Author Guidelines

On this page:

About Eureka
Submission Formats
General Formatting
Research Articles
Review Articles
Additional Sections
Submission Guidelines

 

About Eureka: Undergraduate Science Journal

Eureka is an open-access and student-run undergraduate research journal published by the Interdepartmental Science Students' Society (ISSS) at the University of Alberta. The journal seeks to promote undergraduate research in all areas of the natural and applied sciences and to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to develop professional writing and peer review skills. We aim to foster communication and collaboration across science-related disciplines. Authors are not charged any fees to submit or publish manuscripts with Eureka.

Journal Content and Scope

Eureka publishes original research and review articles prepared by undergraduate students or recent alumni of undergraduate programs (e.g., degree was received within the last 12 months). Manuscripts should focus on topics in the natural and applied sciences, but submissions are open to students from all faculties at and outside of the University of Alberta. Successful submissions are expected to include relevant and properly cited background information, employ methodologies appropriate to the research question(s), discuss results in the context of current and historical literature, and be clearly and concisely written.

Peer Review Process

Eureka uses a double-blind peer review process. All submissions will be reviewed by at least one undergraduate and one graduate student from related disciplines.

Copyright Policy

By signing the Eureka publication agreement, authors agree to the following:

  • The work has not been previously published in any format;
  • Eureka is granted the royalty-free right to publish and disseminate the work in current and future formats;
  • The work will be published in Eureka under a Creative Commons license. Eureka encourages authors to publish the work under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to distribute, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as they credit the Author(s) for the original creation. A description of the Creative Commons licenses is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.
  • Authors agree to determine, prior to publication, whether it is necessary to obtain permissions from any third party who hold rights with respect to any photographs, illustrations, drawings, text, or any other material (“third party work”) to be published in connection with your work. Copyright permission will not be necessary if the use is determined to be fair dealing, if the work is in the public domain, or if the rights-holder has granted a Creative Commons or similar license.
  • All co-authors and investigators (e.g. faculty supervisors) with claims to the intellectual property have read and signed the agreement, thereby providing their consent for the submission to be published in Eureka.
  • Unless otherwise specified, authors guarantee that all parts of the submission are the author's original work. Submissions showing evidence of plagiarism will not be published.

 

Submission Formats

General Formatting

All submissions to Eureka must be written in English and submitted in the following style:

File Type:
Word document (.doc or .docx).
Document appearance:
12 pt. Times New Romans font.
1-inch margins on all sides.
Double-spaced.
Line numbering:
Continuous line numbering should be applied to the entirety of the manuscript, beginning with the title page.
Page numbering:
All pages, including the title page, should be numbered in the right-hand bottom corner.

Research Article

Research articles are summaries of original research (e.g., independent empirical, descriptive, or theoretical studies) that address novel questions in the natural or applied sciences. Submissions of this type are based on (1) unpublished data generated and analyzed by the study's authors, or (2) published datasets generated by others, but analyzed in a novel way (and properly referenced) by students. These submissions are expected to be between 1500 and 7000 words in length, excluding the title page, abstract, figures, tables, and references. Research articles should be divided into the following sections, in the order listed:

Title page

  • Title of manuscript should appear at the top of the title page. Titles should be no longer than 15 words. Authors' names (First name, middle initial(s), Last name) should be listed below the title in the order you wish them to appear in the published version of the manuscript.
  • Identify the corresponding author with an asterisk (*) next to their name in the author list. This is the sole individual with whom the editor will communicate after submission of a manuscript, during the peer review process, and during preparation of the manuscript for publication (if applicable). The corresponding author is also responsible for responding to reviewers' questions/comments/concerns. Provide email address and phone number of the corresponding author.
  • If needed, indicate any authors that share equal authorship with an ampersand (&) next to their names in the author list.
  • Use superscript numbers to represent the affliliated department and institution(s) of each author (e.g., first author1,2, second author1, third author3, etc.). The presence of multiple numbers next to an author's name indicates that that person is affiliated with multiple institutions. Use of the same number for different authors indicates that they share their affiliation.

Structured abstract (maximum 250 words)

  • Background: Provides a brief introduction to the research topic and why it is important
  • Methods: A summary of methodologies used to address the research question(s).
  • Results: Summarizes major findings.
  • Conclusions: Emphasizes "take-home messages" (primary conclusions) of the study.

Keywords

  • 5-7 words that capture the major foci of the paper. Keywords should be listed directly below the abstract.
  • Each keyword should be separated from the next keyword by a comma in a single line of text.

Introduction

  • Synthesizes background information from the primary literature relevant to the focal research question(s).
  • Lists and justifies research questions, hypotheses, and predictions.
  • Explains why the research is worthwhile (e.g., Does your work fill a gap in the literature? Does the study advance understanding of applied issues like public health, environmental management, or industrial development?).

Methods

  • Concise description of experimental, mathematical, and/or statistical approaches used to generate and analyze data.
  • Should be divided into subsections (e.g., one subsection for each unique approach used).

