Volume 1 (2015) Journal of Interdisciplinary Graduate Research

    In my psychology classes, I regularly remind students that success breeds success. An excellent case in point is The Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research, which began annual publication seven years ago. Beyond our expectations, this journal has been enjoyed and used for further research by tens of thousands of individuals around the world.

     Such success does not go unnoticed. A ground swell of increasing numbers of faculty and students have voiced a strong desire for the efforts of our graduate students to be potentially recognized in a similar type of publication. In response, I would always smile and agree. The only real question was how. Publishing a journal constitutes hundreds of hours of work. Personally, publishing another journal with my many responsibilities as a professor seemed unrealistic. Occasionally I would voice this, and many would smile and say, “I think you can find a way.”

     As the old adage goes, “Where there is a will there is a way.” Finally, last year I found both the way and the support. The university granted a 12-month contract for my graduate assistant rather than the usual nine. With the additional three months and using the publication of our undergraduate journal as a template, we found a way to make the first volume of the graduate journal a reality. With absolute certainty, I know this academic journal will enjoy the same measure of success as the undergraduate publication.

     We believe our graduate academic journal will accomplish several worthwhile objectives: (1) offer graduate students the opportunity to express their ideas to a broader audience; (2) give evidence of the strength of graduate scholarship at our university; (3) provide an excellent opportunity for our graduate programs to be recognized while also highlighting the numerous degrees we offer; and (4) provide an opportunity for exceptional students to become published authors, thus giving them a competitive edge for future jobs and/or additional education.

     Beyond Southern Adventist University, this journal is distributed to academic libraries, universities, individual subscribers, and through Knowledge Exchange, which is an online repository that showcases the intellectual work of students and professors on campus to a worldwide audience. To view this journal online and previous publications of our undergraduate journal, please go to knowledge.e.southern.edu.

     The compilation of this journal would not have been possible without my graduate assistant, Hayley Baker. Utilizing knowledge and experience from publishing Volume 7 of The Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research, Hayley developed a manual for the composition of this graduate journal which will be used for the decades to come and, simultaneously, made Volume 1of The Journal of Interdisciplinary Graduate Research a reality. Thank you, Hayley, for consistently high quality work.

     Because our journal is interdisciplinary, I am afforded the special privilege of working with an outstanding editorial board that reflects the immense talent we have on our campus: Dr. Bonnie Eder (Education), Dr. Jaclynn Huse (Nursing), Laura Racovita-Szilagyi, M.S. (Social Work), Dr. Edwin Reynolds (Religion), and Dr. Tron Wilder (Psychology). I, too, am pleased and grateful for our university, especially the School of Education and Psychology, for continued support, encouragement, and most of all the commitment to academic excellence that affords this publication.

If there is a contingent within your university that is interested in producing such a journal, our step-by-step manual would serve as an invaluable guide. I would gladly share it with you for the asking (rcoombs@southern.edu).

Robert S. Coombs, D.Min., Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief