Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Summer 2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication
Advisor(s)
Scott Lunsford
Kevin Jefferson
Traci Zimmerman
Abstract
This research aims to identify the effects that an undergraduate research journal, specifically the James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ), has on its past and present student editors’ career readiness. I began by exploring the existing literature surrounding undergraduate research, undergraduate research journals, and other studies done to measure the effects that these undergraduate research journals have on students at various institutions. Then, I conducted a survey on current and past members of the JMURJ editorial board, using a specific set of questions to determine if an undergraduate research journal such as the one at James Madison University was assisting/had already assisted students in recognizing their career skillsets. Using the feedback from this survey, I was able to identify common trends and their implications, as well as potential limitations to this study. Due to the highly specific nature of undergraduate research journals and their localized environments, the methodology used for this research is not meant to be replicated by other journals, but rather used as a resource for the current editorial board members of JMURJ. The current study also serves as a current assessment of how and how well the JMURJ approach serves students as an undergraduate research journal, so that it can be of use to JMURJ, other board members and journals, and to other universities committed to undergraduate research.
Recommended Citation
Hoen, Alexandra, "Undergraduate research journals and career readiness" (2018). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 584.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/584
