An In-Depth Guide to the Columbia Junior Science Journal
The Columbia Junior Science Journal (CJSJ) is one of the most prestigious journals publishing scientific research conducted by high schoolers. Established in 2015 as a spin-off of the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal, CJSJ is an open-access, professional-level journal committed to publishing manuscripts from original scientific research or outstanding analysis. For high school students with research in the natural sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and social sciences, CJSJ would be an excellent platform to showcase high-caliber research.
So, what is the Columbia Junior Science Journal, and how can you craft a strong manuscript for submission? This guide details the guidelines and requirements that all CJSJ submissions must follow and offers tips to help your submission stand out.
Columbia Junior Science Journal Manuscript Guidelines
The Columbia Junior Science Journal specifies that they are looking for research that falls into two distinct categories: original research or review articles. Both kinds of manuscripts must adhere to the following guidelines:
Original research must be at least one page and no more than two pages
Review articles must be at least four pages and no more than five pages
Page limits include figures and citations
All original research manuscripts must follow the Research Paper Template, including all formatting specifications
All review manuscripts must similarly follow the Review Article Paper Template
All submissions must be accompanied by the form under the submission portal tab
Students submitting original research must read, complete, scan, and submit a Permission to Publish Form, including a signature from your Principal Investigator/Mentor/Teacher
List all collaborators or mentors in the “Personal Bio” section of the submission portal, although a team of researchers must choose a primary author to submit the paper
The Columbia Junior Science Journal Submission Process
The Columbia Junior Science Journal publishes its volumes annually, with a submission process that usually opens in July and closes in October. You should expect to be notified about the status of your submission by November. Once you have submitted, you cannot submit the same one-two or four-five page manuscript to any other journals if your work is accepted for publication. However, as you retain the copyright to the work, you can use the same data and analysis in a manuscript to be submitted to another journal, conference, or competition.
5 Tips to Craft a Manuscript for the Columbia Junior Science Journal
Narrow the Scope of your Research
Starting a research project can be overwhelming, especially since the Columbia Junior Science Journal will accept papers related to nearly any scientific domain. You will want to choose a specific enough topic for your work to make a strong contribution. Chances are, your work won’t push the bounds of, say, the field of physics as a whole, but if you narrow your scope to examining particles from the Large Hadron Collider, your work is more likely to have an impact.
Develop a Strong Central Thesis
If there is one thing that a Columbia Junior Science Journal article absolutely needs, it is a strong thesis. For both original research and review articles, your thesis should be specific, arguable, evidence-based, and clearly stated in your manuscript. It should identify the topic of your research, and the purpose of your paper. You will know it needs revising if you find your argument wandering – your thesis should act as a blueprint as you write your manuscript.
Read, Read, and Read Some More
Once you have chosen a topic, read as many published works as you can. Understanding not only the current state of the research, but what it is missing from it will be crucial for generating significant results. Doing this will help you see what your manuscript for the Columbia Junior Science Journal might include, and where you can drive the field forward. Fortunately, peer-reviewed articles are easily searchable on PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, and preprints can be found on bioRxiv, arXiv, and even Twitter.
Know Your Audience
Unlike many scientific journals, the Columbia Junior Science Journal is aimed at both the scientific community and the general public. This means that it will be important to communicate your research in a way that makes sense to laymen – otherwise you will spend much of your paper explaining your terminology rather than detailing your work. Get creative with this, use visuals or metaphors grounded in physical reality in place of verbose technical explanations. See this as an opportunity to showcase your unique voice and scientific communication skills.
Clarity and Concision are Key
Because of the importance of deep and significant findings as well as the Columbia Junior Science Journal’s restrictive page count, your writing should be as succinct as possible. Much of your editing process should be devoted to making your language concise. Ensure that every sentence advances your argument, and every paragraph flows from one to another. As a rule of thumb, shorten any sentence longer than a couple of lines, and split any paragraph spanning more than half a page. Edit your work, and send it to others for comments before submitting.
Bonus Tip: Find a Mentor
Mentors are crucial to the research process, and almost every researcher has one or did in the past. Find someone that can help push your thinking and provide some guidance and perspective as you complete your work for the Columbia Junior Science Journal. Mentors could range from teachers, to professors at local academic institutions, to those found in 1:1 mentor matching programs.
If you are interested in submitting work to the Columbia Junior Science Journal, consider applying to the 1:1 Mentorship Program at InspiritAI! Our mentors – hailing from the world's top research institutions and tech companies – will walk you through an entire research project from start to end. Whether you are a coding novice or a virtuoso, our individualized mentorship program will help you develop an exceptional research project with novel and well-defined results that you can use in your CJSJ submission. For more information, do not hesitate to contact InspiritAI with questions.
