About PURM

Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (PURM) is an open-access, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed online journal supporting the mission of undergraduate research and the programs that strive to provide undergraduate students opportunities to participate in scholarly activities with faculty mentors.

PURM currently runs on a themed-issue format, but general submissions are also welcomed. The invited guest editors handle the submissions to the themed-issue paper calls, while the general submissions are handled by the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Jen Hamel (jhamel2@elon.edu). Each annual issue is released in the fall. Please see the Call for Papers for information on the current theme. PURM is an open-access journal, meaning that users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles.

Publisher: Elon University

ISSN: 2157-7307

Mission

Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring’s (PURM) purpose is threefold:

  • To create a home for scholarly contributions to the process literature in undergraduate research and mentoring
  • To provide a space for the multiple voices of undergraduate research and mentoring to share experiences and develop professionally
  • To continue to build a sense of community among those involved in undergraduate research and mentoring

Undergraduate research is defined broadly at PURM to include traditional research and creative endeavors that result in a product with potential for dissemination in an appropriate peer-reviewed forum. We support the Council on Undergraduate Research’s definition of undergraduate research as “a mentored investigation or creative inquiry conducted by undergraduates that seeks to make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge” and assert that effective mentoring is a critical ingredient in successful undergraduate research experiences. PURM’s unique focus on the process of undergraduate research and mentoring rather than the products of these activities provides a space for the growing undergraduate research community to share experiences, opportunities, concerns, and challenges in a rigorous, professional venue.

Audience

Because the scope of PURM broadly encompasses all aspects of undergraduate research within the natural and social sciences, arts, humanities, and professional disciplines, the audience for PURM is broad and varied as well. We envision drawing readers from faculty, program administrators and university administrators, undergraduate students engaged in or considering undergraduate research, and graduate students involved with or interested in mentoring undergraduate research. PURM will offer something for all of these audiences in terms of joining the ongoing conversation as readers and potential authors.

Copyright Licensing

Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring does not publish primary scholarship that is a direct result of an undergraduate research project but instead focuses on community-building dialogues. Therefore, intellectual property (IP) is less a concern than recognition for professional activity and publication. Authors’ works should be protected but still open to the community. For this reasons, articles published in PURM will carry a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International. This license protects an author’s legal and moral rights while still allowing open source remixing and revisioning of the work. For example, under this license, a second author might take the work of another author and insert substantial commentary or dialogue into the original piece while attributing original work to the original author (akin to a remix or mashup in music or video). The new piece could be published by PURM under the Share Alike aspect of the CC license.

For specific details of the license, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode.

Click on the links to the left for more specific information about PURM’s aims as a multidisciplinary journal addressing the mission of the journal and the audience it seeks to draw as a result.

If you have any questions or would like further information about PURM, please send an email to purm@elon.edu.