The Undergraduate Journal of Experimental Microbiology and Immunology (UJEMI) was launched in 2001 as the product of a capstone course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) program for MICB 421 (Experimental Microbiology) and 447 (Experimental Research), which offer students the opportunity to engage in laboratory experiences and guidance through the research process. Throughout the academic term, students enrolled in these courses undertake several writing assignments with the goal of producing an original research paper, which is then published online in UJEMI.
As the CURE program has evolved, so has the journal, which has grown to encompass a suite of four publications, including refereed and non-refereed streams, all of which are hosted by UBC Library on Open Journal Systems (OJS).
“I started working with the journal last year when we started actually [using] OJS,” says Daniela Morales Morales, PhD Candidate in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Senior Editor at UJEMI. At that point, UJEMI+ had begun to expand even further, opening up submissions to undergraduate students outside of UBC. This was more challenging, says Morales, as the editorial team now had more manuscripts coming in, and external manuscripts selected for publication had to go through the peer-review process.
Now, the UJEMI editorial team is able to accept submissions directly through OJS, rather than email, and no longer rely on complex spreadsheets. Instead, almost the entire refereed workflow happens within OJS. “It’s a way to keep everything in one place,” says Morales.
Moving to OJS also meant that UBC Library could ensure the journal’s digital content is stable and findable into the future, first by hosting that content on the library’s own servers, and then by assigning persistent unique identifiers to each journal issue.
“We wanted to make sure the journal articles actually have value and that they’re read by people in the field. And like any sort of scientific documentation, you want it to persist and endure, and so we decided to reach out to the library to see if there’s a way to make that happen,” says David Oliver, Associate Professor of Teaching in UBC’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and current faculty lead for UJEMI.
The benefits of open access publication and digital preservation are two-fold. “We know that our students are motivated to share their research findings with the scientific community and to have a citable publication on their CV [curriculum vitae], which helps their career. Professional scientists publish for similar reasons, suggesting that we are providing authentic research experiences for our students.”
Learn more about UBC Library’s Open Publishing Program.
About the UBC Library Open Publishing Program
UBC Library’s Open Publishing Program is an open access journal and text service to help UBC faculty, researchers, instructors, students, and staff develop open access publications for scholarship and instruction. This free service aims to advance open scholarship by providing the supports needed to make UBC information resources openly available. Learn more about our eligibility criteria and how to submit a proposal.