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K-State Today

October 10, 2016

Undergraduate journal broadens scope, invites campus participation

Submitted by Karin Westman

Crossing Borders logo

Crossing Borders: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship has broadened its mission and seeks submissions and reviewers for the coming year.

Previously focused on interdisciplinary scholarship, the journal now publishes contributions with a single area or multiple areas of focus. The journal is published by New Prairie Press, an online imprint of K-State Libraries, and allows students to share their work with a wider community of scholars.

The first issue of the journal, published in 2015, has been downloaded more than 1,000 times by readers in 73 countries. The second issue is slated for publication later this year.

Students interested in submitting full-length scholarly essays, book reviews, or field notes should visit the "Information for Authors" and "Author's Toolkit." 

The editorial team hopes that faculty will construct writing assignments that undergraduates will then be able to submit for peer-reviewed publication. Independent undergraduate student research projects also are strong candidates for consideration.

"We've been intentional about speaking with a range of undergraduate students at orientation sessions, in current classes, and in professional development workshops for undergraduate research opportunities, such as SUROP and Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates," said Justin Kastner, associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and member of the journal's editorial board. "We ask instructors and faculty mentors to encourage students to submit work for review."

In addition to submissions of student scholarship, the journal's editors seek faculty, postdocs and graduate students to serve as reviewers for undergraduate submissions.

Crossing Borders is a partnership between K-State Libraries, the English department, the University Honors Program and Frontier, an interdisciplinary program involving undergraduate students at K-State and a number of other universities.

The journal's editors include faculty members Jason Coleman, associate professor of undergraduate and community services librarian; Karin Westman, associate professor and department head of English; Keli Rylance, assistant professor and department head of University Archives and Special Collections; and Justin Kastner, associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.

Additional editorial support is provided by Tanya Gonzalez, managing editor and associate professor of English; Ryan Otto, assistant professor of digital scholarship, K-State Libraries; and Tim Cochran, editorial assistant and graduate student in family studies. The editorial team can be contacted at crossingborders@k-state.edu.

More information about the founding of the journal is available in the earlier announcement

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