ABOUT
• Undergraduate neuroscience journal
• Mission: promoting scientific literacy,
growing the neuroscience community, and
developing effective science
communicators.
WHY?
• Science outreach is critical
WHY?
"So, when you guys do your research, you start
with a scientific—what do they call it—postulate or
theory, and you work from that direction forward,
is that right?
... I'm just wondering how that’s related, for
example, to global warming and eventual global
cooling"
- Representative Randy Weber (R-TX)
WHY?
“A large majority (82%) [of participants] support
mandatory labels on GMOs,
but curiously about the same amount (80%) also
support mandatory labels on
foods containing DNA.”
- Study: OK State University
WHY?
• Neuroscience is amazing
• Develop strong writing skills
• Become part of the neuroscience
community
• Unique experience
• Exposure
HOW?
• Organization of GM
– Leadership
– Staff
•
•
•
•
Editor
Writer/Blogger
Artist
Designer
– Contributor
• Authors
• Artists
HOW TO JOIN?
•
•
•
•
•
Attend six (6) meetings
Table for four (4) hours
Contribute to the journal
Read “The Science of Scientific Writing”
Application and “interview”
– Interview = just introduce yourself
BENEFITS
• Concrete position within Grey Matters
– Build a body of work/portfolio
• Listed among staff online and in print
• Member only meetings parties
– Pre EWN meet and greet
– Q&A sessions with neuroscientists
– Organized lab tours
• Prizes & t-shirts
The Publication
Process
Roles
Authors: Write original articles for publication in
the journal
Editors: Work with authors to produce a polished,
accurate, well written article
Artists: Work with authors to produce original art
piece(s) to accompany their article
Approx. Volume 3, Issue
1 Timeline
Tuesday, 2/17: Article Proposals
(Round 1) Due
Approx. Volume 3, Issue
1 Timeline
Thursday, 2/26: Article Proposals considered;
authors and editors paired
Thursday, 3/5: Rough drafts due
Friday, 3/6: Evening with Neuroscience!
Thursday, 4/24: Article Proposals (Round 2) Due
Monday, 6/8: Final Drafts Due
How to Submit an
Article Proposal
1. Go to greymattersjournal.com
2. Click on “Submit an Article Proposal” (far right)
3. Fill out the form!
Some notes about article proposals...
Notes about Article
Proposals
1. Make sure your topic is neither too simple nor
too complicated
a.
You’ve only got so much space to write about
it, but it needs to be interesting too!
2. Do your research thoroughly beforehand
a.
Make sure you have at least 3 peer reviewed
sources BEFORE submitting a proposal
Article Types
Brain Blurbs
Short Articles
Research Articles
Brain
Blurb
What is Peer Review?
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people of
similar competence to the producers of the work (peers). It
constitutes a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a
profession within the relevant field.
– Wikipedia
Peer-Reviewed Sources
● We require our articles to be based off peerreviewed sources
● Prior to publication, the article was reviewed for
accuracy by an expert in the field
○ This allows academics to hold themselves
and their colleagues to a certain level of
integrity and excellence
● You will need to provide 3 for a proposal
Peer-Reviewed Sources
● National Center for Biotechnology
Information (NCBI) hosts biomedical
databases
○
○
PubMed: biomedical literature
Tools: GenBank, BLAST, etc.
● Primary Sources vs. Secondary Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/
Grey Matters Blog
The perfect way to get your writing feet wet!
Write shorter, more colloquial articles to be
published on the Grey Matters Blog
We’re always looking for new blog posts!
Interested? Email us at thalamus@uw.edu
Evening With
Neuroscience
2014
• Panel discussion with several
neuroscience professionals
• HUGE success
• 300+ people
http://greymattersjournal.com/ewn/ewn2014/
Evening With
Neuroscience
2015
• March 6th from 68:30pm
• Contacting panelists
• Waiting on funding
• Looking for committee
members!
snehai@uw.edu
OR
thalamus@uw.edu