students and principal investigators will also benefit from the URNCST Journal through serving as an editorial board member and/or peer-reviewer, and helping to open up discussions about the importance of the peer-review and publication process in research with undergraduate mentees. The journal is currently making its first call for submissions as of August 2017 and looks forward to showcasing the best contributions earnest undergraduate researchers have to offer.