Journal Policies & Submission Guidelines

Who Can Submit?

The Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review (MURR) publishes research papers of all disciplines by West Virginia University undergraduates or recent graduates within a year after their graduation.

Authors may submit original articles, literature reviews, and policy briefs to be considered for publication in MURR provided they own the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

General Submission Rules

• Submitted articles cannot have been previously published and must be an original work
• Submitted articles cannot be currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and the author is advised not to submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at the Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review
• Most professional journals have strict policies concerning dual publication; authors should discuss publication plans with discipline-specific journals to which they are considering publishing their work
• Most professional scholarly journals will refuse to consider publications that have been previously published electronically; authors should notify the editorial review board if they only want their work to appear in print 

Authors: Must at least contain the name of corresponding undergraduate research author and the faculty research mentor. Corresponding authors will serve as the primary point of contact for the MURR editorial review board.

Titles: Should be between 3-14 words and should use language that can be comprehended by the general public.

"One Sentence Significance": Should be no more than 125 characters and is meant to complement the article title and provide a quick look at the major result/significance of the article.

Abstracts and Executive Summaries (150-250 words) should:

• Clearly state the central question and/or purpose of the project (e.g., motivation/impact, question addressed/hypothesis tested)
• Provide brief, relevant scholarly or research context (no actual citations/references required) that demonstrate its attempt to make a unique contribution to the area of inquiry.
• For original research only, provide a brief description of the research methodology (e.g., artistic, theoretical or experimental plan used/approach).
• Give a summary of principal findings/results (or expected results) and the context in which they will be discussed.
• State major conclusions that cycle back to the project's central question and/or purpose.
• Include text only (no images or graphics).
• Be well-written, well-organized, and a self-contained, single paragraph.

Generally, submissions (1000-2500 words) should:

• Clearly state the central question and/or purpose of the project (e.g., motivation/impact, question addressed/hypothesis tested)
• Provide relevant scholarly or research context that demonstrate its attempt to make a unique contribution to the area of inquiry. Please include a list of citations and references.
• For original research articles only, provide a description of the research methodology (e.g., artistic, theoretical or experimental plan used/ approach).
• Give a summary of principal findings/results (or expected results) and the context in which they will be discussed.
• State major conclusions that cycle back to the project's central question and/or purpose.
• Include all text and corresponding images and graphics.

Detailed Formatting Requirements

Authors should carefully review the requirements governing the formatting of the final article submission. These requirements are an in-depth expansion of the general submission rules. 

Review the formatting requirements in the MURR Style Guide here:

Original Research Guide Literature Review Guide Policy Brief Guide