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About This Journal

Scholar Submissions

The Sacred Heart University Scholar is an e-journal dedicated to the research of our undergraduate students. Its goal is to share exemplary scholarship from all disciplines within the University community and beyond. This is an inclusive guide to help with your projects and the preparation of your manuscript.

Original Research

These are research projects with an original thesis that emerges from extant literature and is defended with empirical data or textual evidence. These articles synthesize and summarize the literature and use it to frame and explain the thesis. These articles also contain detailed descriptions of the research design and the data.

The three main types are: (1) empirical studies, (2) original experimental studies, and (3) analytical essays. Empirical studies are research projects that contain one or more hypotheses that emerge from extant literature that are tested with a research design and data. This ranges from individual case studies and small-N studies to larger data analyses. Original experimental studies are similar in content, structure, and length but include data derived from an experiment conducted by its author/s. Finally, analytical essays have an original thesis that emerges from extant literature that is defended with textual evidence and/or empirical data.

Research Articles

Other projects make substantive and valuable contributions to the literature. Such articles might extend or replicate previously published studies with the aim of deepening the readers understanding of the topic. Such articles contain a section that describes the published article(s) and explains the rationale for the project.

Examples of these include: (1) surveys and overviews, (2) replication studies, (3) data analysis, (4) graphical abstracts. Surveys and overviews synthesize and analyze existing research on a particular topic in a way that offers new insights or greater understanding. Replication studies attempt to confirm the findings of existing research. Data analysis articles are studies of existing primary source data from one or more sets. Finally, graphical abstracts are one or more original illustrations that represent the methodology and/or conclusions of an empirical research project, which might also include captions or other text to aid with the explanation. Unlike other research articles, which could run from 10-20 pages, graphical abstracts are only a page or two in length.

Case-study Research

Case studies are common in social and life sciences and professional disciplines and include elements of the other approaches. It is a highly qualitative methodology that uses a research question to guide systematic data collection about a person, group of people, or unit of some kind. The aim is to derive conclusions that might be applicable to other similar cases. A comparative case study (or small N-study) is a variation that includes more than one case in the original study.

Submission Process

To have a manuscript considered, faculty mentors should submit it, via email, in a Word docx or rtf file to Steven Michels, the executive editor, at . The deadlines are June 15 for fall volumes and January 15 for the spring.

Formatting

Articles should include 3-5 keywords and use a recognized academic citation style (MLA, Chicago, APA). Articles other than graphical abstracts should also include a brief (150-200 word) abstract.

IRB Approval

Any kind of research involving human subjects requires approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for presentation and/or publication. Articles must have IRB approval upon submission. Questions regarding this process should be directed to Funda Alp, , the secretary for IRB at Sacred Heart.

Restrictions and Permissions

Authors must own the copyright for material. Authors must also obtain permission from copyright owners for all images used in articles. Articles cannot have been published or be under consideration elsewhere.

The authors assign to the Scholar all copyrights for the article. Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of the journal, requires credit to Sacred Heart University Scholar as copyright holder.

The author retains copyright of the work. The author grants to Sacred Heart University and the Sacred Heart University Scholar a non-exclusive license to print, publish, reproduce, and/or distribute the work in print and/or online, and to publicize the work. The author agrees not to publish the work in print or digital form prior to publication by the journal. Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website does not require permission, provided that the website is non-commercial.