For nearly a decade, The Oculus interdisciplinary research journal has been staffed and contributed to entirely by undergraduate University students. In many cases, the publication has given students an opportunity that may otherwise have been unknown to them.
This year is no different. The journal, which is collecting submissions until Feb. 10, plans to release its newest edition at the end of the semester.
The Oculus - which is available in areas such as University libraries and the Center for Undergraduate Excellence - was established in 2001 and publishes the work of undergraduates from all areas of study at the University. As a part of the Undergraduate Research Network, the journal aims to promote research among this group of students, who often are not aware of the opportunities and resources available to aid them as they explore their areas of interest, Oculus Co-Editor-in-Chief Mitchell Leibowitz said.
"The University of Virginia is a top research university, but we have low undergraduate research involvement compared to our competitors," Oculus Co-Editor-in-Chief Tudor Cisu said. "Our numbers are significantly less than University of California at Berkeley, but both schools have the same resources."
Knowing this disparity, The Oculus staff aims to promote undergraduate research by showing students what resources the University has to offer them, he added.
For example, students have the invaluable ability to access to journal articles from around the world, third-year Engineering student Alex McClure said.
"Some articles ... that are necessary for research cost as much as or more than $40 to view, but many students don't know that access to these articles [is] free to them," he said.
Along with third-year College student Ian Smith and third-year Engineering student Rohan Puri, McClure found The Oculus to be the perfect avenue for publishing research they had conducted for a cell and molecular biology class last spring.
"The three of us were in a class together last year, and the professor provided us with the topic - peripartum cardiomyopathy disease," Smith said. "There were no known causes or treatment for the disease, so we read literature on it and selected three main causes - delving into the cell and molecular level for each one - and produced recommendations for the next steps into research for the topic for our submission."
Smith, Puri and Mclure received advice about formatting and methodology from their professor. Student researchers are not limited to these obvious sources of advice, however, Leibowitz said. For example, the Undergraduate Research Network offers to help students throughout the duration of their projects and to provide them with mentors, as well.
Once students submit their work, Oculus staff members select articles for publication based on creativity, originality and presentation. The 15-member selection staff meets every week to conduct this evaluation process, Cisu said.
Smith, Puri and McClure said their own research project took an entire semester to complete. Nevertheless, students should be encouraged to submit to The Oculus, they said.
"We are definitely thankful for the chance to publish our findings," Puri said. "It's a rare opportunity for an undergraduate student to be able to submit work to a research journal. Published research becomes a lot more credible, and reviewers can take your work seriously."
In addition, other journals often focus on specific sets of issues, whereas The Oculus' interdisciplinary nature allows contributors the opportunity to combine several of their interests in their submissions.
"It's a whole other world," McClure said.
As co-editors-in-chief, Leibowitz and Cisu have high hopes for the journal this semester.
"We want to get more students involved," Cisu said. "We'd like to receive more submissions and produce more quality publications. Most importantly, we want to bring out what U.Va. students have to offer"
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