January 7, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An undergraduate research experience that cuts across disciplines and gives students the chance to work with some of the world's preeminent scientists might be enough for most college students, but not for those at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Spurred by their experiences and the example of their faculty mentors, they decided to go beyond the usual poster or small conference presentation of their work and publish an undergraduate research journal that mimics as closely as possible the peer-review journals they will face as graduate students and professionals.

Inquiro -- meaning to search, to know - operates by a blind, peer-review process conducted by UAB faculty and researchers who review student submissions and guide them on rewrites, journal style and all aspects of professional research publication. While submissions come primarily from students in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, any student on campus doing undergraduate research under the guidance of a faculty advisor may submit his or her project for review.

"This gives them the complete nine yards so to speak of the research experience," said Lowell Wenger, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, "everything from designing an experiment, doing measurements and writing up the results in the format they would do if they were submitting it to a formal publication or professional journal. This is something very value-added to the student experience."

While there are several undergraduate research publications at major research universities, Inquiro goes beyond just publishing research papers to include scientific news of the day, first-person narratives of the research experience and faculty interviews, Wenger said.

"This is really student run and student operated, everything from the editorial board, designing the format of the layout, developing story lines, writing stories, collecting stories - it's all student run."

Inquiro began more than a year ago as the brain child of then UAB biology senior Suzanne McCluskey of Jacksonville, who approached Wenger. Excited by the concept, Wenger supported the publication and helped set faculty reviews and other aspects of the publication.

McCluskey, now a medical student at UAB, became the editor of the first edition published a year ago. Her concept was a publication produced completely - from research to design and distribution - by students. Now, a year later, she said she is proud the journal is prepared to launch its second issue, and that the goal of preparing students for the next steps in their careers is a success.

"The most exciting thing about it for me is that it has kept going," McClusky said. "When you move on to graduate school or into your profession, you can show that you know how to do it all. I used my paper in my application to medical school. I can't say it was the only reason I got in," she said pausing to laugh, "but I'm sure it helped."

Co-editors of the new issue are senior biology majors Larry Lawal of Hoover and Felix Kishinevsky of Vestavia Hills. They spent the past year working on the issue.

Lawal is a member of the University Honors Program and a 2008 Goldwater Scholar. He conducts research with Lawrence DeLucas, O.D., Ph.D., in the crystallography lab at the UAB Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering. After graduation, he will enter medical school in the fall of 2009.

"I wrote an article for the first issue, and I was really excited to be an editor this year," Lawal said. "I plan to go to medical school and expand on my research, taking what I have done as an undergraduate and building on that to publish in a professional journal. I feel I'll be ahead of the game because of this experience."

Kishinevsky is a member of the University Honors Program and the Psychology Departmental Honors Program. As part of his psychology honors research he is working on an fMRI study of impulsivity in obese women with faculty advisor Rosalyn Weller, Ph.D. He plans to pursue a Master's Degree in public health with a concentration in health policy and health care organization and continue on to medical school.

Kishinevsky said the journal reflects the interdisciplinary nature of UAB and thinks students who plan research and medical careers will benefit from the experience.

"What I found was papers submitted don't just fit into one area like chemistry or biology," he said. "I've learned a lot. Overall, it's just been one huge amazing experience. Every step was unique and every challenge was one I'd never faced before."