UOIT students launch interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal

The culmination of many months of hard work and dedication resulted in the launch of the university's first interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal operated solely by students. The Circle@UOIT launched its inaugural issue in early March during an official celebration held on campus.

The journal is the result of an idea proposed by Dr. Tess Pierce, an assistant professor in the Bachelor of Arts in Communication program at UOIT, for a student-led journal. After successfully applying for a UOIT Teaching Innovation Fund grant, Dr. Pierce hired Robert Sudak and Matthew Breimer, second-year Bachelor of Arts in Communication students, to bring the concept to fruition. After eight months researching other peer-reviewed journals, designing the website layout, preparing policies and guidelines and reviewing submitted material, Sudak and Breimer published the first issue.

"I am so proud of all of the students who helped make The Circle@UOIT a reality," said Dr. Pierce. "This journal will serve as an excellent resource for students by providing them with published documents for their portfolios, networking opportunities and valuable experiences that will put them one step ahead upon graduation."

The Circle, an online bi-annual publication, was designed to offer undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to showcase their work including research papers, projects, assignments and creative pieces to the rest of the academic world. The publication contains articles and creative communication projects in categories including Research, Life and Art, which have been specially commissioned or submitted for peer-review and publication.

"The opportunity to work on The Circle and create something from the ground up has been a very rewarding experience," said Sudak. "This is going to put UOIT student research on the North American map and I look forward to looking back and being able to say 'I made that'."

The UOIT Teaching Innovation Fund is designed to assist both full-time core and full-time continuing complementary UOIT faculty to implement new web-centric teaching strategies, innovative instructional practices and/or to develop pioneering educational content. It is intended to support innovative teaching practices across the university recognizing that startup funds can help to facilitate significant student achievement.

To view The Circle@UOIT, please visit www.uoit.ca/thecircle.

About Ontario Tech University
A modern, forwarding-thinking university, Ontario Tech advances the discovery and application of knowledge to accelerate economic growth, regional development and social innovation. We inspire and equip our students and our graduates to make a positive impact in a tech-focused world. For us, it’s not only about developing the next tech breakthrough. Understanding and integrating the social and ethical implications of technology differentiates us as university. Learn more at ontariotechu.ca.