Submissions
This page is designed to help you ensure your submission is ready for and fits the scope of the journal.
Before submitting you should read over the guidelines here, format using our template, then register an account (or login if you have an existing account).
This short video provides an overview of the submission process, and how to convert your paper into a journal article.About
The Essex Student Journal is an online multi-disciplinary academic journal, run by and for University of Essex students. The journal is dedicated to the publication of high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate writing and is committed to creating accessible and engaging content for a non-specialist readership. The Essex Student Journal encourages and celebrates student research by offering valuable early experience of academic publishing and the peer review process. More information about the Essex Student Journal is available here.
Focus and Scope
The journal accepts work by the university students from all subjects areas.
Peer Review
This journal operates a double blind peer review policy, meaning that neither the author nor the reviewer will be aware of each other's identities. If you are a PhD student and are interested in becoming a peer reviewer, have a look at our video on the peer review process.Submission Checklist
Essex Student Journal is open for submission with no deadline; articles are published online when ready. Publications must be submitted by current students, or based on coursework written whilst studying at the University of Essex. The submission must be in English, and of high quality (for example coursework that has received a mark of 75% or higher).
We currently accept these types of papers from all subject areas:
- Essays
- Research papers
- Case studies
- Other (can include blog posts, creative writing, conference papers, poems etc.)
Below is some further information about how we classify our standard publication types: essays, research papers, and case studies.
| Essay | Research Paper | Case Study |
|---|---|---|
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Submission checklist
- Submissions must be submitted in a Word document, using our template, unless another format has been agreed with the Editor.
- Abstracts should be 200 words maximum.
- The word limit for general submissions is 2,800-3,000 words for the main body. For Masters students who wish to submit their dissertations, the word limit is 8000 words. Please be aware that longer submissions of this nature will take more time to peer review.
- Submissions must be edited according to the style guide (below) to suit the journal audience.
- Do not include your name anywhere in the Word document, as the peer review process will be double blind (both author and peer reviewer are anonymous). Your name will be linked to the document in the submission system, which only the Editor will see.
Style guide
- Writing should be concise, with clear subjects and actions in every sentence.
- All text should be Sylfaen font with numbered pages.
- The title should be font size 24, headers should be 12pt, and the main text and abstract should be 11pt.
- Any headings should be clearly marked in bold.
- The main body of the text should use the line spacing 1.5.
- Notes to the text should be included as footnotes (not endnotes), and single-spaced in 10 point, Sylfaen font.
- For listing, use numbers 1, 2, 3, or round bullet points.
- Original texts’ names (e.g. books) should be in italic.
- Images, figures and tables should be properly cited where inserted, and included in the references. Any images, figures and tables need to be formatted in line with the text.
- Alternative texts for images and figures should be included.
- We require all submissions to follow Harvard style referencing. However, in some cases, such as legal texts, other referencing styles can be used (e.g. OSCOLA).
- Use consistent verb tenses throughout your manuscript. Please follow the verb tenses explained at the bottom of this page before submitting to the journal.
Please note that all submissions will be subject to peer review to decide whether they are suitable for the journal. We also expect that submissions will not be under consideration or previously published with another publication.
If you have any questions about submissions, please email us at journal@essex.ac.uk.
Expectations for authors
- Follow the journal’s deadlines (for corrections and re-submission in case of conditional acceptance).
- Provide an email address that will stay active for at least 6 months. You can provide either your Essex email address or your personal one.
- In cases where we cannot communicate with you for more than 4 months, your paper will be deleted from our system, and it will not be published.
- Don’t forget to remove your name or personal details from any part of your paper.
- Follow the style guide on the submission checklist.
Expectations for reviewers
- Follow the journal’s deadlines for reviewing the papers. In cases where you need more time, you can contact the journal to ask for an extension to the original deadline.
- Provide an email address that will stay active for as long as you are volunteering to be a reviewer. You can provide either your Essex email address or your personal one.
- Remember to anonymize your review, because the journal operates a double-blind peer review process.
- Provide fair and constructive feedback to authors, and offer additional clarification if requested by the editor.
Expectations for the editor
- Respond to any enquiries within a week.
- Pass on the submitted papers to peer reviewers in a timely fashion.
- Inform authors about completed reviews, including comments and feedback from the reviewers.
- Notify the author when the paper is published.
- Provide clear messaging if the editorial team will be on a break.
- Be objective and professional when reading the submitted papers.
Verb tenses
| Paper section | Recommended tense | Example |
| Literature review | Past Present perfect | Abigail (2021) stated Researchers have studied |
| Method/Procedure | Past Past Present perfect | Participants took a survey Other researchers have used similar methods |
Results (both for reporting your own or other researchers’ results) | Past | Results showed Percentage declined Hypotheses were not supported |
| Personal reactions | Past Past Present perfect Present | I felt surprised I have experienced I agree |
Discussion (including discussion on implications of results or of previous statements) | Present | The findings show that This result signifies |
| Conclusion, Future Recommendation, Limitations | Present | We conclude Future research should investigate Limitations in this study are |
Table adapted from: Verb tense