Student Research Journal

Call for Papers

The deadline for the submission of a research or creative manuscript is Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. The manuscript must be in MS Word format (a .doc file) and all parts of the online application form must be completed through Scholar Commons. The last step of the form allows you to upload your paper in word format. The student should only submit their contribution after receiving approval from their faculty mentor.

Original research articles and creative articles produced by current or recent USC Upstate undergraduate or graduate students along with the help of their faculty project adviser(s) will be considered for publication by the journal's Editorial Board. Submitted articles should describe projects that were recently completed, and similar/expanded versions of the article could be published elsewhere. However, if you plan to submit identical versions of articles published in the student research journal, make sure the other publication venues do not object.

Review Criteria

Papers are reviewed based on the following criteria: A well-written paper; significance and purpose of the research well described for a multi-disciplinary audience; well-developed research and methodology; thoughtfully interpreted and analyzed results; excellent utilization of supporting materials or references; a non-repetitive, efficiently organized, convincing and easy-to- follow paper.

There is a best student paper award competition, where the top-ranked paper submitted with an undergraduate as the first author will receive a prize of $500 and the top ranked paper submitted by a graduate student as the first author will receive a prize of $500. The specific review rubric used by the Editorial Board can be viewed here. Note that students are eligible to submit to the journal and compete in the student award competition up to one year following graduation from USC Upstate.

Submission Guide

Use the Submission Guidelines to develop and format your manuscript submission (Submission Guidelines ).

Remember your audience. Your article will be read by mostly undergraduates (as well as scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines) and thus should be readable and comprehensible to anyone interested in this topic, regardless of their expertise. Yet, one should avoid devoting more than a few sentences toward the explanation of standard information that should be known to the majority of those in academia. Your manuscript should uphold a sophistication that represents the standards that USC Upstate strives to promote.

Dr. Joshua Ruppel
Editor-in-Chief 

Joshua V. Ruppel, PhD is a Professor of Chemistry and Director of Research at USC Upstate. His current research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of a library of organic compound which may have applications as an antibiotic or in cancer therapy.  His research has been published in well-respected peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Organic Chemistry, Organic Letters, European Journal of Organic Chemistry,  Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, and Tetrahedron Letters.  Dr. Ruppel regularly engages undergraduate students in his research, providing valuable hands-on laboratory experiences for those students seeking placement in graduate and/or professional school, or seeking employment in STEM careers after graduation. His research efforts and working with students inside and outside the class room have been recognized by a number of awards including: USC Breakthrough Star award and the USC Upstate Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award in 2019 along with the 2018 award for Excellence in Research and Scholarly Pursuits.

Virginia Cononie
Student Spotlight Editor

Virginia Cononie is an Assistant Librarian; Coordinator of Reference and Research. Her published scholarship takes interest in scholarly communication, library funding advocacy, and marketing and outreach. At the library, she engages with students and library users at the reference desk, instructs information literacy sessions and collects materials for biology studies and African American studies.

Dr. Darlene Amendolair 
Associate Editor

Darlene Amendolair Ph.D., an Associate Professor.  Dr. Amendolair has been on faculty of USC Upstate since 2006; received her Ph.D. from Capella University in 2007, masters in Resource Management (Computer Network) from Webster University 1986, US Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) Certificate in Science,1989, and master in nursing administration from University of South Carolina 1983; served in the US Army Nurse Corps from June 1968 to September 1997, retiring as a Colonel. Currently teaches in the BSN, RN-BSN, and Graduate programs. Research activities include Effects of Cell Phone use and the patient’s perceptions of being cared for, use of Virtual Environments in learning, perceptions of women with cognitive dysfunction after chemotherapy, nurses’ perception of the barriers to exhibit caring behaviors, PI for the development of a Care Model for a local hospital, PI for the development and validation of a Professional Nursing Practice Model. Support research for staff nurses by providing structure classes and individual mentoring. She received Palmetto Gold Faculty award 2015, Daisy Faculty award 2014, and University of South Carolina Breakthrough award 2014. Have served of various University and MBSON committee, currently on the Chair, Promotion and Tenure Committee, Senate, and am parliamentarian for MBSON. Has been a presenter at several conferences, both national and international conference, Author/Co-author of several published manuscripts; have obtained a total of $46,640 in grant funding.

