The Journal of Young Investigators: An Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed Science Journal

JYI was originally conceived as a web journal to showcase undergraduate research. Since its founding in 1997, JYI has blossomed into a non-profit corporation that also provides innovative, high-quality educational experiences for undergraduates. JYI's current mission is enumerated below, but will continue to evolve under the guidance of the Board of Directors.

In the past few years, significant momentum has amassed to improve undergraduate science education. The National Science Foundation has increased its funding for pre-graduate educational programs. Undergraduate conferences and poster sessions, such as those held by the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) and the scientific honor society Sigma Xi, provide opportunities for undergraduates to communicate their research. Perhaps most importantly, discussion about concrete methods for improving undergraduate science education has increased. Such discussion has inevitably pointed towards the need for emphasis on research, communication skills and an overall experience that more closely parallels that of professional scientists.

JYI recognizes that educational opportunities for most undergraduate science majors do not extend outside of the classroom. In the past decade, the situation has improved dramatically with the newfound popularity of research experiences for undergraduates. Despite the recent growth in research internships, other aspects of the scientific process have been ignored. Three of the most important parts of the scientific enterprise – the communication of ideas, peer review and the publication process – are omitted from the undergraduate educational experience.

The communication of ideas is an integral component of science and research training. If undergraduates are to become successful members of the scientific community, they must be fully prepared as communicators of science, regardless of whether they researchers, science writers, teachers or policy-makers. JYI views communication within the scientific community and with the public as equally important and thus believes that undergraduates should receive training in both technical and non-technical communication, particularly in written communication.

Below, we summarize our views on the importance of the two types of scientific writing by offering excerpts of material written by JYI staff members.

Non-technical Writing: Science Writing for the Public

"[JYI] Science Writing Mentorships strive to help students master the fine art of distilling a technically complex discovery into something palatable to the layman. Daunting as this may be, it is key to the success of science. Without communication of this sort, science would lose funding and public support necessary to continue its endeavors. NASA discovered this several years back - changing the theme to faster, better, cheaper and making missions like Mars Pathfinder into PR events so as to continue the receipt of congressional funding. In addition, it is this work which provides for a scientifically literate public."

“Science news provides basic, functional information necessary for living in today’s world. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation have recognized the ability of lay-level science communication to influence public perceptions of science. The ability of scientists and science writers to clearly communicate the facts and implications of current scientific events often weighs heavily on the decisions made by groups or nations to build upon or even utilize those events.”

Technical Writing: Journal Writing and the Peer Review Process

"The scientific enterprise can be described from the point of view of the information it creates. JYI calls this the information life cycle, a concept that is diagramed on the right. Information is born through its discovery during original research, analysis and theoretical development. This first step, which gives birth to information, is usually portrayed as the central pursuit of the scientific establishment. While this first step is in many ways the end goal, it cannot result in cumulative scientific progress without the rest of the information life cycle.

"New ideas must be communicated and disseminated effectively. Today, that is largely done through the traditional model of scientific publication, which includes the formulation of journal papers, submission, peer review, publication and then secondary research. These steps together form a continual cycle capable of driving scientific progress.

"If undergraduate education is to best prepare individuals for future participation in this enterprise, then it clearly must include an introduction to that enterprise in its entirety. While many efforts to improve undergraduate science education are focusing on the important goal of making a student's experience more experiential and research-oriented, JYI is focusing on the rest of the problem: how to introduce students to the exercise of communicating their research, reviewing and being reviewed by peers, and the other aspects of publishing and disseminating scientific information. When these JYI authors and editors become professionals, they will be informed and experienced in issues concerning scientific publishing and will be effective communicators and reviewers."

JYI is a unique endeavor to improve undergraduate training by providing innovative, high-quality educational experiences for undergraduates and by providing undergraduates with a venue for participating in the entire scientific enterprise. To accomplish these ends, JYI’s primary focus is the operation of its peer-reviewed research journal and its program in science journalism. Additional aims of the organization include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Improve the communication skills of future members of the scientific community
• Teach undergraduates about peer review and the publication process through a hand-on, practical approach
• Help establish mentoring relationships between undergraduates and professionals by requiring JYI staff and authors to write and review articles under the guidance of professionals
• Showcase and encourage high quality undergraduate research and feature-article writing
• Increase undergraduate awareness of the various factors that shape science and the scientific process
• Impress upon undergraduates the importance of good communication skills, both technical and non-technical
• Provide a practical introduction to the scientific community to undergraduates
• Increase undergraduate awareness of issues affecting the scientific community
• Encourage improvements in undergraduate science education
• Bring inter-institutional community to undergraduate science majors, irrespective of their country of residence
• Open avenues of communication among young scientists
• Tap into the intellectual and creative energies of undergraduates to get them excited about science and to appreciate it
• Encourage undergraduates to pursue science-related careers