Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 3, Issue 2

On Monday, July 1st, 2024, OUR's Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal Spring 2024 Volume 3, Issue 2 went live with four undergraduate research articles. The issue celebrates the work of undergraduate researchers representing three academic colleges: College of Liberal Arts, College of Sciences, and the Greenspun College of Urban
Affairs.

At UNLV, students and their mentors are encouraged to submit their research to Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal.

About Spectra

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is a bi-annual (i.e., fall and spring issues), peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open-access journal primarily dedicated to the publication of undergraduate student research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. If and when possible, Spectra also publishes well-qualified undergraduate research from other institutions.

Spectra is committed to advancing responsible and ethical conduct of research, academic integrity, civil discourse, open and critical inquiry, and fair and unbiased representation of undergraduate student research across the academic spectrum.

Spectra Awards

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal Cover Artwork Award

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal Best Article Award

Workshops

OUR offers workshops on how to write abstracts, annotate bibliographies, cite properly, prepare manuscripts for publication, and review manuscripts for publication, encompassing many stages of the writing spectrum.

To sign up for these workshops, please go to OUR’s RSA page.

Aim

The main objectives of SPECTRA are to:

Develop and improve research publishing skills by means of peer review process whereby scholarly feedback received,
Provide undergraduate authors with the opportunity to engage in collaboration with their peers and faculty members, both in their research and during the publication process,
Promote, expand, and enhance undergraduate student research participation at UNLV,
Support and reward undergraduate students’ research involvement and add value to their overall education, professional development, and career readiness,
Elevate the status of undergraduate research education at UNLV.

Scope

As OUR defines research in the broadest and most inclusive way, SPECTRA invites submissions from the following disciplines:

AHS – Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: Fine Arts, Business, Education, Hospitality, Liberal Arts, Urban Affairs
HNSE – Health and Natural Sciences and Engineering: Engineering, Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, and Sciences including Math, Geoscience, and Life Sciences

We encourage submission of original research that is well written and accessible to a wide audience and accept the following forms of literary and empirical work:

Primary research articles
Primary review articles
Research protocol articles
Thesis-based research articles from laboratory and field work, term papers (with the approval and endorsement of the instructor), or other faculty-supervised projects.
Creative writing including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prose
Visual arts and photography

Editorial Board

Rafael Oganesyan, Ph.D., Editor-In-Chief, UNLV Director of Undergraduate Research
Madeline Krieger, Co-Managing Editor, UNLV Office of Undergraduate Research
Kirsten Hilary Soriano, Co-Managing Editor, UNLV Office of Undergraduate Research

Advisory Board

Eda Anlamlier, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UNLV Marketing and International Business
Seyhmus Baloglu, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, UNLV Hospitality Management
Emma Bloomfield, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UNLV Communications Studies
Valarie Burke, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of Graduate Student Services, UNLV Graduate College
Janet Dufek, Ph.D., FACSM, UNLV Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor
Jorge Fonseca Cacho, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Faculty-in-Residence, UNLV Computer Science
Andrew Hanson, Ph.D., Dean, UNLV Honors College
Sarah Harris, Ph.D., Professor, UNLV Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dustin Hines, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UNLV Psychology
Phillip Honenberger, Ph.D., Part-time Instructor, UNLV Philosophy
Kyle Kaalberg, Ph.D., Executive Director, UNLV Strategy and Strategic Initiatives
Gwen C. Marchand, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Sponsored Projects and Associate Professor, UNLV College of Education
Cian McMahon, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UNLV History and Honors College
Kathryn Rafferty, Ph.D., Assistant Professor-in-Residence, UNLV School of Life Sciences
Kurt Regner, Ph.D., Professor-in-Residence, UNLV School of Life Sciences
Eduardo Robleto, Ph.D., Professor, UNLV School of Life Sciences
Rian Satterwhite, M.Ed., M.A., UNLV Director for Service Learning and Leadership
Dean Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, UNLV Nevada Extreme Conditions Laboratory
Michelle Tusan, Ph.D., Professor, UNLV History
Andrea Wirth, M.S., UNLV Interim Head of Scholarly Communication Initiatives/Scholarly Communication Librarian
Brad Woods, Ph.D., UNLV Executive Director of the Office of Research Integrity; Research Integrity Officer
Shaoan Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, UNLV Teaching and Learning
Erin Zimmerman, Ph.D., Director, UNLV Writing Center

