Submissions

Author Guidelines

SFU SURJ accepts submissions from:

• Current SFU undergraduate students who have conducted research at SFU or elsewhere.
• Past SFU undergraduate students submitting research conducted at SFU or supervised by an SFU faculty member.
• Undergraduate students who have carried out research at any accredited higher-education institution. Note that given two submissions of equal merit, preference will be given to one from SFU.

Submissions must meet the following criteria:

• Submission must be from one of the following disciplines: biology, biomedical physiology, kinesiology, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, molecular biology and biochemistry, physics, statistics, actuarial science, health science, environmental science, applied sciences, or any other recognized scientific discipline.
• Research must be original and authored by the person submitting it.
• Submission and research must be conducted during the author’s time as an undergraduate student at any institution.
• Research must be no more than three years old at the time of submission.
• All authors and co-authors must have read the SFU SURJ guidelines, and indicate their own consent to have the article submitted as well as the consent of their supervisor prior to submission. The consent form (see later) should be read, signed, and uploaded as a supplementary material during the submission process.
• Authors retain all rights to their research, and work published in the SFU SURJ may be published elsewhere with consent of the journal in question. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to be aware of the policies of other journals with regards to republication.
• All required documents must be received by the submission deadline. SFU SURJ reserves the right to decline any submission.

Articles submitted to SFU SURJ fall into one of three categories:

1. Research articles:  These articles report original research carried out primarily by a student undertaking undergraduate studies. The research presented need not necessarily be novel as long as it is scientifically sound.

2. Review articles: These articles summarize the current state of knowledge of a given topic in science. Building on the information gathered through a substantial number of peer-reviewed papers, review articles provide a thorough yet concise summary of the topic.

3. Interest articles: These articles present a more informal setting in which to share science news, opinion pieces, interviews, editorials, and less structured research. Articles that fall into this category should be directed to our website.

General guidelines:

• Papers should be submitted via our online submission system before 11:59pm January 19^th, 2018. The author must first make an account at http://journals.sfu.ca/sfusurj/index.php/journal/user/register  after which they can begin the submission process. Only the first 50 submissions will be considered. Authors are encouraged to submit early, facilitating an expeditious review process.
• Length of submission should be between 2000-4000 words.
• All papers should be formatted double-spaced in Times New Roman, 12-point font.
• Preferred file formats include .doc, .docx, .tex or .rtf.
• SFU SURJ seeks to produce an accessible and engaging publication. We encourage authors to limit their use of technical jargon and to write in an active voice.
• References are to be formatted according to Vancouver Style (see below for details).
• Authors are strongly encouraged to include suggestions for peer reviewers appropriate to the paper.

Research articles should contain each of the following sections in the listed order:

1. Abstract: A 150-250 word long summary providing context for the study, as well as stating the objective and main hypothesis tested in the study.

2. Keywords: 3-5 words that summarize the content of the article. Technical keywords should be briefly defined.

3. Introduction: The background, motivation, and significance of the research. Relevant literature should be referenced through in-text citations.

4. Methods: Describe the protocols and tools used to conduct your study. Note that in the interest of readability, additional detail including extensive figures, equations, etc. may be included as supplementary material.

5. Results: Present the data acquired and any analytical tests that were used. Limit this section to the most relevant observations.

6. Discussion: Interpretation of your results in the context of your hypothesis. This is an important section that should make up a significant portion of your article.  

7. Conclusion: Outline the significance of your research as well as its implications in the field and any of its limitations.

8. Acknowledgements: Brief and professional acknowledgement of non-author collaborators, assistants, sources of grants and funding.

9. References: Peer reviewed articles and books published or in press are strongly preferred. If a work is in review or unpublished, include (in press) at the end of the citation. References should be formatted using Vancouver Style.

Review articles should contain each of the following sections in the listed order:

 1. Abstract: Provides context and general importance of the topic being reviewed, presenting the main highlights and important conclusions of the review. 150-250 words long.

2. Body: The headings for this section are up to the discretion of the author, providing information is grouped/presented in a logical manner.

3. Acknowledgements: Brief and professional acknowledgement of non-author collaborators, assistants, sources of grants and funding.

4. References: Peer reviewed articles and books published or in press are strongly preferred. If a work is in review or unpublished, include (in press) at the end of the citation. References should be formatted using Vancouver style.

Interest articles will be featured on our website at www.sfusurjblog.wordpress.com where further details are available. Submissions and pitches can be submitted directly to sfusurj@sfu.ca.

In-text citations and reference lists should be formatted according to Vancouver Style.

Citations:

• In-text citations are identified with a number in round brackets.

             Example: Smith (1) found that…

• The original number used for a reference is used each time the reference is cited.
• Include the page number for direct quotes or specific ideas. Example: (4, p45).
• The citation in brackets is placed before any commas, periods, colons, or semi-colons.

             Example:

             …in their study (2).

             …this method is preferred (3);

 References:

• References should be numbered in the order that they are first used in the article.
• Format for books:

           Author Surname Initials. Title: subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.

                    Example:

                    1. Mason J. Concepts in dental public health. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005.

• Format for journal articles:

            Author Surname Initials. Title of article. Title of journal, abbreviated. Date of publication;
            Volume Number(Issue Number): Page Numbers.

                    Example:

                    1. Haas AN, de Castro GD, Moreno T, Susin C, Albandar JM, Oppermann RV, et al.
                        Azithromycin as a adjunctive treatment of aggressive periodontitis: 12-months randomized clinical trial.
                        J Clin Periodontol. 2008 Aug; 35(8):696-704.

• A complete guide to Vancouver Style: Citing Medicine, 2^nd ed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=citmed.TOC&depth=2

• Images should be a minimum of 300 DPI in grey-scale, black-and-white, or high-contrast colour.
• Captions should be 60 words or fewer, and each caption should begin with “Fig. #” or “Table #” in boldface.
• Figures should be appropriately titled and labeling, referencing any external sources.
• A zip file with all images (.tiff, .png, or .jpg format) and tables (.xls or .xlsx format) should be uploaded during the submission process as a supplementary material. Images should be named as: surname_fig#.extension. Tables should be named as: surname_table#.extension.

 
Questions regarding submission guidelines can be directed to sfusurj@sfu.ca or via our website www.sfusurj.com.