Joining a student-lead journal on campus

Did you know that UVU has some of the most prolific academic journals in Utah? Almost no other college in the state has this many active student journals. Having many journals makes hands-on learning very accessible to students at UVU. Joining and participating in a staff can teach students diverse skills, from leadership to writing and editing.  

Even if you are not an English major, these skills are essential to any job. Joining a journal’s staff not only teaches you valuable skills but also looks great on your resume. By joining a staff, even as a volunteer, you demonstrate reliability and a broad skill set.  

Academic journals have many positions. Most are volunteer positions that require a small amount of time. How much time you spend working on the journal per week depends on the journal you join! Starting as a volunteer is always a good idea if you do not know much about journal work or have never been on a staff before.  

If you want to know more about specific roles, here are some potential jobs you might do on a journal staff: 

• Typesetting: A highly technical role where finished pieces are formatted into spreads in InDesign or shared on a website. 
• Line Editing: Editing focused on word choice and sentence-level organization. 
• Developmental Editing: Editing focused on the main themes of a piece and the development of ideas (or characters) over the work. 
• Proofreading: This occurs after a piece has been typeset, where typos and formatting errors are checked for. 
• Fact Checking: Citations and sources are researched and reviewed to make sure they are formatted correctly and cited properly.  
• Leadership:  These roles vary, from editor-in-chief to technical editor. They manage volunteers and make sure the journal’s purpose is met while keeping it running smoothly. 

Once you have some experience you can apply for leadership. Leadership positions often manage one specific section of the journal. Some journals offer scholarships or internship credit for being in a leadership position. 

Each journal has a different focus, but they all need students to work and volunteer! 

Touchstones, Essais, and Warp and Weave, are all supported by the English department at UVU. You do not need to be an English major to join the staff! Touchstones is UVU’s literary journal—they publish student-written poetry, art, and prose. Many of their pieces are beautiful creative non-fiction. Essais publishes literary theory and critique essays. Their editing process is extensive, and they are the most likely to need fact-checking done if you are interested in that specific position. Warp and Weave publishes speculative fiction and poetry, as well as art. This journal is great to volunteer at if you enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy! All journals are linked, visit their sites to learn more about joining staff or submitting. 

There are also discipline-specific journals, such as The Sophia, which is the undergraduate journal for philosophy here at UVU. If you are interested in leadership, the Journal of Student Leadership is also looking for staff. They publish interdisciplinary works that relate to leadership. The Honors Program houses its interdisciplinary journal, Untold. To join their staff you must be in the Honors Program, but their positions include web design positions, unlike the other journals that utilize InDesign for the typesetting of the journal.  

Along with working on journals you can also work here at the UVU Review. With The Review you can volunteer to be a writer or do some of the other jobs mentioned earlier. The Review has several different topics you can write about and work with. We have something for everyone! Apply to become a member of the team through uvureview.com or visit us at our offices. 

UVU has so many thriving opportunities to learn by doing. Getting your work published or the experience of working on a staff is invaluable for students in every discipline. Develop essential and varied skills and interests by working for a student journal at UVU!