Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in .docx format
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is double-spaced; uses 12-point Times New Roman font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); all tables, illustrations, and figures are referenced within the text at relevant places
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
  • All figures will be uploaded as separate files. The bibliography will be appended at the end of the text
  • All tables with captions are placed at the at the end of the document before the reference list
  • All figure captions are placed at the end of the manuscript. The figures are not included in the text, but attached as separate files
  • I have uploaded a cover letter, publishing agreement, manuscript document and figure document all as seperate files.

Author Guidelines

OVERVIEW OF SUBMISSION PROCESS

1.1 Open Journal Systems:

All articles are submitted online through the OSURJ Open Journal Systems (OJS). https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ojs/index.php/OSURJ-JRSUO/index and should include a cover letter attached separately and any other supplementary material such as videos or pdb files.  

1.2 Word Document Format:

All manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Figures and tables must be embedded in the text in their correct placement within the manuscript, but must also be submitted separately (see specific submission requirements under IV. Figures.) Upon submission of your publication, you must cc. your research supervisor in the email and all other relevant authors if applicable.

For consistency among submissions and to facilitate compliance with OSURJ formatting guidelines, OSURJ suggests writing your manuscript using the following template. Text must be double-spaced and with consecutive line numbering. In addition, each page numbered and continuous line numbers.

1.3 Double-Blinded Review Process:

To adhere to the double-blinded review process, each submitted manuscript must NOT include any names of the authors within the text. Failure to remove all names and identifiers from the manuscript will require revision.

1.4 Referees:

Upon submission, authors must include a recommendation of 1-2 faculty members of the University of Ottawa who are experts in the domain of your publication. These individuals may or may not be asked to participate as reviewers of the submission.

1.5 Submission Checklist:

  1. The submission has not been published previously. Any previously published components of the submission must be properly cited as per the Submission Guidelines.

  2. The submission formatting follows the OSURJ Submission Guidelines.

  3. I have created an online account through Open Journal Systems.

  4. I have included 1-2 potential referees for my submission.

  5. Cover letter is attached as a supplementary file via OJS.

  6. The text follows the reference guidelines outlined in the Submission Guidelines.

  7. Manuscript has been copyedited by the author before submission.

  8. All co-authors and supervisors have read the submitted manuscript and signed permission has been obtained to submit the article to OSURJ.

SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS

2.1 Cover Letter:

The Cover letter should include the names and email addresses of all contributing authors.
A brief description of the main results and their implications should also be included.

The letter should also confirm that all co-authors have read and approved of the submitted version of the manuscript. The Cover letter should not exceed 1 page

Please see the following sample cover letter here.

2.2 Title Page:

Title page should include the article title, the word count for the abstract, and the word count for the manuscript.

2.3 Publishing agreement:

Please upload a publishing agreement with your manuscript.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Font

All submissions are to be prepared using Times New Roman font as follows: 20 pt. title, 12 pt. body of text, and 10 pt. font in table legends, figure legends, and footnotes.

3.2 Title

The title should not exceed 15 words. It should be kept specific enough to accurately represent the content of the text, but also general enough to be understood by readers outside of your field. Do not include numbers, acronyms, or abbreviations.

3.3 Tables

Tables can be presented in landscape or portrait orientation. Below the table, insert a short bolded title beginning with “Table #”, and a description of the table and what it details, including definitions of all symbols used within the table. Number the tables in the order that they appear within the text. The title of the table should provide sufficient information to the reader to understand what is being displayed, independent of the text.

3.4 Figures

Figures can be presented in portrait or landscape orientation. Figures must be consistently generated by the same software as much as possible and kept as simple and easy to understand as possible: avoid unnecessary complexity, colour, and detail. Make sure that the information within the figure would be comprehensible if printed in grayscale. Figures must be submitted separately in a .tiff, .png, or .jpg format, and must have a resolution of at least 300 ppi. The title of the graph/figure should provide sufficient information to the reader to understand what is being displayed, independent of the text.

3.4a Figure Size Formats:

Two size formats may be used for figures: single-column (width from 3.37 to 8.23 cm) or double-column (width from 12.65 to 17.1 cm). Below the figure, include a short bolded title beginning with “Figure #”, and a description of the results and symbols shown in each section. Number the figures in the order that they appear in the text. For subplots within a single figure, label them using Roman numerals. Please do NOT include an explanation of methods here if your article contains a designated methods section.

