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Advanced Research Strategies (HC)

Summer 2023

Do I Have a Thesis Question?

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.

Developing an Article for Publication

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)

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6192fadd5c27ca5cdd134860/t/63d715d485717c13d556f7d6/1675040226755/Corrected+CJH.pdf

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:

Hamilton Historical

    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:

Central Europe Yearbook

     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

https://www.helvidius.org/

Cornell International Affairs Review

https://www.cornelliar.org/

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