Student Journal Special Issue: “Equality, Diversity, Inclusion"

This academic year, the Essex Student Journal is launching a special issue on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) alongside our general multi-disciplinary volume. To date, we have published more than 100 articles from Essex students across different departments around various topics such as civilisation, racism, gender gap, stereotypes, and social justice, to name a few.

The Equality Act 2010 legally-protected characteristics such as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, pregnancy and maternity, and sexual orientation. In line with the UK government's corporate plan for promoting EDI from 2020 to 2024, this special issue will support this good cause.

The Essex Student Journal is a diamond open access journal run by the library that publishes the work of undergraduate and PGT students at Essex. The whole ecosystem of the journal is maintained, run, and contributed by students at all levels of study. All peer review for the journal is completed by current PGR students at Essex, and the journal's Editor is a current PGR student.

The Essex Student Journal, therefore, works as a learning tool for students at all levels of study and introduces students to the publishing process and gives them great experience for their academic careers.

With this year’s theme, the Essex Student Journal will be accepting submissions across all departments, on any topic related to EDI. We would like to invite and encourage you – Essex undergraduates and PGT students – to submit your work to us to be published. We are also happy to accept any topic outside this special issue, especially if your essays and assignments received a high grade.

Any topic centring on human rights, cultural diversity, social justice, integration, or the history and origin of a specific place or people are some examples of topics that are being taught as modules at the university which also fall into the category of EDI. Research on EDI are endless and can cover a wide range of subjects such as the Black Lives Matter movement, combating xenophobia, female in STEM, and many more.  

There is a multitude of benefits to publishing your work with the Essex Student Journal.

First, this privilege is currently open only to students at the University of Essex.

Secondly, unlike most journals, as a diamond open access journal, it is free for authors to publish as well as free for readers to access and read your article.

Thirdly, your manuscript will go through the peer-reviewing process before publication to ensure a high-quality article is published in our journal. This is the same as the rigorous process in any academic journal and gives authors and reviewers first-hand experience in publishing their academic writing.

Fourth, having your paper as open access will enable your article to be spread widely, increase your research visibility, and reach a wider audience on your topic of interest.

Needless to say, having a published paper in your name will expand your academic portfolio and will strengthen your credibility should you plan to further your studies at the postgraduate level including a PhD. We have also had authors expressing joy and excitement about having a first-author paper published in their names.  

Whether you are an advocate of equality, passionate about promoting diversity or have fought for inclusion at your home, community, and workplace, we invite you to share and submit your written manuscript to the Essex Student Journal. Our submission process is easy and straightforward with all the requirements listed here on our website. By using the journal’s template and following the journal’s style guide, you are already halfway to having your paper published.

As part of our special issue, we are also currently collaborating with the team running the Transitions and Transformations project that aims to support Black researchers from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. A Black researchers’ hub was created to coordinate relevant resources into a one-stop centre. We will also be reaching out to different student societies and clubs at the university to join hands for this special issue. If any of the students’ societies would like to take part in this special issue, please feel free to reach out to journal@essex.ac.uk. Similarly, if you have any ideas or suggestions to enrich the experience of running the special issue at the Essex Student Journal, we would love to hear more from you!

If you are struggling or not sure how to start the process for publication, don’t hesitate to drop us an email at journal@essex.ac.uk and our team will be happy to assist you every step of the way. We look forward to reading and publishing your amazing research paper for this special issue!

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#specialissue, #equality, #diversity, #inclusion