Rollin Poe and the Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Cognitive Science

The Scope Revitalizing an Academic Journal

The Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Cognitive Science is a premier electronic and print journal showcasing student work from across Canada and around the globe. The inconsistent publishing schedule led the project to fall to the wayside for many years. I took up the mantle to revitalize the journal acting both as director/managing editor as well as a lead designer. Starting from nothing but a few old copies, I brought the journal back online stronger than ever and set up for future success. As of July 9, 2020 the digital edition is officially released (read it here) with the print version coming soon

Time: August, 2019 — Present
Status: Ongoing

A Couple Key Aspects

  • Re-establish an academic journal including administrative overhead, outreach, and branding
  • Advertise and promote journal submissions and production
  • Critically review and edit all submission as individual pieces and within the greater context
  • Design and produce both digial and print editions

In my role as director, my primary focus is to the authors and the rest of my board to produce the highest quality journal. As such, a full writeup is still in the works. In the meantime, here are a couple of highlights.

Outreach Advertising and Administration

  • Calls for submission were made both digitally and in physical form. I created posters, web banners, and slide-decks to inform potential authors of the opportunities CUJCS afforded them. Due to our wide outreach many different versions had to be made including black and white, A-series paper, B-series paper, North American series paper, and digital.
  • Over 400 emails were sent to various schools, student unions, and research institutes to help further disseminate the information.
  • For the sake of future longevity and to prevent the redoing of work, I kept meticulous records and created standard operating procedures to ensure smooth communications.
Key Change Reviewing papers does not for interesting photos make

Academic Editing and Review

With many dozens of manuscripts coming in, I personally read every single one, while also delegating and distributing the articles to the rest of my editorial board. The board had many back and forth discussions weighing which articles to accept, which in turn transitioned into many rounds of careful revision with the authors. To ensure academic integrity CUJCS also brought in field experts to perform a final round of review before publication.

Putting Together The Final Journal

From dozen of submissions, through half a dozen rounds of editing, and countless emails, it all has to boil down to a single journal. Working with a fellow board member, I acted as a design overview lead for the final compilation. Fonts, headings, margins, colours, layout, and so much more went back and forth. Even after having established a core style guide, over 650 revisions (yes I kept track) were made in the final weeks before publication.

Key Change Some of the many iterations for cover and typography.