Portland State University McNair Online Journal
About
The Portland State University McNair Online Journal is the official publishing platform for research
conducted by students who participate in the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement
Program. It represents the culmination of a year’s study and research conducted by McNair scholars,
many of whom have presented the work at national conferences and symposia.
The McNair journal is a peer-reviewed journal, where the editorial “board” is re-formed and tailored
to each individual article. Every article that is eligible for publication is reviewed by three persons
(two academics and one administrative), who make up the “board” for that article: 1) The faculty
mentor who oversaw the scholar’s research and writing process, 2) a second academic reviewer who
works in the same or a related discipline to that which the research under review is performed, and 3)
a representative of the McNair program staff.
The work of all McNair students has the potential to be published in the McNair Online Journal. As
an interdisciplinary journal, there are no restrictions against the topic of research or the discipline in
which the research was conducted. In addition, because our journal is currently available in electronic
form only, there are no restrictions against the length of the paper.
Submission Process
As part of the student agreement with the McNair Program, it is incumbent on the McNair scholar
whose paper meets the qualifications to submit their work to the editorial board for consideration.1
Qualifications
In order to be considered for publication by the editorial board, the article submission must be in
complete form, including all necessary parts (including appendices and citations) as determined by
the scholar’s discipline.
The paper must be approved by the scholar’s faculty mentor as complete as attested to in the
“Approved as Final” section of the Research Evaluation Form.
Steps for Submission
1) The paper must be submitted for publication not later than September 30th in the year
before the date of publication (January 31st).2
2) The paper must be accompanied by a signed copy of the Research Evaluation Form with
both the “Approved as Final” and “Approved for Publication” sections completed.
3) The paper must be accompanied by a memo that lists at least two (2), but preferably more,
options for a second academic reviewer of the paper, listed in order of preference. The
scholar must include information as to why these particular persons are being suggested as
second reviewers. The requirements for the second reviewer are as follows:
In certain circumstances where the student’s work is being submitted to a discipline specific journal we can
make an exception the requirement to submit work for publication to the McNair Journal. In this case, the
scholar must submit their final paper with a memo outlining the scholar’s intention and timeline for publishing
the paper elsewhere, along with the name(s) of the Journals to which the paper is being submitted and a copy
of that Journal’s submission guidelines.
1
Example: a scholar who intends to submit the paper for publication in the January 2012 journal must submit
the final draft by September 30th of 2011.
2
a.
The reviewers must either have a PhD or be currently working on obtaining their
PhD in the same or related field to that in which the scholar conducted his/her
research.
b. At least one of the suggested reviewers should be associated with Portland State
University, however we encourage the scholar to make suggestions of reviewers
associated with other universities.
4) The submission must be made in both hard copy and electronic form to the editor of the
PSU McNair Online Journal.
Editorial Process
Once submissions are received from the scholars, papers will be evaluated for completion and
readiness for review. Scholars are encouraged but not required to personally request a review from
their list of potential reviewers. If the scholar does not want to personally request the review, the
journal editor will make the request.
Though unlikely, it is possible that none of the scholar’s selections are available or willing to review
the paper. In this case, the scholar will be notified and will have seven (7) days (including weekends)
to resubmit a new list of potential reviewers. In light of this possibility, it is recommended that the
initial list have several options.
Once a second reviewer has agreed to volunteer, they will have four (4) weeks to complete their
review and submit comments to the scholar. At this point, the reviewer and scholar will be in direct
contact with each other regarding the article. When the review is complete, the second reviewer must
submit to the McNair office a copy of their written comments along with a completed and signed
Publication Evaluation Form (similar to the Research Evaluation Form).
The second reviewer will provide either “necessary” or “suggested” changes or edits to the paper. In
the latter case, those changes will be made to the paper according to the scholar’s judgment. In the
former case, the scholar is required to make the changes or edits requested by the reviewer in order
for the paper to remain a viable candidate in the publication process. It is up to the scholar to discuss
with the reviewer any changes or edits which are deemed to be incorrect or unnecessary. Any
resolutions that are different from the reviewer’s initial comments must be described in writing by
the scholar, signed by the reviewer, and sent to the Journal’s editor.
The scholar will have three (3) weeks in order to make any changes and submit a second draft to the
Journal’s editor. If necessary, a petition for an extension can be filed with the Journal’s editor, in
which case the scholar and the editor will together decide on an acceptable deadline for completion.
Once the Journal’s editor receives the second draft, a member of the McNair program staff will be
appointed to read through the draft, making sure that all necessary changes from the second review
were made and review the paper for any grammatical, spelling, or citation format errors. McNair staff
will have two (2) weeks from the date the paper is received to perform the review. If at this point
there are any remaining changes to be made, the scholar will have seven (7) days (including weekend)
to make the changes. The McNair program staff will submit a final Publication Evaluation Form to
the editor.