UMBC Review
What happens after submission?
After you have submitted your paper, the UMBC Review editors will send you notice that the paper has arrived and whether or not the packet is complete (if not, you will be asked to complete it). The editors will read your paper. If the paper passes their initial evaluation, it will be sent out to a faculty member on campus for review. The reviewer will be chosen by the editors. The editors may ask your advisor for a recommendation. If no faculty member on campus is able to review your paper, the editors may use an off-campus reviewer. The reviewer is asked to comment on your paper regarding the following criteria:
- Does the paper have a thesis that is original? Does the paper contribute to research in the field?
- Is the research methodology sound?
- Does the research support the thesis?
- Does the paper follow research designs and standards common in the field?
- Does the paper follow the accepted style format for papers in the field?
Reviewers are asked to recommend publication with or without revisions, or to recommend rejection.
The identity of your reviewer will be kept confidential unless the faculty member chooses not to. In some cases, the reviewers will offer to talk to the student about their review and to provide guidance in the revision process.
Once all reviews have been received by the editors, choices are made about which papers to include in the upcoming issue. These choices are made on the basis of the reviewers' comments as well as the need to put an interesting and diverse issue together. At this point, students will receive acceptance or rejection letters.
If your paper is accepted for publication, it is usually with the proviso that certain revisions are made. It is the responsibility of the student to study the recommendations of the reviewer and the editors and to discuss these with the student's advisor. The student and the advisor have to come up with a plan to revise the paper in accordance with the suggestions. If the student and advisor disagree substantially with either the reviewer's or the editors' comments, the student and advisor need to get in touch with the editors for further consultation.
The student will be given a period of time to make the desired revisions in close consultation with the editors and the student's advisor. The UMBC Review editors are ready to help the student in any way they can. Do not hesitate to contact them. Once the revisions are complete, the paper is resubmitted via the digital drop box on the UMBC Review Blackboard site, and via hardcopy and disk in the mail. At this point, the editors will continue to work with the student, if necessary, to address matters of style and any further refinements of the argument. When this is done, usually some time in January, the papers go to the design editor who is responsible for the layout of the journal.
Once the issue of the UMBC Review is published, students can each request up to 5 copies.
Our usual time schedule is:
By Sept. 12, papers are submitted for issue in April of the following year.
In October, papers are sent out for faculty review.
By mid November, papers for inclusion have been selected and students are notified of decisions.
In early December, students resubmit their papers with the revisions required for publication.
By mid December, papers have been edited for style and content
In early January, papers go to the design editor
In of March, the UMBC Review goes to print.