This poster session will highlight some of the successes Boston College Libraries has had in maintaining and developing undergraduate journal publication. Our program has had success in guiding young scholars around the most fundamental aspects of publishing, like advertising calls for submissions, gathering readership statistics, indexing in repositories, and establishing peer review conventions. Additionally, as students take up editorial leadership roles, they inevitably confront decisions about the type of peer review they will employ. Students and editors are exposed to international audiences and authors, and also to trends in the publishing industry around open access. Beyond the basics of publishing and journal and expanding its audience, our Scholarly Communications team has also hosted programs where students learn more about copyright best practices, responses to rapid developments in generative AI technologies, and ensuring academic integrity. All in all, the BC Open Access Journals provides a home for many university publications - but it is most unique for its portfolio of undergraduate journals. While many scholars’ first foray into publishing could come during graduate school research, this platform allows undergrads to take advantage of access to the publishing world. Familiarity with different repositories, the publishing process, and correspondence with an editorial board sets our undergraduates up for success as they are given tools they will undoubtedly use again if they are attempting to publish research. And, as more journals join our program, more young scholars realize the importance of publishing models that do not rely on profitability as a metric of viability.
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