1	Full Title Page	The title of the article
2	Full names and credentials	First M. Last, BSc Student [1]*, First M. Last, PhD [2] [1] Department of X, University of Y, City, State, Country, Postal, Email Address [2] Department of W, University of Z, City, State, Country, Postal, Email Address
3	Corresponding author	*Corresponding author’s email address goes here
4	Author ORCID ID#	Full Name: https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000
5	Abstract	Not to exceed 250 words Introduction - Concisely describe the context and purpose of your research Methods - Concisely describe how the research was conducted and quantitative or qualitative methods and techniques used without details Results - Summarize your most important and main findings Discussion - Concisely describe the study implications and future directions
6	Keywords	keyword1; keyword2; keyword3; keyword4; keyword5; keyword6
7	Introduction	Research objective(s) - Describe the main objective(s) of your research Conceptual/theoretical framework(s) - Embed your research within relevant and pertinent theoretical or explanatory framework(s) and note any relevant controversies or disagreements in the field Literature review and background - Include a brief review of the key literature and provide background that puts the manuscript into context and allows readers outside the field to understand the purpose and significance of the study Significance and contribution(s) - Define the problem addressed and why it is important Research question(s) - Present your specific research questions
8	Methods	Design and protocol - Provide enough detail to allow suitably skilled investigators to fully assess and replicate your study Materials and sampling - Provide details about your materials, sample size, and sampling strategy Types of analysis - Provide details about your analytical framework and techniques
9	Results	Present your results and describe your key findings
10	Discussion	Interpret your results
11	Conclusions	Main conclusions - Describe the conclusions that can be drawn and/or can be generalizable Importance to the field - Explain how the results relate and contribute to your field Broader implication and future directions - Provide a succinct explanation of the implications of the findings, particularly in relation to previous related studies and potential future directions for research
12	List of abbreviations used	If abbreviations are used in the text they should be defined in the text at first use written in full with the abbreviation in parentheses. A complete list of all abbreviations used should be provided in a section called List of Abbreviations directly following the Conclusions section.
13	Conflicts of Interest	The “Conflicts of Interest” section should declare any real, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest between the duties or responsibilities related to research, and personal, institutional or other interests associated with each author. Conflicts of interest can exist when an author’s interpretation of data or presentation of information may be influenced by their personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations. If all authors have no conflicts of interest, please state “The author(s) declare that they have no conflict of interests.”
14	Ethics Approval	If the study reported in your manuscript required review by your institution's review board (IRB), please provide the details in this section. If your study involved human participants, please describe the steps taken to gain the consent of the study participants.
15	Authors’ Contributions	According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to: Conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content Final approval of the version to be published. Please outline the contributions made by each author marked by their initials: ABC: contributed to the research design, collected and analyzed data, drafted the manuscript, and approved the version to be published. DEF: contributed to the research design and planning, assisted with data collection and analysis, approved the version to be published. GHI: substantially contributed to the research design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, revised the manuscript critically, and approved the version to be published.
16	Acknowledgements	Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the article but did not meet the criteria for authorship. Examples of such contributors include those who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, a department chair who provided only general support, or those who contributed as part of a large collaboration group. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.
17	Funding	Please include all funding sources associated with your study. If the study was unfunded, please state “This study was not funded”.
18	References	Primary research articles, primary review articles, research protocol articles, and thesis-based research articles must use “APA style” and authors submitting such work should consult The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition for specific guidelines and instructions. Authors submitting creative writing including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prose should use “MLA style” and consult the following links for specific guidelines and instructions.
19	List of Figures	Figures should be provided where it should be displayed in the word document text file. Each figure should be able to fit on a single page in portrait format, and they should be numbered in the order in which they appear cited in the manuscript (i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). Each figure must be accompanied with a caption directly below it. Please note that Spectra only publishes articles in online formats, and therefore, there are no additional charges for the use of color figures. Important: It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures that have previously been published elsewhere, which should be scanned and emailed to the editorial office in case of acceptance together with your Publication Agreement Form.
20	List of Tables	Tables should also be provided where it should be displayed in the word document text file. Each table should be able to fit on a single page in portrait format, and they should be numbered in the order in which they appear cited in the manuscript (i.e. Table 1, Table 2, etc.). Each figure must be accompanied with a caption directly above it. All tables should be formatted using the “Table object” (i.e. Insert > Table) in a Microsoft Word to ensure that columns of data are kept aligned when the file is sent electronically for review. Important: It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere, which should be scanned and emailed to the editorial office in case of acceptance together with your Publication Agreement Form.
21	Additional Files	For figures and tables that are too large to be included with the manuscript file, please upload them as multimedia appendices. Other additional file types that you wish to accompany your manuscript may include research instruments (questionnaires), movie files, original/raw data (SAS/SPSS, Excel, Access database, etc.). Important: It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce any additional file that have previously been published elsewhere, which should be scanned and emailed to the editorial office in case of acceptance together with your Publication Agreement Form.

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