2. Why Amalgam?
3. Who can publish in Amalgam?
4. What kind of material is Amalgam looking for?
6. Why should I publish in Amalgam rather than a professional journal?
10. Where can I get more info about Amalgam?
11. Where can I find out more about APA style and why do I have to use it?
12. What should my Amalgam article look like?
1. What is Amalgam?
Amalgam is a graduate student venture dedicated to showcasing the pivotal role graduate students play in the excellent research conducted at UVA. Our primary means for doing this is by the publication of a multi-disciplinary review journal entitled Amalgam: The Virginia Interdisciplinary Review.
2. Why Amalgam?
Graduate students are often an isolated and unheard voice in the university's affairs. We believe that, with the formation of an official publication devoted to the dissemination of the excellence of UVA graduate student research, graduate students will become more aware of the other research activities being undertaken across campus. This will inevitably lead to more graduate-instigated collaborations between research groups, an acceleration of the pace of UVA's research, and a flourishing of new and novel interdisciplinary ideas.
3. Who can publish in Amalgam?
All graduate students undertaking research at the University of Virginia are invited to submit papers to Amalgam.
4. What kind of material is Amalgam looking for?
Any research that is performed at UVA, campus-wide. That means humanities, social sciences, the sciences, engineering and the professional schools. By definition, research performed at UVA is cutting-edge, interesting and very relevant to Amalgam's target audience.
5. Who reads Amalgam?
Graduate students from all over campus have expressed interest in reading Amalgam. Amalgam will also be distributed to institutional libraries across the continental USA. The first few editions of Amalgam will be distributed freely.
6. Why should I publish in Amalgam rather than a professional journal?
Publishing in Amalgam will put you into contact with your most immediate reference frame: your peers at UVA. The graduate population and research groups on campus may be an untapped (source) to help you accelerate your own research projects. Bridging the gaps between otherwise disconnected research groups is what Amalgam is all about.
Other reasons to publish in Amalgam are:
7. Who runs Amalgam?
Amalgam is run entirely by graduate students. To give you an idea of the diversity contained within our committee, we have representatives from Chemical Engineering, Economics, English, Environmental Sciences, and Molecular Biology.
8. When was Amalgam started?
Amalgam was conceived in early spring 2004. Amalgam began its first call for papers in fall 2004 and the first print edition is scheduled to be released in early spring 2005.
9. Who funds Amalgam?
Funding for Amalgam is currently shared between the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, the Graduate Dean for Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate Student Council for Arts and Science.
10. Where can I get more info about Amalgam?
The best way to learn about Amalgam is by emailing us at amalgam@virginia.edu. A grad student from our committee will be happy to answer any questions you have. Please feel free to browse our website. Any comments, suggestions and feedback will be appreciated.
11. Where can I find out more about APA style and why do I have to use it?
Amalgam has chosen to use APA formatting for references and citations, due to the clarity of presentation involved and to ease the transition of reading between disciplines. APA style is best referenced by the APA style guide (Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition).
12. What should my Amalgam article look like?
Good question. Since Amalgam encompasses a diversity of disciplines, we have settled upon a very broad style. The sectioned format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion) typically used in the scientific and engineering disciplines can still be followed when required; however, we ask that authors abstain from explicitly sectioning their articles, but rather use leading sentences to maintain continuity. Although we agree that this format is good for the sciences, we would like to hide it to maintain consistency with the humanities.
13. The Amalgam guidelines are too limiting for my paper. Should I just give up?
No! Send us your paper and we will determine whether or not you have a good case for breaking the guidelines. Our guidelines are somewhat elastic, and we will work with you to keep good research in the forefront of UVA's public eye.