Aims & Scope
Who can submit?
University of Central Florida undergraduate students are eligible to submit research to The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal (URJ). Students must have completed the submitted work while enrolled as an undergraduate student, though they may submit their research for publication within six months after graduating. Undergraduates at other institutions may also submit to the URJ if the research submitted was conducted at the University of Central Florida and is endorsed by a UCF faculty member. UCF undergraduates may also co-author papers with undergraduate and graduate students from other institutions, though the main author of the manuscript must be from UCF.
Submissions may have multiple student authors at both the graduate and undergraduate level. We discourage faculty co-authors, as the URJ focuses solely on student research.
Faculty Mentor Eligiblity
Students must have a faculty mentor to be able to submit to the URJ. Please see the Office of Undergraduate Research’s official policy on faculty mentors of UCF undergraduate research.
What kind of submissions does the URJ accept?
The UCF URJ welcomes submissions of original research across all disciplines at UCF. Submitted research must be of a publishable quality – authors must have analyzed data to draw new conclusions and adequately contribute to their field of study. We also accept comprehensive literature and book reviews, as well as altered Honors Undergraduate Theses. Creative works such as fiction, poetry, or artwork are not accepted – these may be submitted to other UCF publications such as the Cypress Dome Society.
Note: Full, unaltered Honors in the Major theses will be rejected before review. Please consult with the editors of the URJ for guidance in adapting your thesis for publication.
Submitted Articles MUST:
- Be research-based; that is, based on an analysis that draws new conclusions or interpretations;
- Be between 3500-5000 words, excluding references or appendices;
- Submission format is DOCX, times new-roman 12pts, double spaced.
- Be endorsed by a current faculty member at UCF;
- Be approved by the Institutional Review Board, if necessary.
- Comply with the format outlined in the URJ Style Guide, as well as discipline-specific citation styles.
Submissions MUST Include:
- Properly-formatted manuscript in .docx format
- Abstract (250 words maximum)
- Author biography (approximately 50-100 words, written in third-person)
- Appropriate supplementary paperwork (e.g., IRB approval letter, Publication Permission Form)
Exact manuscript format will vary by discipline; consult with your faculty mentor for guidance.
When does the URJ accept submissions?
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal operates on a rolling publication system. Though we have priority deadlines in the fall and spring semesters for expedited publication decisions, authors may submit a manuscript at any time.
Visit the OUR calendar for information about upcoming deadlines.
Submission Process
Authors submit their manuscript via the UCF URJ submission form.
After this form is completed, submissions will be assessed for compliance with URJ guidelines; incompliant manuscripts will be rejected without review. Manuscripts meeting all requirements are then sent to qualified reviewers with discipline-related expertise in a double-blind review process. Reviewers make recommendations for further revision, which are returned to the author.
At this stage, the author will receive their publication decision. Authors will be asked to revise their work after considering reviewers’ comments; in certain cases, they may also be asked to resubmit their work to undergo a second round of faculty review prior to publication. When the author returns their revisions, they will go through copyediting for language and clarity. Manuscripts will then be published online on STARS, and print copies will be sent to the author and faculty mentor.
Authors can expect this process to take between 6 months and a year, depending on the manuscript's review time, whether it is accepted for publication during the first round of reviews, and the time after a publication decision is returned during which authors revise their manuscript for publication.
Authors will receive updates from the editors of the URJ as their manuscript moves through the review process. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.
