Introducing the new editor - Kimia Aghasoleimani

Posted by Thomas William O'Toole-Mills on 2023-10-17

Hi everyone! My name is Kimia, and I am the new Student Journal Editor for the 2023/24 academic year. I am a PhD student at the School of Life Sciences and have been researching protein-based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. I also have a passion for writing and being involved in publication processes, so I have now joined the Essex Student Journal (ESJ) to support fellow students in publishing their work or gaining peer review experience.

The ESJ is a multi-disciplinary diamond open access journal, meaning authors can publish their work free of charge. Publications are made freely available to the public via the ESJ website so that other students and the wider community can access the articles. This can be very beneficial for authors who wish to connect with their peers and those who may be interested in the same topics.

Undergraduate and taught postgraduate (e.g., taught Master’s) students are welcome to submit their papers for publication in the ESJ. We are open to various forms of submissions (e.g., research articles, essays, blogposts, case studies, etc.) from students across all disciplines so that everyone can have the opportunity to showcase their hard work and talent. PhD students can also get involved by volunteering as peer reviewers. Overall, getting involved with the journal is a great way for students to boost their academic portfolios, gain author or peer review experience, and connect with their peers.

We have several exciting events that will be taking place in the coming months. The first will be the Student Publishing Focus Week, which will be taking place during the week of November 6. During this week, students will be welcome to join sessions run by the ESJ team, including myself, to learn more about getting involved with the journal, having their papers published, and peer reviewing. We will also be launching the ESJ’s special issue for this year, which will be focused on Sustainability. When thinking about “sustainability”, your mind may immediately go to environment-related issues, but sustainability is about more than just the environment. It is about the global consumption of goods and resources, infrastructure, poverty, hunger, equality, and more. The list of topics that authors can submit papers for can be found on our sustainability special issue webpage. This issue will be a great opportunity for our Essex community to join the conversation surrounding sustainability, and I am excited to see the discussions that everyone will be submitting.

As the journal grows, the types of submissions that we accept are also expanding. During November’s focus week, we will be launching our Creative Writing Pilot Scheme. The first submission type that we will be accepting for the pilot will be short stories, which students will be invited to submit from the focus week onwards. After the pilot, we will begin accepting other forms of creative writing, so stay tuned to find out when that will be! You can register your interest in publishing your creative writing to be the first to know when we open to more submission types.

I am excited and honoured to be the ESJ Editor this year, and I look forward to seeing everyone’s submissions. If you are interested in getting involved as an author or peer reviewer, or if you have any questions about the journal and publishing, please feel free to reach out to the journal at journal@essex.ac.uk. I am confident that this year will be a successful year for the journal and look forward to working with our authors and peer reviewers. See you all at the focus week!