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Why Do Students Participate in CSR?

Everyone has unique reasons to participate in CSR. The following reasons are the favorites:

  • To present science to broader audiences - not only students and faculty members in the specific department but also the general public in Columbia community.
  • To publicize the effort and achievements in science research to the broad readership.
  • To obtain experience in scientific journalism and/or publishing articles in professional journal
  • To know more about Columbia's hidden treasures in the fields of science & technology.
  • To bring scientific literacy to Columbia students of non-science / non-engineering majors.
  • We just LOVE SCIENCE.

There are several distinct ways to participate in CSR. It is possible for anyone to take more than one roles, and our recommendation is to take what you can manage. Click and jump start your experience in CSR!

 


Advantages to Write for CSR

Columbia Science Review strives to promote the awareness and knowledge of science and technology. This vision may sound very broad for a student group to achieve, but CSR present unique opportunities for student authors with our mutually complementary publications. The Columbia Science Review accepts articles written by students in Columbia University and its affiliate institutes. The background of the authors vary from 1st year undergraduate students to advanced students in Graduate School of Arts and Science, School of Journalism, and Columbia University Medical Center.

The Columbia Science Review is an open platform for student authors to present scientific articles written in an easily accessible and concise style with precise scientific integrity in content. Articles are written in easy language so that minimal background knowledge is needed to understand the basic logics, recent proceedings, possible applications and future speculations of the topic. The Columbia Science Review is read by all Columbia community members from students to faculty members.

CSR encourages student authors to take advantage of these complementary publications by publishing their articles in the Columbia Science Review.

Also, CSR promotes the interaction between the editorial staff and the writers. The experience of collaborating in publishing manuscripts will become valuable asset for students' future career where presentation in textual format is crucial: professional research scientist, professor in scientific fields, scientific journalist, for example.

Lastly, CSR is an officially recognized student organization in Columbia University. All scientific publications officially recognized by Columbia University are listed in the Recognized Groups List by Activities Board at Columbia. The record of participation in Columbia's official science publication as a regular contributor is a definite addition to your professional CV and resume for your future.

More information and article submission Instructions are found in the Publications webpage of CSR.

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Advantages to Edit and/or Review for CSR

The Columbia Science Review (the Review) accepts articles written by students in Columbia University and its affiliate institutes. Despite authors' diverse background, all articles featured in the publications of CSR is united in its vision: to promote public awareness and knowledge of science and technology. All positions in CSR is open to students of any program in all schools and affiliated institutes of Columbia University.

The Editorial Board receives scientific articles written by students of distinct backgrounds. The following is the list of CSR's editorial positions and the summary of their respective roles:

  • Editors: improve clarity and readability of the articles for the readers in the general public.
  • Reviewers: ensure the scientific integrity and accuracy of the article contents.

Regardless of the position, every editorial staff member interact with authors and other editorial staff members through editorial process. This collaboration will not only provide valuable experience in evaluating scientific articles but also foster interdisciplinary networks from science and technology to journalism.

Moreover, participation in CSR is readily verifiable due to CSR's status of an official student organization in Columbia University. The record of participating in editorial process and the collaborative discussion as either an editor or a reviewer is a distinct evidence of professional competence in individual work and synergistic leadership in teamworks that will greatly benefit your future.

To participate, please visit the following link: [Apply]

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Advantages to Participate in Art / Layout Designing in CSR

A publication is more than the sum of the article manuscripts featured in the publication. The visual aspect of every page of the publication requires delicate attention of art / layout professionals to make the page easily readable and the main concepts longer lasting. Especially, the articles in science topics require precise diagrams, illustration, and tables placed for the ease of reading and for the accurate presentation of contents.

There are two different roles in the art / layout designing:

  1. Layout Designers: use Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to design the layouts.
  2. Photographers: take professional photographs for CSR events and articles.

Layout Designers participate in the designing the looks and feels of every page in the Columbia Science Review. Layout Designers use professional layout and graphics programs such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. These programs are commonly used in real industries in publication and graphics designing, and experience in using these programs to produce full-colored publication will provide credentials on your proficiencies in graphics designing.

Photographers participate in taking professional-level photographs at the group events and for the articles in the publications of CSR. Photographs are one of the essential parts, if not the most important part, in articles. The photographs taken will be used in the publications and the webpages of CSR, which will be available for your reference in future.

To participate, please visit the following link: [Apply]

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Advantages to Manage CSR in Organizational Level

Columbia Science Review (CSR) is a student organization of diverse membership where distinct workgroups collaborate. CSR's activities are limited not by producing science publications but by our own mission of promoting public awareness of science and technology. Therefore, CSR is always seeking for skillful managers and innovative leaders.

Currently, the following are the positions open for application:

  • Committee of Public Relations: Reach out to Columbia community to promote CSR and its activities.
  • Committee of Finance & Management: Ensure CSR events to happen with proper financing and management.
  • Webmaster: Maintain and improve CSR webpage and electronic editorial systems.

All organizational positions are related to one or more board, committee, or task forces in Columbia Science Review. The cooperative effort among subgroups in CSR will provide how a complex student group.

To participate, please visit the following link: [Apply]

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Frequently Asked Questions


How long has Columbia Science Review been active?

The idea of CSR formed in the summer of 2003, with a Yahoo group by Daniel Tannenbaum and Nan Ma, the founding Editor-in-Chiefs of CSR. Their junior and senior years were devoted to form CSR under the cause of enhancing the public knowledge of science and technology in Columbia community. The first issue of CSR (spring 2004) was printed into hard copies; many juniors and seniors own this historic publication. Also, CSR has been recognized as an official student organization in Columbia University. Currently, CSR is an ABC-recognized, category B student organization.

What does "ABC-recognized, category B student organization" mean?

    1. It means that CSR is an “official” Columbia student organization. Every official student organization at Columbia University is registered to its governing board, and all official student publications in Columbia recognized by Activities Board at Columbia can be found at ABC’s list of student organizations.
    2. It makes the financing of the publication possible. Without ABC’s generous support to promote the representation of science and technology to Columbia community, student publications hardly sustain high printing cost. CSR has been well aware of horrible but quite demise of now-forgotten science publications that once existed in Columbia.

Therefore, not to scatter the potentials of Columbia University, ABC recognizes only one student organization of a kind to be an official Columbia student organization. Columbia Science Review would like to thank for all Columbia students and ABC for their generous supports for the only ABC-recognized publication dedicated to science in Columbia.

Are there any restrictions on submitting to CSR?

There are four basic criteria which all articles submitted to CSR must meet:

  1. The topic of articles must be related to at least one field of scientific studies.
  2. Manuscripts are accepted from the student authors of Columbia University and affiliates.
  3. All individuals stated explicitly as the authors of the manuscript must agree to submit the manuscript to CSR.
  4. All authors hold their respective copyrights on the submitted manuscript.

Please note that all cited materials presented in articles must be approved for publication in CSR by their copyright holders. If your article has pictures, diagrams, or quotes from other copyrighted sources, it is mandatory to request the approval. Contact your editor for CSR's official form of approval request.

What happens to the copyright of submitted articles / manuscripts?

The authors own the copyright of their articles / manuscripts. Even though CSR takes great care to ensure professional levels of scientific accuracy and integrity in the articles, the author of any article submitted to will retain all rights to their original manuscript; this includes, but is not limited to, the right of authorship and the right to submit the manuscript to other journals. CSR endeavors to offer an accessible platform for Columbia students to publish their work, rather than complicate the process with unnecessary restrictions. Should any author encounter conflicts regarding articles published through CSR, CSR staff members will strive to achieve a solution prioritizing the interests of the author.

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