Publication in Undergrad journal count as anything AT ALL?

[FredAstaire]

Hello,

I currently have 3 publications in my undergrad institution's science journal where I am 1st author.

To make my question short: does these 1st author undergrad journal publication count as anything major? I have professor who told me yes it should be viewed the same as a scholarly journal publication because I was an undergrad AND 1st author. Then, I have the pre-med committee tell me that these journals shouldn't even be listed, it has no "weight" and accepts anything that is submitted - which is more or less true at my institution.

So what is the consensus here? 1st author undergraduate journal publication mean nothing, something, or everything?

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[Charles_Carmichael]

Unless it's a peer-reviewed journal, I'd say no. If it's biomedical research, are the papers listed on PubMed? If not, I'd say don't cite them. You can probably say that you published in an undergrad journal, but it's not going to be worth the same as if you had published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

[FredAstaire]

Hi - it was actually peer-reviewed by 2 referees whom are professors at my undergrad institutions.

Because its in undergrad journal, of course its not listed on pubmed.

Unless it's a peer-reviewed journal, I'd say no. If it's biomedical research, are the papers listed on PubMed? If not, I'd say don't cite them. You can probably say that you published in an undergrad journal, but it's not going to be worth the same as if you had published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

[loveoforganic]

Do you feel like the write ups were a significant investment in your time and resources? If so, what I personally would do is, on my amcas activities, have Research - Subject as one of my topics, describe the research I did, and mention the three write ups in there to some extent.

e.g. I killed lots of rats to look at how rat organs can best be harvested for sale on the interspecies rat organ transplant market. Specifically, my work focused around the harvesting of rat livers, kidneys, and hearts, culminating in three papers in my undergraduate science journal. My start to finish work with these projects gave me insight both into the overall research process and the greater benefit to other small mammals that can be had by harvesting mice organs.

 

[FredAstaire]

Each publication was like 15 pages - based on a summer's worth of research, and one honour thesis.


Should I list it like official publication or not? The journals ARE peer-reviewed by professors, just that they do not reject submissions - indeed anyone who obtains the journal would know many papers are crap.

 

[loveoforganic]

Each publication was like 15 pages - based on a summer's worth of research, and one honour thesis.


Should I list it like official publication or not? The journals ARE peer-reviewed by professors, just that they do not reject submissions - indeed anyone who obtains the journal would know many papers are crap.

I think you have your answer. They're either worthy of true peer reviewed publication or not. If they are, submit them to real journals and list them under a "publications" heading on amcas activities. If they're not of that caliber, describe them to some extent under your research heading.

 

[Frazier]

One of my accepted university journal manuscripts was 30 pages - also they have to go through anonymous peer review within the university before acceptance. Pubmed or not, bet your ass that I'm listing it.

 

[kcola]

I agree- go ahead and list it. It sounds like it was a major undertaking, and it *is* commendable, imo. What's the worst that could happen?

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Each publication was like 15 pages - based on a summer's worth of research, and one honour thesis.


Should I list it like official publication or not? The journals ARE peer-reviewed by professors, just that they do not reject submissions - indeed anyone who obtains the journal would know many papers are crap.

I would say list in under research but not separately as a publication.

 

[BHaus9]

I would not even consider listing it unless the "publication" is in fat publicly accessible, and I would be very specific about where it is published, i.e. "published in _____ collegiate research brief" as opposed "published in a journal." I say this because I was called out in a job interview once when a database search did not turn up my "published research." My intent was not to deceive, and I ended up getting the job, but just know that in academia editing is not the same as reviewing, and if your institution's journal does not reject submissions, it is not likely to be regarded as a legitimate scientific publication.

Ask yourself this: Could a credible researcher cite your paper? If the answer is yes, go for it. If no, don't consider it.

As loveoforganic said, include it in you app, but don't claim to be a published researcher.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

I would not even consider listing it unless the "publication" is in fat publicly accessible, and I would be very specific about where it is published, i.e. "published in _____ collegiate research brief" as opposed "published in a journal." I say this because I was called out in a job interview once when a database search did not turn up my "published research." My intent was not to deceive, and I ended up getting the job, but just know that in academia editing is not the same as reviewing, and if your institution's journal does not reject submissions, it is not likely to be regarded as a legitimate scientific publication.

Ask yourself this: Could a credible researcher cite your paper? If the answer is yes, go for it. If no, don't consider it.

As loveoforganic said, include it in you app, but don't claim to be a published researcher.

I fully agree with this. I would not list getting something published in your school's journal as an actual publication.