Do you want to develop your research further? Polish the argument you made? There are options to consider before you store your paper file away.
Your work may have opened up questions which you couldn't pursue directly in the time available. The senior thesis may provide the opportunity for a full-scale investigation. The added bonus is that in most departments in the social sciences and humanities, you will have the option to make your thesis open to the general public (or to the Tricolleges, Haverford community or embargoed for later release). Note that students in Computer Science, Environmental Studies, Neuroscience and Psychology regularly post their theses in the digital archive.
Senior theses and other capstone projects from previous years are available in the thesis digital archive. This will provide access to online copies when the student authors have given the library permission to make their work available digitally, either to Haverford or to the general public. If you find a thesis that is not accessible, please contact Liz Jones-Minsinger (ejonesmins@haverford.edu), our college archivist, or a faculty member in the sponsoring department to inquire about access.
For more information about the thesis archive and ways to use Haverford theses in research, see this brief slide deck. More information is also on this library page.
In exploring your research questions as a potential thesis topic, go to the research guide page and find your senior seminar. Some guides include outlines for starting the senior thesis. See Starting the Senior Thesis in Economics and Starting the Thesis in Political Science.
Considerations in Selecting a Journal for Submission
In selecting a journal for submitting your article, these are criteria to consider:
Does the journal have a peer review process?
Do published articles reflect a skilled use of original arguments and sources?
Are there articles from people at other institutions rather than just the local university?
How long has the journal been in operation?
How are illustrations handled? Are they of good quality? Accompanied by a caption with description and rights information?
How discoverable online are previously published articles?
This is a long list of undergraduate research journals from the Council on Undergraduate Research. Many subject areas are represented. https://www.cur.org/engage/undergraduate/journals/listing/
This is a directory that categorizes publishing and conference opportunities by field. https://undergraduatecommons.com/open_to_submit.html
1) Selected Journals in History
Columbia Journal of History:
https://www.columbiahistoryjournal.com/
The journal has an advisory board and an editorial process
involving peer review. The issues are available open access.
The website indicates that they are accepting for spring 2023.
Three HC history majors published in the journal:
Nicholas Lasinsky (HC, 2023)
Hayley Meyerhoff (HC , 2020)
https://www.columbiahistoryjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CJH-Summer-2020.pdf
and Leah Borquez (BMC, 2020)
https://www.columbiahistoryjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CJH-Winter-2019.pdf
Michigan Journal of History
https://michiganjournalofhistory.com/
Anna Avanesyan published her article in this issue
https://michiganjournalhistory.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/mjh-volume-xviii.pdf
The Penn History Review also looks promising:
https://repository.upenn.edu/phr/
Molly Gouran will have an article published in an upcoming issue.
As does the Vanderbilt Historical Review
Past issues https://www.vanderbilthistoricalreview.com/past-issues
Submissions https://www.vanderbilthistoricalreview.com/submit-now
This is a very recently started journal from Hamilton College:
Email in the first issue: hamhistorical@gmail.com May need to contact the History Dept. instead
If you have an interest in Central European topics, see this journal sponsored by the Center for Austrian Studies and the libraries at the University of Minnesota:
Professor Darin Hayton is a member of the journal's editorial team.
This is a selective list of undergraduate research journals in History (University of Nebraska library)
https://unl.libguides.com/c.php?g=51642&p=333912
This list includes journals in areas related to history as well as a few from countries other than the U.S.
https://www.thesuhp.org/who-we-are/
Ezra's Archives (Cornell University)
https://history.cornell.edu/ezras-archives
2) Selected Journals in Political Science
Columbia University Journal of Politics and Society
Cornell International Affairs Review
This is a list of student-run journals in the fields of political science, international relations and the social sciences (Swarthmore Political Science Department)
https://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science/undergraduate-journals