Results

  • Describes results of all experiments, models, computer programs, or other approaches outlined in the methods section.
  • Does not interpret results.
  • Should be divided into subsections that resemble the subsections included in the methods section.

Discussion

  • Interprets results described in “Results” section.
  • Compares results to those of other authors who have conducted similar or related studies, placing your study's findings in the context of prior literature.
  • Evaluates hypotheses described in the introduction (to what extent are the hypotheses supported by the data?)
  • Proposes directions for future study, as appropriate. What unanswered questions has your study unearthed?
  • Includes a summary of the major findings of the study and their implications.
  • Can be divided into subsections if desired.

References

Tables

  • Title should appear above the table.
  • Should not include vertical lines
  • Should use horizontal lines sparingly.
  • Table notes (e.g., explanations of abbreviations or symbols) should appear below the table.

Figures

  • One figure per page. Present figures in the order you wish them to appear in the final, published version of the manuscript.
  • Figures may composites with multiple components that are individually labelled (e.g., a, b, c, d).
  • Size figures according to the size you wish them to appear in the final, published version of the manuscript.
  • Where possible, use consistent colours/shapes/other visual elements across multiple figures to designate the same study subjects (e.g., Species X should be blue in every figure). Text should be easily legible and graphics distinguishable when printed on standard letter-size paper.
  • Use colour-blind friendly colour schemes.
  • Figure legends should appear below the respective figure. Begin with a figure number and descriptive title in bold (e.g., Fig. 1. Soil enrichment with nitrogen positively influences growth).
  • Summarize content of figure and briefly describe methodology used to generate the data included in the figure.

Review Articles

Review articles are summaries of current understanding of a topic. Review articles are often used as base point to obtain knowledge and update information on a specific topic. Therefore, a review article should include: what research has been done (associated with a topic chosen), how research has been done, what data and research findings are found, and how data and research findings are being presented and applied. Review articles are expected to include the following sections as applicable, in the order listed:

Title page

  • Title of manuscript should appear at the top of the title page. Titles should be no longer than 15 words. Authors' names (First name, middle initial(s), Last name) should be listed below the title in the order you wish them to appear in the published version of the manuscript.
  • Identify the corresponding author with an asterisk (*) next to their name in the author list. This is the sole individual with whom the editor will communicate after submission of a manuscript, during the peer review process, and during preparation of the manuscript for publication (if applicable). The corresponding author is also responsible for responding to reviewers' questions/comments/concerns. Provide email address and phone number of the corresponding author.
  • If needed, indicate any authors that share equal authorship with an ampersand (&) next to their names in the author list.
  • Use superscript numbers to represent the affliliated department and institution(s) of each author (e.g., first author1,2, second author1, third author3, etc.). The presence of multiple numbers next to an author's name indicates that that person is affiliated with multiple institutions. Use of the same number for different authors indicates that they share their affiliation.

Abstract (maximum 250 words)

  • Provides a brief introduction to the topic and why it is important. Includes a summary of methodologies. Summarizes major findings and their implications. Emphasizes "take-home messages" of the article.

Keywords

  • 5-7 words that capture the major foci of the paper. Keywords should be listed directly below the abstract.
  • Each keyword should be separated from the next keyword by a comma in a single line of text.

Introduction

  • Introduces the question(s) being addressed in the context of literature.
  • Lists and justifies the research questions, hypotheses, and predictions.
  • Explains the rationale as to why this review is worthwhile (e.g., Does your work fill a gap in the literature? Does the study contribute to human health, environmental management, development, etc.?)

Methods

  • Concise description of experimental, mathematical, and/or statistical approaches used to generate and analyze data.
  • Should be divided into subsections (e.g., one subsection for each unique approach used).

Review

  • Describes results of all experiments, models, computer programs, or other approaches being reviews.
  • Should be divided into subsections that resemble the subsections included in the methods section, or according to topic of discussion.

Discussion

  • Evaluates and interprets findings of the studies discussed in the "Review" section in the context of prior literature.
  • Proposes directions for future study, as appropriate. What unanswered questions has your study unearthed?
  • Includes a summary of their implications. Can be divided into subsections.

References

Tables

  • Title should appear above the table.
  • Should not include vertical lines
  • Should use horizontal lines sparingly.
  • Table notes (e.g., explanations of abbreviations or symbols) should appear below the table.

Figures

  • One figure per page. Present figures in the order you wish them to appear in the final, published version of the manuscript.
  • Figures may composites with multiple components that are individually labelled (e.g., a, b, c, d).
  • Size figures according to the size you wish them to appear in the final, published version of the manuscript.
  • Where possible, use consistent colours/shapes/other visual elements across multiple figures to designate the same study subjects (e.g., Species X should be blue in every figure). Text should be easily legible and graphics distinguishable when printed on standard letter-size paper.
  • Use colour-blind friendly colour schemes.
  • Figure legends should appear below the respective figure. Begin with a figure number and descriptive title in bold (e.g., Fig. 1. Soil enrichment with nitrogen positively influences growth).
  • Summarize content of figure and briefly describe methodology used to generate the data included in the figure.