Dr. June Carter
Associate Editor 

Dr. Carter is a Professor of Spanish. Her research interests include Latin American narrative and film; Afro-Hispanic literature; Latin American female writers; and US Latino/a literature. She has published works in several journals, including the following: Anuario de Letras; Latin American Literary Review; Caribbean Quarterly; The Rocky Mountain Review; Prismal Cabral; and Studies in Afro Hispanic Literature.

Dr. Michael Dinger
Associate Editor

Dr. Dinger is an Associate Professor of Management. His research interests include information security and IT workforce management. He has published his work in several journals, including the following: MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management and Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce.

Dr. Tina Herzberg
Associate Editor

Tina Herzberg, Ph.D. is a Professor of Special Education and currently serves as Director of Graduate Programs for the School of Education. Her primary research interests are braille literacy and preparation of tactile materials for students who are visually impaired. Her research began with the exploration of quality in literary braille materials and has now transitioned to exploration of quality in math braille materials. Her work has primarily been published in the international peer-reviewed Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. Prior to her arrival at USC Upstate, she served as a general education classroom teacher, an itinerant teacher of students with visual impairment, specialist for a regional service center and adjunct instructor.

Elaine Marshall
Associate Editor

Elaine Marshall is the Director of Sponsored Awards at USC Upstate. She has been with the University since 1996 and works with all faculty and staff on the Upstate campus who pursue and receive grant funding. Elaine holds a national Certified Research Administrator designation from the Research Administrators Certification Council. She also has a BA in English and History and a MA in English Literature from Clemson, where she also taught full-time before coming to USC Upstate.

Dr. Ben Montgomery
Associate Editor

Dr. Montgomery is an Associate Professor of Biology. His research focuses on the evolutionary ecology of plant reproduction and plant pollinator interactions. He is currently focused on the partitioning of pollinators among different species of Silene, a genus of wildflowers with a wide array of floral traits and multiple pollination syndromes. Dr. Montgomery is also interested in delayed self-pollination as a mechanism that allows for cross-pollinations while also providing reproductive assurance. His longer-term research interests include competition for pollination between different species and mechanisms for the maintenance of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) as well as repercussions of CMS for the maintenance of genetic diversity. He has been working with the Spartanburg Trees Coalition to work toward the eradication of Kudzu in the natural area on the USC Upstate campus and is the de facto curator of the Upstate Herbarium. He has published his work in several journals, including the following: Biological Invasions, Oecologia, Annals of Botany, American Midland Naturalist, Oikos, and Botany.

Dr. Renu Pariyadath
Associate Editor

Renu Pariyadath is an Assistant Professor of Communication. Her published scholarship takes interest in the communicative processes that lead to the dissolution of Self-Other constructs within intercultural-, organizational- and transnational communication contexts. She particularly focuses on how people and organizations use non-identity-based modalities of organizing for social and environmental justice, locally and globally, borrowing widely from critical communication theory and transnational feminist theory. More recently, she has been engaged with projects related to critical pedagogies and pedagogies of care. Renu has published in journals such as Environmental Justice and Women's Studies Quarterly (WSQ) and has contributed to several edited collections of scholarly papers.

Dr. Julie Wade
Associate Editor

Julie T. Wade is an Associate Professor of Management in the Johnson College of Business and Economics (JCBE). She received her Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from Clemson University and her research interests include social media and virtual communities. Her work appears inMIS QuarterlyandCommunications of the Association for Information Systems, among other outlets.

The following are in PDF format 

Fall 2020 Read online or download past issues of the Student Research Journal below.  Current issues may be found on Scholar Commons.

Fall 2019	FALL 2018	FALL 2017
FALL 2016	FALL 2015	FALL 2014
FALL 2013	FALL 2012	FALL 2011

FALL 2010

FALL 2009

SPRING 2008

Who can submit to the USC Upstate Student Research Journal?

Any current or recent USC Upstate graduate or undergraduate student who has concluded a research project or creative activity can submit to the USC Upstate Student Research Journal. Non-USC Upstate undergraduates who have completed a project under the mentorship of a USC Upstate faculty member are also eligible. The student should only submit their contribution after receiving approval from their faculty mentor.