For chemical structures, apply the ChemDraw “ACS Document 1996” settings found under the “Apply Setting From” drop-down menu of ChemDraw.

3.4b Figure Captions:

Each illustration must have an accompanying caption which consists of a brief title and short description of the figure. The caption should explain the symbols and abbreviations of the figure.

3.5 General Style

  • Use Oxford commas when making lists (e.g. A, B, and C).

  • Include a single space after a period.

  • Avoid using contractions (e.g. “cannot” instead of “can’t”).

  • Avoid the use of all personal pronouns (e.g. I, we, us…)

  • Numbers below 10 must be spelled out (one, two…), while numbers 10 and above can be written numerically (10, 11…)

  • Latin terms must be italicized (e.g. in vitro)

  • Math notation must be italicized (e.g. Sin x and Tgas)

  • Use active voice

  • Always define acronyms at their first use, as well as terms that a reader not specialized in your field would have trouble understanding

3.6 Mathematics & Numbers

  • Prepare equations using the equation editor tool within Microsoft Word. Equations must be numbered sequentially (“Equation #”). All symbols used in equations must be defined.

  • Precede all decimals with a zero (e.g. 0.2 instead of .2).

  • Include a space in between measurements and their unit (e.g. 20 L instead of 20L), except for percentages (20%).

  • Do not italicize Greek letter variables and units.

  • Use metric units whenever possible.

3.7 References

The reference format follows the style used in Science, as described here. This includes in-text citations and the list of references accompanying the publication.

Copyright Notice

I, ____________________ (submitting author) am submitting an article to the University of Ottawa Science Undergraduate Research Journal (OSURJ) entitled ________________________________________________________________________

 

I. OSURJ Mandate:

The University of Ottawa Science Undergraduate Research Journal is a bilingual multidisciplinary open-access and non-proprietary journal. A journal of this nature embraces all disciplines of science and is the result of a collaborative effort between undergraduate, graduate, and faculty members. Our goal is to provide invaluable publishing and submission process experience to undergraduate students and ultimately to promote undergraduate research within the uOttawa community

 

II. Review Process of OSURJ

OSURJ uses a single-blind review process. The submitted article is first sent to the managing editor who assigns the article to the relevant section editor responsible for the specific science discipline. The section editor provides a preliminary review to confirm that the submission is within the scope of OSURJ, after which it is assigned to one undergraduate reviewer and one faculty review for independent review. The reviewers recommend to either reject, accept, or conditionally accept the article with revisions required. Based on the recommendations from both reviewers, the section editor makes the final decision of publication.

III. Proprietorship and Author Rights:

Authors retain all copyrights to their research and original data and may publish in other journals at the journal’s discretion. OSURJ acknowledges that all information submitted by the author(s) is their intellectual property and therefore any republication of such property is not allowed without written consent from the submitting author(s). Articles published in OSURJ may be published in other journals. However, authors should be made aware that other publishers may not permit the republication of original research published in an undergraduate journal such as OSURJ. Consequently, the author should consult the publication policies of other journals, and all relevant parties should be made aware of this possibility before proceeding with article submission

 

IV. Falsification of Data

Methods for the acquisition and analysis of data should be accurately and fully displayed to allow for replication by other researchers. Data fabrication and alteration is unethical and may lead to unfounded conclusions. As such, it is not permitted by OSURJ.

V. Statement of Originality

The author(s) confirms that their submission, including all content, phrases, graphics and figures are their own. The article demonstrates the author’s own work and skill. The author is aware that plagiarism (the use of someone else's work without their permission and/or without acknowledging the original source) is wrong. They confirm that ALL the work submitted for consideration is their own work and confirms to explicitly indicate and source outside material. The author recognizes that failure to comply with academic integrity could result in disqualification from the journal or other measures.

 

VI. Permission from All Contributors:

  • Given that research is collaboratively conducted with professors and other students, OSURJ requires that all contributors (co-authors, primary investigators, lab managers, supervisors) consent to the submission of the article to OSURJ.
  • Any person listed as an author of an article must have contributed greatly to the data, analysis or interpretation of said data and should provide approval of the submitted version. It is unethical to not list those who contributed to the standards of an author and to include those who do not meet the criteria for authorship.
  • For articles with multiple authors, primary, secondary (etc.) author status must also be agreed upon.

As the submitting author, I hereby declare that I have read this publication agreement and grant my permission for OSURJ to publish the submitted article. I also declare that all contributors with claims to this intellectual property have read this agreement and have signed below

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