Submit
Who Can Submit?
Undergraduate students enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University may submit to AUCTUS. Graduates may submit research up to two years after graduation as long as the research was conducted as an undergraduate while attending VCU.
What Can I Submit?
AUCTUS accepts submissions from all disciplines. The editors of AUCTUS encourage submissions of both original work as well as reprints, if permitted by the original publisher. In the case of reprints, please provide us with the original publication information so that we may provide appropriate credit.
Multiple submissions are welcome, but only one submission per author will be published each semester. Simultaneous submissions with other publications are also accepted.
Accepted authors grant the journal one-time electronic serial publishing rights. Authors retain all copyright.
AUCTUS evaluates research using VCU’s definition of undergraduate research.If you are unsure whether your submission fulfills these guidelines, please contact auctus@vcu.edu.
Guidelines for Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM Submissions:
- Research that engages local, regional or international communities is encouraged within all three topic disciplines.
- Humanities topics include (but are not limited to) history, linguistics, languages, literature, philosophy, ethics, logic, mass communications and religion.
- Social science topics include (but are not limited to) anthropology, archaeology, cultural and ethnic studies, economics, education, gender/sexuality, geography, political science, policy, business, psychology and sociology.
- STEM topics include (but are not limited to) astronomy, earth sciences, chemistry, physics, computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering, environmental science and health care.
Guidelines for Creative Submissions:
- Works that engage local, regional, or international communities are encouraged.
- Works that combine media or genres are encouraged.
- A single submission may contain one piece or a series of pieces that are interconnected.
- Creative submissions should be accompanied by an artist statement.
- Visual and performing arts include (but are not limited to) music compositions, dance performance documentations, fashion design, sculpture, photography, paintings, prints, illustrations, crafts, graphic arts, film and kinetic imagery.
- Literary arts include (but are not limited to) literary fiction, non-fiction and poetry that experiments with the form and function of the genre or, in other ways, investigates the creative process.
What Should My Submission Look Like?
Text submissions should be typed, in 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced with one-inch margins and titled, with numbered pages. Please remove your name and other identifying information from the submission and abstract.
For performance and visual arts, please include the title, dimensions and medium of the original piece. Images and audiovisual works can be submitted in .jpeg, .tiff, .mov and .mpg.
For prose pieces, there is no maximum or minimum word count, although we typically publish pieces of 1000 to 6000 words in length. Please include the entire submission in one file. Research articles should also be accompanied by an abstract of 250 words or less. Acceptable file formats for text submissions are .doc, .docx, .txt and .rtf.
How Submissions Are Selected
Submissions are reviewed anonymously, using a blind process. Submissions are evaluated with respect to originality, academic and practical relevance, thoroughness, accuracy, consistency, credibility and proper referencing.
Publication of selected papers is conditional and contingent upon copy editing.
If a work is accepted for publication, the author will complete and sign a Contributor Agreement Form, develop a brief author biography and provide a headshot to be published alongside the submission.
Please give AUCTUS until the end of the semester in which you submitted before inquiring about the status of your work.
Submission Form
Complete and submit the form below. Your submission will not be recorded until you have completed and submitted the form. Contact auctus@vcu.edu with questions.
AUCTUS Submission Form