Journal of Emerging Investigators Open to Middle and High School Student Submissions

Every year at science fairs across the country there are always a few projects that just stand out. They are done at a caliber far beyond what you'd expect from the middle school and high school sciences. Companies such as Intel with their International Science and Engineering Fair do a great job recognizing the achievements of these junior scientists. But if you are a kid with an hypothesis about the best microbes to decompose plastics, and the research to back it up, there's a new place to get published and begin a career in scientific research: The Journal of Emerging Investigators.

JEI is a non-profit and open journal operated by some graduate students at Harvard University focusing on biology and physical science. It was created to give aspiring students a way to get published, jump start a career, help students communicate with each other in an open forum and support science education. It's an incredible way to teach students about the peer review process and receive feedback from PhD students.

From the JEI website:

The Journal of Emerging Investigators is an open-access journal that publishes original research and review articles that are written by middle school and high school students in the fields of biological and physical science. JEI provides students, under the guidance of a teacher or advisor, the opportunity to submit and gain feedback on original research and to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Because grade-school students often lack access to formal research institutions, we expect that the work submitted by students may come from classroom-based projects, science fair projects, or other forms of mentor-supervised research.

JEI is a non-profit group run and operated by a group of graduate students at Harvard University, therefore JEI also provides the opportunity for graduate students to participate in the editorial, review, and publication process. Our hope is that JEI will serve as an exciting new forum to engage young students in a novel kind of science education that nurtures the development and achievements of young scientists throughout the country.

As the new school year approaches, students and faculty should take note of this incredible new way to make the science curriculum come alive with real-world integration and a fantastic way for students to take their science fair projects to the next level.