Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal will publish original, scholarly research undertaken by undergraduates in all disciplines. The primary objective of the Inquiry Journal is to promote quality undergraduate research by serving as an outlet for publication of outstanding undergraduate scholarship across all colleges within the University of Arkansas. Authors must be enrolled as undergraduates during the time the research was conducted. Contributions of authors must be original research conducted by the undergraduate researcher under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
Submission: Authors contributing original research articles should strictly adhere to the guidelines stipulated by the journal. Please visit the Inquiry journal website (https://scholarworks.uark.edu/inquiry/) to access the Guidelines to Authors. All research articles should be submitted to the Inquiry Journal website.
Your submission should include:
Cover letter: Manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter from the faculty mentor explaining the significance of the research described in the research article.
Abstract and keywords: All manuscripts should include a brief and succinct abstract (maximum of 250 words) summarizing the research results described in their article. Abstracts should clearly describe the objectives of the research, and the results and their significance. For indexing purposes, four to five keywords reflecting the content and major thrust of the research should be provided on the abstract page.
Abbreviations: Only standardized abbreviations and symbols should be used. Uncommon abbreviations and acronyms, if used, should be defined in parenthesis in the text upon the first appearance.
Title page: Research articles should contain a Title page with names of all the authors, department and college affiliation(s), and email address of the corresponding author.
Format and Length: Submissions should be submitted as a single PDF document. The main body of research articles should not exceed 4000 words and should be single-spaced throughout (including the title page, references, tables, and figure captions) in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1” margins on all sides. Tables, figure captions, and references are not included in the word count. All pages including the title page, abstract, and the main body of the manuscript should be numbered consecutively.
Biosketch and bust-sized Photograph: Articles published in Inquiry will be accompanied by a business casual headshot and a short description (less than 150 words) about the authors. The short description should include your field of study, research interests, career goals and/or hobbies of the author(s).
Research articles should contain the following sections:
Introduction: The introduction section should clearly state the purpose of the investigation, the hypotheses tested, and the relationship to other work related to the field of study.
Materials and Methods: Materials and methods used in the study should be described in sufficient detail to facilitate others to repeat the experiments. However, published procedures may be referenced by a literature citation. In addition, appropriate precautions should be mentioned if hazardous materials or dangerous procedures are employed in the research.
Results: Results should be presented in a clear and concise manner. Figures and Tables, along with relevant captions, should be embedded in the text.
Discussion: This section should contain an interpretation of the results in the context of published work in the field. *Note that the Results and Discussion section can be combined as a single section.
Conclusions: The conclusions should summarize the main findings of the study.
Acknowledgments: Research grants or other funding (including relevant grant or project numbers) must be acknowledged. In addition, if applicable, significant contributions of individuals providing scholarly or technical assistance should be acknowledged.
References: Extensive use of references should be avoided. References should be cited in the order they first appear in the text. References must be cited properly using APA format throughout the manuscript.
Figures and Tables: Figures and tables must be cited in the text in the numerical order in which they appear in the manuscript. Figures and tables should be embedded in the text of the manuscript. All images should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale, and 300 dpi for color, at the correct size). Preferred formats include: PS, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or in Word (Docx). For performance and visual arts contributions, please include the title, dimensions, and medium of the original piece. Images and audiovisual works can be submitted in .jpeg, .tiff, .mov and.mpg.
Bioethics: Research published in Inquiry, involving vertebrates or human subjects, should meet the protocols as set forth by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Institutional Review Board (IRB), respectively (https://research.uark.edu/units/rscp/).
Scientific misconduct: Inquiry intends to adhere to highest values of ethics in the articles that are published. In this context, falsification of data, plagiarism, or any other practice(s) that deviates from accepted norms of publication in academic and research communities will be deemed as actionable misconduct.
Copyright: Authors who publish their work in Inquiry retain the right to present their research in any form, in whole or in part, in any conference or other publication. Inquiry holds the rights to non-exclusive use in print and electronic formats for all materials submitted for publication.
Publication Agreement form: Authors will be required to sign the publication agreement form at the time of acceptance of their article.
