Interested in sharing your research results?
Where should you share your work?
Your faculty supervisor may have suggestions of appropriate venues for your work, so that is a good place to start.
Generally, the choice of where to share your work might be guided by the following questions:
Who might benefit most from reading about your research?
Consider the target audience for your findings - other students and researchers in the field, community stakeholders, practitioners in the field, or the general public. Each of these audiences might require a different communication strategy to ensure the maximum impact of your work.
How can you get this information to the people who could really use it?
Scholarly journals and conference presentations may not always be the best way to reach your target audience(s). Other ways research findings might be shared include websites, community newsletters, blogs, editorials in newspapers, podcasts, social media posts, pamphlets, creative works, policy papers, and more. Some venues may be more accessible to you than others - speak to your supervisor about what venue might be right for you.
How might the publication of your work support your future career plans?
Considering how potential employers or graduate programs might view your work in different venues might play into your decision making process. Your supervisor, other professors in your discipline, or those working in your chosen field may be able to provide helpful advice. For assistance in how to showcase your research experience in a cover letter, resume, or CV, contact Career Services.
Do you have the right to share the results?
If you are working as a research assistant for a faculty member, you do not have the right to disseminate any findings from the project without the permission of your supervisor. If the research project is your own (e.g. you developed the research question, designed the project, and conducted the study), you similarly have rights to your work that should be respected, but you still need to ensure that anyone who has contributed to your project is credited appropriately.
Who will be credited as an author?
This is an important discussion to have with research collaborators early on in your project. The expectations for who will be listed as a co-author will depend on the level of their contributions to the project and the norms of your discipline. For example, your faculty supervisor may expect to be credited as a co-author on a publication relating to your Honours thesis work because of their contributions. Here are some additional resources that discuss some of the complex ethical considerations around authorship when students and faculty collaborate:- Reflections on determining authorship credit and authorship order on faculty-student collaborations (1993 article from the journal American Psychologist by M. A. Fine and L. A. Kurdek)
- Authorship and the Allocation of Credit (chapter from the book On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research by the National Academies of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine)
- Guidelines for authorship credit, order, and co-inquirer learning in collaborative faculty-student SoTL projects (2017 article from the journal Teaching and Learning Inquiry by T. W. Maurer)
- Defining the role of authors and contributors (recommendations from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
In what order will the authors be listed?
The order in which authors are listed for a journal article usually conveys their role in the project, with the lead researcher listed first or last, depending on the discipline. Your supervisor will be able to advise you on the conventions of your field.
Choosing a journal
Does the journal publish work by undergraduate students?
Author roles can affect where you choose to publish. Some journals are designed for undergraduate research and welcome student-led submissions.
MRU students have also published in major discipline-specific journals, but these usually list a faculty member as the lead author, with students as co-authors.
What types of research does the journal typically publish?
Read the journal’s aims and scope to ensure your work is appropriate for their audience. Typically, the journal’s website will also list the types of articles they are looking for (empirical research only, reviews of existing work, etc.) along with specific requirements around word limits and formatting. It is also worth reviewing articles they have published in the past to see if other researchers who used similar methods to yours (e.g. qualitative studies) have been published by the journal. It will give you a sense of whether the journal’s peer reviewers have experience in reviewing those types of studies.
How often does the journal publish?
Some undergraduate research journals publish only once a year or haven’t put out new issues in some time. You should not submit the same article to more than one journal at a time, so it is important to review the website for upcoming submission deadlines so that your work isn’t stuck in limbo. If a journal has not put out an issue in the last two years, it may have gone dormant (not uncommon for student led journals) and you might want to look elsewhere.
Can your target audience easily find and access the journal?
Think about who you want to read your work. If you want your research to reach people outside the university, consider whether the journal is:
- Open access – articles are free to read for anyone, anywhere.
- Subscription-based – only readers at institutions that pay for access can view the full text.
If the journal uses subscriptions, you may still be able to share your work publicly by depositing a version in MRU’s Open Access Repository. Ask your subject librarian for help.
You should also check how easily researchers in your field can find the journal. This depends on where it is indexed (which databases include it). For example:
- Google Scholar indexes many undergraduate journals.
- Disciplinary databases (e.g., PubMed, MLA Bibliography) may not.
To see where a journal is indexed, look it up in Ulrich’s Periodical Directory and review the indexing section. You can also check the journal’s entry within the database itself.
Is the journal reputable?
A journal’s reputation can be shaped by:
- Peer review – is the process clearly explained?
- Publication history – has it been around for a while?
- Editorial oversight – linked to a society, association, or university?
- Fit with your field – do people in your discipline read or cite it?
If you’re unsure, check with your subject librarian, instructor, or supervisor.
You may also run into journals that use vague or misleading claims about:
- very fast review timelines
- how rigorous their review is
- editorial board members
- publishing fees
- where the article will be indexed
These are signals to slow down and take a closer look.
For help evaluating journals, see the Library’s Publishing Choices page:
- risk indicators to watch for
- questions to ask before submitting
- tools like Think. Check. Submit.
Examples of undergraduate research journals
Undergraduate journal catalog
This list is maintained by the Council of Undergraduate Research. Some journals limit submissions to students at particular institutions, so review the websites carefully to ensure that you are eligible to submit to them.
Undergraduate journals based at Mount Royal
Open Access Repository
Another way to share the results of your research is by depositing it in our Open Access Repository. Browse the student research currently available in the repository including honours theses, research posters, and past winners of the Library’s Award for Research Excellence.
Need assistance?
If you need assistance with your research project, please reach out to your subject librarian. They would be happy to help.
If you are not sure who to chat with, please contact Brian Jackson.