Submissions Reopened! And a New Way to Submit Your STEM Project to Youth STEM Matters
We’re excited to announce that submissions to Youth STEM Matters, our youth-led scientific journal, have now reopened for both STEM projects and science communication articles…And, we’ll be trialing a new community-focussed and cohort-based system for submitting a STEM project to Youth STEM Matters - read on to find out more!
Our new cohort-based submission system means that when youth globally submit their STEM-based Original Research or Review Articles to Youth STEM Matters, you’ll have clearer review & publication timelines so you can select the cohort dates that work for your schedule. You’ll also be able to connect with other youth from around the world who are part of your cohort on your journey towards becoming published researchers, through regular checkpoint calls and networking opportunities with other authors in your cohort.
Until now, young people could submit their project at any time throughout the year, but by making this change, we hope to better support our authors to work towards publishing your project, and make it easier for our team of volunteers to manage article publication, enabling faster publication times for our authors. By enabling our authors to connect with other authors in your cohort that are going through the same process at the same time, you’ll be able to access a community of youth changing the world, acting both as a peer-support as you work to get your projects published, and beyond, as a network for your continued journey as young researchers and innovators!
We’re starting our trial with an initial set of 3 cohorts, and to make sure all of our authors can continue to receive detailed and personalised feedback and support to make your project the best it can be, each of our cohorts will have limited spaces. Applications for the first 2 of these cohorts are now open (with the 3rd cohort opening in the new year!), and cohorts 1 and 2 will start on 16th January and 20th February, with each one lasting 4-6 months*. We’ve summarised some of the key timescales below, but for a detailed timeline, check out our upcoming cohort dates page.
If you’re ready to share your research with the world, and want to connect with other youth researchers globally as one of the first authors to go through our new and improved cohort-based publication system, upload your project via our submission form by 5pm GMT on 5th January! We’ll be allocating places for our upcoming cohorts on a rolling basis, so encourage you to submit your project early!
* This timescale is dependent on many factors, including your engagement with the programme, how well your project follows our submission guidance, and whether our team needs to seek any outside opinions from experts to be able to review your submission. The 4-6 months estimation is based on an engaged author and a project which follows our submission guidance well.
📅 Key Dates for Authors
For both cohorts 1 and 2, submissions open on 7th December 2022, and will close on 5th January 2023, 5pm GMT.
Cohort 1 Dates
16th January 2023 - Programme Begins
20th February 2023 - Editorial Decisions
20th February - 13th March 2023 - Author Revisions
Based on the recommendations given by our team, you will have 3 weeks to make these revisions, with a deadline of 6th March 2023. As an author, this will be one of your busiest periods during the peer-review process, so please ensure you are available to work on your project during these dates. If these dates don’t work for you, please select an alternative cohort date.
April 2023 - June 2023 [date dependant on number of revisions required for your project] - Publication Preparation
April 2023 - July 2023 [indicative date, which is dependant on number of revisions required for your project] - Projects Published
Cohort 2 Dates
20th February 2023 - Programme Begins
3rd April 2023 - Editorial Decisions
3rd - 24th April 2023 - Author Revisions
Based on the recommendations given by our team, you will have 3 weeks to make these revisions, with a deadline of 6th March 2023. As an author, this will be one of your busiest periods during the peer-review process, so please ensure you are available to work on your project during these dates. If these dates don’t work for you, please select an alternative cohort date.
May 2023 - July 2023 [date dependant on number of revisions required for your project] - Publication Preparation
May 2023 - August 2023 [indicative date, which is dependant on number of revisions required for your project] - Projects Published
Calls With Your Cohort
Throughout the programme, you’ll have regular calls with your cohort members, to support you on your journey through the Youth STEM Matters peer-review process, and enable you to connect with youth researchers & innovators from around the world! These calls will take place on Google Meet, and the exact timings will be determined based on the timezones of members of the cohort, to maximise how many people can attend. The networking calls are recommended but optional, and the other calls are strongly recommended, to enable you to maximise the impact of your project and the likelihood of publication within the timeframes set out above.
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This 90 minute virtual call will introduce you to our peer-review process & what you can expect from it, enable you to meet the Youth STEM Matters team members you’ll be working with and other members of your cohort, learn from previous authors’ experiences, and ask any questions you have about the journey to becoming a published researcher!
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Having received your Editorial Decision from our team, this 45 minute virtual call will support you to effectively make revisions to your project, so you can make the changes that enable it to become the best it can be!
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With the publication of your project now on the horizon, this 60 minute interactive session will support you to communicate your project with the world, so it can make the biggest impact in tackling global challenges! From creating social media content to feature it on Youth STEM 2030’s accounts, to creating science communication content (blogs, videos, etc.) to make your project more accessible, to to creating a press release to send to local media, this workshop will help you identify the methods you want to use to share your project, and start putting them into action using our resources, templates and guidance.
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Our networking calls give you the chance to meet other youth researchers from across the globe, find others with shared passions, form new connections and collaborations to make change through STEM research & innovation, share your research project with the group, explore your interests in STEM, and learn about the incredible research & innovations young changemakers around the world are working on!
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
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No, any project which meets our eligibility criteria and contains the minimum requirements for our team to review will be submitted to and reviewed by Youth STEM Matters. However, we do have a limited number of spaces on each cohort, to ensure that everyone’s project can be reviewed within the cohort timescales. If we receive high levels of interest, you may be offered the chance to join a future cohort so you can still submit your project to Youth STEM Matters.
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Our ambition is that each cohort will include 8-14 projects, but the cohort size is ultimately dependant on the number of projects our team has capacity to offer high quality support to at a given time. We generally find that most projects are submitted by individuals, but do also encourage and accept submissions by teams, so you can expect your cohort will be a community of around 8-20 young researchers & innovators!
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No - getting a place in a cohort means your article will undergo our peer-review process. Our editorial decisions of whether to publish individual projects are made independently of this, and each project is assessed on its individual merits; we will publish any project which meets our publication requirements. In this way, we can maintain the journal’s scientific integrity, while providing a platform for all young people who wish to share their STEM projects which tackle global challenges.
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Our first 3 cohorts are pilots of our Cohort-Based Submissions Process, and will therefore be charged at our previous submission fee of $30 (USD), meaning you’re getting lots of extra support and community connection at no extra cost to you!
Scholarships are available, so if the $30 submission fee will prove prohibitive, please indicate this in your submission form - applying for a scholarship will not impact whether your project is selected or published.
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During that time, your paper will undergo multiple rounds of rigorous peer-review. Each project is unique, and it’s normal that some will need more revisions than others - it’s in no way a reflection on the quality of your project, rather how far you can grow in your scientific writing so that your project can be the best published paper it can be!
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When you apply for a cohort, you’ll be asked to confirm that you are available to work on your project during the key dates listed above.
Our team are all volunteers, and are therefore balancing working with you on your project with their studies or jobs. If, during your time as part of the cohort, you are unable to keep to the timescales, this may impact on our team’s ability to progress your project in our usual timeframes. In some cases, we may suggest that your project is transferred to a later cohort, which won’t affect the outcome of the peer-review process, but will mean you have a new (later) set of dates to work towards, enabling you to have more time, and our team to continue giving you a great experience!
If you experience extenuating circumstances (e.g. ill health, bereavement, or family issues) which impact your ability to meet these timescales, please contact our team, and we can work together to create a revised timeline based on your individual circumstances.