What is the USC Upstate Student Research Journal submission deadline?

The submission deadline for papers is announced at the beginning of each fall semester. More details can be found within the Call for Papers above. In addition, you may refer to the SARS Calendar for yearly deadlines.

Can creative project manuscripts be submitted?

Yes. For creative projects, we invite an extended description of the project, illustrations or more appropriate materials instead of a full-length manuscript.

Can my submission be the result of a class research or creative project?

Yes. Outstanding research or creative manuscripts resulting from a class project are welcomed. In this case, your course instructor would be your faculty mentor.

Can I also submit my paper to the Annual SC Upstate Research Symposium?

Yes. You may submit a condensed version of your Journal submission to the SC Upstate Research Symposium. Further, if you previously presented your research at the SC Upstate Reseach Symposium you are encouraged to submit an extended version of a paper/poster that you presented to the USC Upstate Student Research Journal.

What is the review and selection process for the USC Upstate Student Research Journal?

The Faculty Editorial Board reviews submissions, makes the final selection of articles and coordinates the final publication of the USC Upstate Student Research Journal with the University Communications Department.

What are the selection criteria for the papers?

Papers are reviewed based on the following criteria:

• A well-written paper
• Significance and purpose of the research is well described for a multidisciplinary audience
• Well-developed research design and methodology
• Thoughtfully interpreted and analyzed results
• Excellent utilization of supporting materials or references
• A non-repetitive, efficiently organized, convincing and easy-to-follow paper

Can I have a co-author?

You can have USC Upstate undergraduates and your faculty project advisor as co-authors. Other research personnel should be recognized in the acknowledgements section of your paper.

Can I request an extension on the deadline to submit my paper?

Yes. If your project or paper will not be completed by the deadline, and you are still interested in submitting for the USC Upstate Student Research Journal, send an e-mail to Dr. Joshua Ruppel in the Sponsored Awards and Research Support office explaining your situation.

How will I know if my paper has been selected for the USC Upstate Student Research Journal?

You and your faculty mentor will receive an email about your status.

What subjects and how many papers do you publish each year in the USC Upstate Student Research Journal?

We welcome papers from all disciplines. The decision to publish a paper depends only on the quality of the paper. We do not have a quota as to how many to publish. Decisions are based on quality only. If all the papers submitted are excellent, we will publish them all; likewise, if all the papers are poor, no USC Upstate Student Research Journal will be published that year.

What kind of format is required for the USC Upstate Student Research Journal?

Paper submission guidelines can be found within the Call for Papers section above. Only papers that adhere to these guidelines will be considered for possible publication in the USC Upstate Student Research Journal.

My faculty mentor has not read my paper. Should I submit it anyway?

No. All papers that are submitted must be read by faculty mentors prior to submission. A faculty mentor's approval is extremely important and increases your chance of being published.

I don't know how to cite sources. Where can I go for help?

For citing sources, you must use the guidelines stated within the Call for Papers section above. The Paper Submission Guidelines on the Call for Papers also list how to cite common references, such as books, scholarly journals, magazine and newspaper articles and anthologies.

My project involves the use of human or animal subjects. What should I do?

If your project involves human or animal subjects, please make sure your study has obtained the appropriate IRB or IACUC approval prior to starting your project. You must provide the number approving this study. If you do not have this approval, your paper will not be considered for possible publication. See the website of the Office of Research Compliance for additional information.

Do I need to respond to the biographical questions and turn in a picture?

Yes. After your paper has been accepted, you be instructed on how to get your picture taken by a photographer on campus and you will need to answer a short questionnaire. Published papers will include a brief biographical section about the authors.

Can I make revisions to my paper after I submit it?

Yes, but only if the Faculty Editorial Board deems such changes are necessary and would greatly enhance how understandable your paper is. Revisions should be submitted only after you receive a request from the Editorial Board for such changes. Such papers are considered borderline cases and have a good chance of being published.

Can I also submit my paper to other journals?

Yes, but make sure the other publications do not object if your paper ends up being selected for publication in The USC Upstate Student Research Journal. This is assuming that you are submitting identical versions of the paper to both journals.

For any other questions, please contact Dr. Joshua Ruppel or at 864-503-5781.