RCN-UBE: Cell Biology Education Consortium: Pathway to Publication

Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia AR

Investigators

Abstract

The Cell Biology Education Consortium: Path to Publication (CBEC: P2P) research collaborative network is intended to assist primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) faculty with publishing research in a peer-reviewed journal. Conducting and publishing research can be challenging at PUIs where high faculty teaching responsibilities are balanced with mentoring of undergraduate research students and teams. This project will address this publication disconnect by helping faculty prepare single-figure manuscripts from their data, advancing faculty and their students on a pathway to publication. By reducing barriers to publication, faculty can help students take ownership of the manuscript preparation process while generating their own publication record that will help with career advancement. Collectively, this will help faculty build their research credentials and allow undergraduate students and faculty to become published authors in a recognized scientific journal. The infrastructure established by this project supports the enhancement, expansion, and sustainability of undergraduate cell biology-related research. Overall, the development of freely accessible resources that highlight a clear path to publication improves the STEM pipeline, helps to retain PUI faculty, and will serve as a model for other disciplines. This project addresses a need expressed by cell biology educators that while the quality of undergraduate research is high, faculty often do not have the time to generate the extensive data required to publish research in traditional scientific journals requiring multiple result figures. Here a workflow for a path to publication for CBEC faculty and students will be developed that results in publication of a single-figure research paper in microPublication Biology, a fully citable journal platform. This workflow will be a step-by-step mechanism that allows CBEC: P2P faculty to submit a single-figure paper to network leaders, receive feedback, resubmit for further comments, and ultimately submit their work for publication in microPublication Biology. To further enhance research success, CBEC: P2P will also help faculty align their class-based research with the path to publication workflow. The protocols developed will be freely shared with others as open education resources. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for STEM Education, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.