Undergraduate Student Authors

Image credit: UW Visual Asset Collection Links to an external site.

Remember, publishing research is a supplement for your own learning. Don’t feel pressured to take this on if it doesn’t fit with your academic path or research experience right now! However, as an undergraduate researcher you do have the potential to publish and share original research and it is important if you are working with a research team or professor to check to see what your rights are as a student contributor. For help communicating with researchers or professors about publishing shared research (or other matters!), check out these tips for communicating with instructors Links to an external site. by email and office hours.

Student Rights and Responsibilities

If you plan on publishing in an open access journal (or traditional scholarly journal), it is important that you know your rights and responsibilities as a UW student researcher. Students have the following rights in open scholarship, research, publishing, and class environments:

• Students have the right to contribute their ideas and labor to an open project, or not. Students have the right to choose whether or not that work will be openly available.
• Students have the right to be credited for their work and scholarship in all circumstances.
• Students have a right to choose how their work will be used. This includes assigning an appropriate Creative Commons Links to an external site. license or adding a statement to accompany their work.
• Students have the right to retain any copyrights they may hold in works they produce. ​

Students have the following responsibilities:

• Students must learn about and understand the meanings and implications of making their work openly available.
• Students must clearly indicate whether or not they want their work to be openly available.
• Students must clearly indicate how they want their work to be used by others.

Adapted from UWB/CC Campus Library- Open Student Work: Student Rights + Responsibilities

Connecting with Your Advisor

If you plan on publishing your research, your academic and faculty advisors can be your support during the entire process. Here are some helpful resources on how to get started.

• Book an appointment Links to an external site. with your academic advisor or attend an info session.
• Email etiquette guidelines Links to an external site. when reaching out to your academic advisor or professor.
• Get funding Links to an external site. for your research with opportunities through the Undergraduate Research Program (URP).

Not sure what topic to research? Here are some resources for inspiration:

• Explore previously published student research at UW ResearchWorks Links to an external site..
• Browse through past student presentations during the yearly UW Undergraduate Research Symposium. Links to an external site.
• Check out the available research positions Links to an external site. posted on the URP Database.

Attend a conference Links to an external site. to hear from fellow researchers and scholars.