Introduction

Patricia Ann Mabrouk, SPUR Editor-in-Chief

doi: 10.18833/spur/9/2/7

Greetings and welcome to the Winter 2025 issue of Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research. This issue covers a wide range of topics affecting undergraduate research, including interdisciplinary research, mentoring, and a scaffolded approach to responsible and ethical conduct of research training.

The issue opens with SPUR Editor-in-Chief Patricia Mabrouk’s (Northeastern University) final editorial. In her piece, Dr. Mabrouk outlines some of the changes and achievements SPUR has made over the past nearly five years and extends her thanks, acknowledging the many contributions of both the editorial and production teams to SPUR’s growth and success.

In the first of four articles, Panadda Marayong, Erin Arruda, Amy Wax, Elyzza Aparicio, and Chi-Ah Chun (California State University, Long Beach) present program evaluation findings for a cost-effective, semi-structured, flexible research certificate program intended to broaden access to research training for all students, not just STEM students, and be widely adopted and sustained by colleges and universities for those new to research. Students completing the program develop deeper connections with participating faculty and peer mentors and a higher level of confidence in their development of research and professional development skills.

Sherry Palacios, Ken McMillen, and Corin Slown (California State University, Monterey Bay) present preliminary findings from their investigation of an integrated approach to responsible and ethical conduct of research training embedded across three sequential courses in the marine science program, culminating in a course-based undergraduate research capstone. The series is designed to engage faculty and students throughout the sequence in training and activities on the responsible and ethical conduct of research, as a reflective practice that helps students develop confidence in their ability to act autonomously and with integrity as scientists.

In their contribution, Miloš Savic´, Angela M. Person, Randy A. Peppler, Emily Lange (University of Oklahoma), and Melissa R. Marquez (Pennsylvania State University) explore the relationship between interdisciplinary mentoring and its impact on students’ socioemotional development in a unique team-based undergraduate research program based on a transdisciplinary co-mentoring model developed by two of the authors in 2017. Their approach integrates instrumental mentoring, socioemotional support, and cohort-based community involvement to develop students’ self-efficacy, with impressive results in student presentations, publications, and recognition that appear to mitigate imposter syndrome and build student confidence and independence.

Joanne D. Altman (High Point University), Tsu-Ming Chiang (Georgia College & State University), Melodie H. Eichbauer (Florida Gulf Coast University), and Anthony Kapolka (Wilkes University) present findings from a follow-up study examining how faculty perceptions of interdisciplinary undergraduate research have changed over the past decade. The authors report that faculty in their study value methodological diversity to promote the development of integrative thinking and transferable skills among their student researchers, and that student interest in engaging in this type of research is declining. They propose that course-based undergraduate research may be a useful mechanism for navigating the challenges of this type of research.

The final contribution to this issue is a book review by Svetlana Korolev (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) of the fifth edition of a writing classic, The Craft of Research, published by the University of Chicago Press as part of its highly regarded series Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. This robust, authoritative classic supports faculty and undergraduate research students across the disciplines in understanding what it means to think like a researcher.

Each year, we make a point of recognizing and thanking our peer reviewers. SPUR would not be the journal it is if not for your technical expertise, generosity of spirit, time, and energy. Thank you! Because providing our authors with high-quality peer review is crucial to our journal’s quality, we instituted an award last year to recognize our best peer reviewers, highlight the critical role they play, and encourage deeper engagement with SPUR by serving as peer reviewers. As we did last year, a committee composed of the Associate Editors and myself selected the Best Peer Reviewer Annual Awardees based on our evaluation of anonymized peer reviews. We used the following criteria: 1) completion of ≥ 2 peer reviews of initial submissions and/or resubmissions within the previous calendar year, 2) timeliness (i.e., submitted by the specified SPUR deadline) of completed peer reviews, 3) clear peer review style (i.e., constructive and positive tone), and 4) substantive and structured feedback (e.g., detailed comments on all manuscript sections, actionable comments to strengthen the submission). This year’s awardees are:

To ensure we recognize as many deserving individuals as possible, previous awardees are not eligible for recognition in consecutive years. SPUR’s Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors selected Best Peer Reviewer Annual Awardees based on their evaluation of anonymized peer reviews.

This year’s awardees are listed alphabetically below.

Christopher Zajic, Graduate Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, GA

Janet A. Morrison, Professor Emerita, Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, NJ

Anne Krabacher, Administrative Director, Lisska Center for Intellectual Engagement, Denison University, OH

Katherine A. Campbell, Assistant Vice President of Sponsored Programs, Research, and External Engagement, St. Catherine University, MN