Undergraduate Publication Opportunities
Below are publications (history and interdisciplinary) for undergraduate students to publish their research. These journals accept submissions from undergraduate students currently enrolled in a college or university and are usually student-run, faculty-guided, and peer-reviewed.
History Publications
Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History (Georgia Southern University)
"The Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History is an online journal launched in 2011. It is currently edited and produced by undergraduate students at Georgia Southern University (Armstrong Campus). The journal is dedicated to promoting undergraduate students’ research interest in history and their writing skills. The journal is also hoped to strengthen the collaborations in learning between undergraduates and graduates, students and faculty, and history majors and those from other study fields. All submissions will be fully refereed in a blind reviewing process by professional readers from history faculty and graduate students."
Crimson Historical Review (University of Alabama)
"The Crimson Historical Review is the University of Alabama’s first undergraduate history journal, and one of the few of its type in the country. The Editorial Board, Design Team, and Review Board are all comprised of UA undergraduate students."
"At the CHR, we purpose to give authors the opportunity to publish original, peer-reviewed content and to share that content on a national platform."
Ezra's Archives (Cornell University)
"Ezra's Archives is a publication put forth annually by the Cornell Historical Society.This journal, launched in the Spring of 2011, showcases stellar examples of undergraduate research in the field of history. In the Fall of 2011, Ezra's Archives expanded to accept submissions from undergraduates at other universities. If you are interested in applying for a position on the editorial board, submitting a paper, or learning more about the journal, please email cornellhistoricalsociety@gmail.com. The next issue of Ezra's Archives will be published in the Spring of 2021."
The Gettysburg Historical Journal (Gettysburg College)
"The Gettysburg Historical Journal is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that features original undergraduate student research and essays. It is produced by students at Gettysburg College and published annually. While the Gettysburg Historical Journal focuses on research in the field of history, we publish and encourage submissions from other disciplines that utilize historical viewpoints or methodologies, including sociology, anthropology, and classics."
History Matters (Appalachian State University)
"History Matters: An Undergraduate Journal of Historical Research is an electronic journal published annually by the department of history at Appalachian State University. The journal is edited by undergraduates with the help of a faculty board."
Journal of the Civil War (Gettysburg College)
"The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era is an open access, peer-reviewed, undergraduate journal. The journal annually publishes undergraduate papers on the Civil War Era and its lasting memory. We are interested in academic essays, public history essays, and book reviews broadly relating to the American Civil War. For further details on submitting your work, please see About this journal."
Synthesis: The Only Undergraduate History of Science Journal (Harvard University)
Synthesis is "dedicated to publishing undergraduate scholarship -- worldwide -- in history of science and its allied disciplines."
"We are accepting submissions on a rolling basis and would love to hear from students in all disciplines who have written essays with relevance to understanding the history of science, medicine, or technology in society."
Tufts Historical Review (Tufts University)
The Tufts Historical Review "is one of the leading principally-undergraduate academic journals of history in the United States. Each year, the Tufts Historical Review receives submissions from students at colleges and university across the country. Our journal is sent to libraries at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Library of Congress, Cornell University, Georgetown University, and the University of Oxford."
"The Tufts Historical Review looks for outstanding essays in the field of history that showcase unique arguments based on thorough research." For more information on how to submit, see here.
Vanderbilt Historical Review (Vanderbilt University)
"The Vanderbilt Historical Review is a student-run, undergraduate journal of history produced in close collaboration with Vanderbilt’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honors Society. The Review strives to provide a forum that is dedicated to facilitating dialogue on topics relating to history and historiography. We showcase the exceptional work of students through our academic journal and shorter articles on our blog. Our goal is to encourage discussions about historical trends, patterns, and ideas through our publication."
"The Vanderbilt Historical Review gives undergraduate students the opportunity to have their work published in our journal. Students may submit original research papers, short interest articles, book reviews, and interviews to us. To learn more about how to submit your research paper, please visit our Submissions page."
Vexillum: The Undergraduate Journal of Classical and Medieval Studies (Yale University)
"Vexillum is an undergraduate journal that supports and promotes undergraduate scholarship in the fields of Classical and Medieval Studies, and accepts scholarly papers by undergraduate students written on a wide range of topics: history, literature, philosophy, archaeology, art history, sociology, philology, and linguistics. Sponsored by the Medieval Studies Program at Yale University, Vexillum provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to submit outstanding papers for peer review from other undergraduates. Papers address aspects of the cultures and civilizations of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and Central Asia between 3,600 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E."
"As Vexillum has an open submission policy, the journal accepts submissions throughout the year. We publish an annual volume featuring the 8-12 most deserving of these submissions every fall. Undergraduates looking to submit their papers should read our Submission Guidelines prior to submission. We encourage them to submit unpublished articles with original ideas and interdisciplinary research that will foster scholarly discourse and distinguish themselves from their peers."
Interdisciplinary Publications
The Pulse (Baylor University)
"The Pulse is Baylor University's undergraduate scholarly publication. We publish multiple editions each year, including a printed edition in the spring and other online editions in fall and spring. The Pulse is the forum for top-quality student research in the Honors College and the University at large."
"We are looking for advanced undergraduate research writing in any academic discipline. Papers with the best chance of acceptance are those which a) are at least 10 pages with sufficient and proper citations, b) pose an original argument, and c) make use of wide secondary reading. We do not publish creative writing; please send creative writing to the English department publication, The Phoenix. In addition, we strongly recommend that papers be written for credit, either for a course taught by a Baylor professor or from your thesis for the Honors Program."