Additional Sections

Citation style: Citations should be prepared using APA format. A citation guide is available here: http://guides.library.ualberta.ca/apa-citation-style/.

  • For electronic sources (e.g., websites), please provide the URL.
  • Where available, please provide the DOI, noting the correct format: https://doi.org/#####.

Images:

  • When submitting images, we encourage authors to provide the highest-quality image possible. All images must have permissions from any third party who holds right with respect to any photographs, illustrations, drawings, text, or any other material ("third party work") to be published if the submission is to be published.
  • For review purposes, all images should be included in numerical order at the end of your Word document. Each image requires a descriptive caption. When submitting images, please provide the highest-quality image possible (minimum 300 dpi resolution).

Ethics approval (for research with humans or animals):

  • If your submission describes research on humans or animals, authors must provide a copy of their research ethics approval, and include a statement in their submission that indicates ethics approval has been obtained for the project.

Acknowledgements (for all non-author contributions):

  • Authors are encouraged to include an acknowledgements section to list any contributions that do not meet the criteria for co-authorship. Examples include acknowledging funding agencies or sponsors for their support and acknowledging those who were involved in proofreading of the manuscript. Please note that Acknowledgements may be redacted from the submission prior to peer review in order to ensure anonymity of the submission.

 

Submission Guidelines

Authorship

An author of each submission must be able to be present throughout the entire process of submission and review. They must be able to respond to editorial and logistical inquiries for successful publication of the submission. The author must have approvals and permission from all co-authors listed in the submission (including the faculty supervisor, if applicable) when:

  • Making authorship decisions (e.g., order of authorship) prior to submission;
  • Submitting the initial submission; and
  • Making changes throughout the review process.

Accessibility

Eureka publishes work from all fields of the natural and applied sciences, but its intended readership includes individuals lacking significant formal science training. Thus, submissions should be accessibly written, and discipline-specific jargon (technical language) should be defined when used. The author should also clearly explain the context for the study (e.g. by discussing and citing relevant prior research), justify the approaches used, and state the relevance of the research. These measures will allow readers from other science disciplines (or non-science disciplines) to understand the contents of the paper and their importance.

Submission Process

How to submit:

All submissions must be submitted online through the Eureka website submissions page.

Eureka uses the Open Journal System platform for submissions; for a detailed tutorial on how to submit your files through OJS, please visit : https://openjournalsystems.com/ojs-3-user-guide/ (see Section 9: Authoring).

Please ensure that all authors on the submission are listed as contributors in the OJS Metadata form. All authors listed in OJS should receive an email notification acknowledging your submission. You will also be prompted to paste the title and a copy of your abstract into the OJS Metadata form. Please note that reviewers do not have access to the submission metadata, so you must also include this information in your Word document.

After your submission:

The editorial board will do a preliminary review of your submission to ensure that the submission is complete, is appropriate for the aims and scopes of Eureka, and is of sufficient quality to proceed to peer review. If your submission meets these basic criteria, a corresponding editor will be assigned to handle your submission through the peer review process.

Review stage:

A minimum of two peer reviewers from a related discipline will be recruited and assigned to your submission, with at least one being a graduate student reviewer (subject to availability). Depending on the availability of reviewers, the peer review process may take approximately 3-4 weeks. Reviewers will provide feedback on the strengths and both major and minor weaknesses of your submission. They will then provide an overall recommendation to the editors about whether to accept, decline, or request revisions on your submission.

Your corresponding editor will consolidate all of the reviewers' information and feedback to make the final decision for the submission. Based on the reviews, and in consultation with the editorial board, the editor will then notify you of the editorial decision. There are typically four possible outcomes:

Accept with minor revisions:
The editor will provide details about what minor revisions are necessary with a deadline for submitting your revisions (normally ~2 weeks, under normal circumstances).
Accept with major revisions:
The editor will provide details about what major revisions are necessary with a deadline for submitting your revisions (normally ~2 weeks, under normal circumstances). You will be asked to submit your revisions, along with an explanation of how you addressed any concerns from the reviewers. The editor will then record a final editorial decision.
Revise and resubmit:
If there are multiple major concerns with your submission, the submission must go through a new round of peer review with different reviewers following revision. Your submission may be considered for a future issue instead, via a process similar to a new submission from scratch.
Decline:
The editor will provide feedback explaining why your submission was not accepted or suitable for publication in Eureka at this time.

Production stage (accepted submissions only):

After your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to review and sign the Eureka publication agreement. All co-authors and/or significant contributors as well as your faculty supervisor (if applicable) must sign the agreement. The editors will then create a PDF proof of your submission that follows the Eureka article template. This PDF will be sent to you to proofread, and you will be expected to notify your editor of any required corrections within one week. After this period, no further changes to the manuscript will be accepted.

Online publication -- congratulations!

 


 

Still have questions? Please feel free to contact the editorial team at eureka@isss.ca if you have any questions about the journal, or about the manuscript submission, review, or publication process.

Portions of these guidelines have been adapted from the editorial policies of Spectrum: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research with permission from the Undergraduate Research Initiative.

 

Page updated: July 13, 2022