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Key points The lack of formal training in peer review can be detrimental to the publishing activities of early career researchers, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.Lack of recognition of the work of early career researchers (ECRs) in review means that journals cannot easily identify them as potential reviewers in the future.Participation as peer‐reviewers increases understanding in early career researchers of their own writing and review process.ECRs can be highly motivated to volunteer for journal editorial work—Journal of Emerging Investigatorsencourages this by offering many different roles.Publishers that utilize and train early career researchers as peer‐reviewers can prevent poor reviewer practices. 

Abstract Young researchers are often excluded from the scholarly processes of peer‐review and publication, which are cornerstones of scholarly work. TheJournal of Emerging Investigatorsis an open access journal dedicated to publishing the research of middle and high school students. We surveyed student authors before and after they participated in the peer‐review and publication process of their scientific articles. Following peer‐review and publication, students report gains in their confidence and self‐efficacy in science, and increased feelings of identity and belonging in science. Our findings demonstrate that even the youngest scholars are capable of participating in the publication process, and our data suggest that participation in the process has positive outcomes. 

Peer-review and publication are important parts of the scientific enterprise, and research has shown that engaging students in such scholarly practices helps build their sense of belonging and scientific identity. Yet, these disciplinary literacy skills and professional practices are often part of the hidden curriculum of science research, thus excluding students and others from fully understanding ways in which scientific knowledge is constructed, refined, and disseminated even though students are participating in such activities. Secondary students are increasingly involved in scientific research projects that include authentic disciplinary literacy components such as research proposals, posters, videos, and scientific research papers. More and more, students are also engaging in professional practice of publishing their scientific research papers through dedicated secondary science journals. How teachers and other mentors support the development of professional disciplinary literacies in students is critical to understand as part of supporting more student participation in research. To this end, we used a mixed-methods study of interviews and surveys to examine the experience and conceptions of the mentors (teachers and professional scientists) who guided pre-college students through the writing and publication of their scientific research projects. Analyzing our data from a lens of cognitive apprenticeship, we find that mentors encourage independence by primarily employing the method of “exploration”. We also find that mentors have divergent views on the value of publication within science, versus for student scientists specifically. Our findings suggest that mentors could work to explicitly reveal their own thinking within science writing to provide more sequenced support for student scientists. 

In a typical science class, communication exercises may include a variety of outputs including lab reports, posters, reflective writing, or research proposals. However, a growing number of students are engaging in more complex and professional communication endeavors, including scientific publication. The chance to write a research paper and experience the peer-review and publication processes may provide students the opportunity to integrate several practices from the Next Generation Science Standards, as well as share their research in a more public setting. Although we have some limited understanding in terms of the outcomes that students experience when engaging in peer-review and publication of their science research papers, we have no information or data regarding why students want to participate in these processes. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the motivations of pre-college students to pursue peer-review and publication of their scientific research papers. Using the theory of science identity to analyze the data, I found that students view publication as a mechanism to grow their scientific skills and be recognized as a scientist. The findings suggest that providing students the opportunity to share their research in more public settings could be a factor in developing their science identity. 

In the last two decades, research experiences for pre-college students have gone from the exception of a typical experience of a high school student, to the norm. Often, these research experiences include distinct disciplinary literacy outputs that mimic those of professionals. And while much attention has been paid to supporting students in scientific writing, other disciplinary literacy practices, such as peer-review and publication, are often part of the hidden-curriculum of science research, thus excluding students from fully understanding ways in which scientific knowledge is constructed, refined, and disseminated (Authors, 2022). As more students participate in research experiences and the dissemination of their work, it is important to understand how mentors support the development of disciplinary literacies, including those that are deemed “professional”. To this end, we used a mixed-methods study of interviews and surveys to examine the experience and conceptions of the mentors who guided precollege students through the writing and publication of their scientific research projects. Using the construct of cognitive apprenticeship to evaluate our findings, we find that although mentors highly value peer-review and publication within science, they are not intentional about bringing these practices to the forefront of the research process for their student. Additionally, mentors report a range of involvement level in guiding students through the publication process. Our findings suggest that more work is needed to help reveal professional disciplinary literacy practices to students. mentors could benefit from resources to help them more intentionally involve students in such disciplinary literacy practices. 

ABSTRACT In various formats, students at the secondary and postsecondary levels participate in multiweek authentic science research projects. There have been many papers explaining the operations of such programs, but few have provided explicit instruction on how to incorporate authentic communication practices into the student research process. In this paper, we describe how we integrated primary literature into an 8-week online research program for 8th to 11th graders. Each week, students were introduced to a specific section of a primary research article reflecting different stages of their research project, and they were guided on how to write that specific section for their own research paper. By the end of the program, students had an outline or first draft of a primary research paper based on their research. Following completion of the program, student participants reported greater self-efficacy and confidence in scientific writing. Here, we describe our approach and provide an adaptable framework for integrating primary literature into research projects.