American Journal of Undergraduate Research (Oswego State University of New York)
"American Journal of Undergraduate Research (AJUR) is a national, independent, faculty peer-reviewed, open-source, quarterly, multidisciplinary student research journal, established in 2002. The journal is indexed internationally by EBSCO and Crossref, and each manuscript receives a DOI number. AJUR‘s entire content, by invitation, is archived by the United States Library of Congress. AJUR makes a unique contribution because of the high standards for content, faculty peer-review process, and the ease of accessibility to students, the public, and professionals. It accepts submissions from outside the United States, provided the submissions would be of broad interest to US and international readers."
Apollon Digital Journal (Fairfield University)
"We are an undergraduate digital journal in the humanities focused on producing annual issues of excellent, peer reviewed work from participating colleges and universities across a range of disciplines and embracing the array of intellectual approaches valued by humanistic inquiry."
"We maintain a broad definition of the humanities by including within our purview English, Foreign Languages and Literature, Music, Theater, History, Classics, Art History, Design, Philosophy, Religion, Peace and Social Justice Studies, Women's Studies, and regional studies, as well as papers from associated disciplines that engage in humanistic forms of inquiry such as qualitative and theoretical work in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology, among others."
Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research (Butler University)
"The Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research publishes original, scholarly research undertaken by undergraduates from any college or university. BJUR builds upon and strengthens Butler’s commitment to quality undergraduate research by providing an outlet for the publication of outstanding undergraduate scholarship across the humanities, social and natural sciences."
Honors Review (Augsburg University)
"The Honors Review is a nationally competitive multidisciplinary journal seeking illuminating, insightful and contemporary research at the undergraduate level. Students need not be members of Honors Programs to submit papers."
"The primary goal of the Honors Review is to give all undergraduates the opportunity to participate in scholarly conversations within their disciplines and to expose them to the dialogue that occurs between a journal and a contributor in editing an article for publication. The Honors Review will provide its authors with the unique chance to receive prompt and personal feedback during the editing process through the use of private online discussion forums."
"The Honors Review is also chiefly an online journal. Published authors will receive a print copy of the work as well as a link to the online publication."
International Journal of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities (Pacific University & Central Washington University)
"The International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (IJURCA) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the publication of outstanding scholarship by undergraduates and their mentors. IJURCA accepts submissions from undergraduate students in all academic disciplines. These include original research in the form of articles and literature reviews, as well as creative work in a variety of media such as fiction, poetry, photography, video, and podcasts, among others."
Journal of Undergraduate International Studies (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
"Our peer-reviewed journal seeks to publish the best undergraduate work across the country related to international themes and topics including, but not limited to: international conflict and conflict resolution, human rights, environmental issues, history, comparative politics and economics, development and trade, global security and international health. We publish a full issue each semester, maintain a website, and communicate with colleges and their scholars around the country to maintain the highest quality of undergraduate work in the area of international studies."
Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research (Monmouth College)
"Founded in 2010, the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research (MJUR) (ISSN: 2160-9357) is a peer- and faculty-reviewed journal produced by a team of Monmouth College student editors and faculty mentors. Scholars from a variety of colleges and universities contribute to the manuscript review process. Our mission is to support development of high-quality original undergraduate research, recognize exceptional undergraduate scholarly efforts and accomplishments, and contribute to the undergraduate learning experience. MJUR accepts submissions from all academic fields and from any undergraduate institution, national or international. New volumes of MJUR are published annually in print and online. MJUR is indexed in Ebsco Academic Search Ultimate, and full-text is available through the Ebsco Academic Search Ultimate interface (by subscription) and on the MJUR website (for free)."
Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research (Warwick University)
"Reinvention is an online, peer-reviewed journal, dedicated to the publication of high-quality undergraduate student research. The journal welcomes academic articles from all disciplinary areas and all universities. All articles undergo rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two or three anonymous referees. Reinvention is published bi-annually and only houses papers written by undergraduate students or papers written collaboratively by undergraduate students and academics."
SURJ: The Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal (Stanford University)
"Founded in 2001, the Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal (SURJ) is an annual, peer-reviewed publication of research articles from all academic fields. The mission of SURJ is to encourage, recognize, and reward intellectual activity beyond the classroom, while providing a forum for the exchange of research and ideas. Our journal is run entirely by a staff team of Stanford undergraduate students, led by two Editors-in-Chief."
"SURJ primarily publishes work produced by Stanford undergraduates, but also publishes papers from well-qualified students at other institutions."
Resources
If you are thinking about publishing a history paper from a class, contact your professor! They will be able to give you feedback and help guide you through the publication process. Other resources include:
- The Baylor University Writing Center
- URSA (Undergraduate Research & Scholarly Achievement): "The Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) initiative at Baylor is a campus wide initiative that serves faculty and students from all disciplines. The goal of URSA is to support, promote, and enhance high-quality undergraduate research and scholarship through grants, Scholars Week, and web-based resources. We encourage all undergraduates, from freshman to senior, to consider maximizing their education through a variety of research and scholarly activities found both within the classroom and beyond."
- The Council on Undergraduate Research, which keeps a list of undergraduate publication opportunities. (Register and login required.)