Southwest Journal of Arts & Sciences
About SJAS
The Southwest Journal of Arts & Sciences (SJAS) is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal housed within University of the Southwest in Hobbs, New Mexico. Its purpose is to foster and promote quality research in the liberal arts and sciences by aspiring and seasoned scholars alike. An entirely electronic journal, SJAS is published on the institution website. Under the direction of its editorial board, all articles accepted into SJAS have passed through a double-blind peer reviewed process by scholars holding terminal degrees in that specific field. While each respective author’s thoughts and statements remain his or her own and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts, opinions, or positions of the editorial board of SJAS or University of the Southwest, the peer-reviewed process ensures that such work has been assessed for quality.
SJAS publishes research in the hard sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), social sciences (psychology, counseling, sociology, anthropology, history, etc.), and the humanities (religion, philosophy, literature, etc.). Prospective authors should focus on original research and theory development (both quantitative and qualitative inquiry). Interested authors should submit their inquiry to the editors, Dr. Yusheng Wu (natural sciences) at ywu@usw.edu or Dr. Erica Armstrong (social sciences and humanities) at earmstrong@usw.edu.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the editor.
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Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Yusheng Wu, PhD
Professor of Biology, University of the Southwest
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Associate Editor
Erica D. Armstrong, EdD
Assistant Professor of Education, Program Chair for Undergraduate EPP, University of the Southwest
Design Editor
Melissa Williams, MBA
Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Veterans Affairs SCO, University of the Southwest
Submission Guidelines
LENGTH & FORMAT
Submissions should not exceed 6000 words length, including title, abstract, and references. Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents, double-spaced throughout, paginated, and left aligned, with one-inch margins, Times New Roman, 12 pt.
Text may be subdivided into the following sections: abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgements, references, appendices. Subheadings are allowed within reason.
Submit your article electronically as a MS Word document and provide an email address and telephone number for the corresponding author.
Except within an acknowledgments section, the manuscript should be written in third person. For numbers one through nine, write out the number in the text of the manuscript (one, two, etc.) except when used with units of measurement (e.g., 6 mm or 9 km). For numbers greater than or equal to 10, use the number. Use numbers in all tables and figures. Italicize Latin words, their abbreviations, etc.
STYLE
Title: Titles should be descriptive and concise. The centered title of the article (usually less than 15 words) should be followed by names of the authors and the institutional affiliations (e.g., “Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University”). Do not include titles of authors (e.g., “director”). Avoid scientific jargon in your title.
Abstract: The manuscript must include an abstract. This should be a brief and concise statement of findings or results written as single paragraph. It should be placed immediately below the author list. Avoid citing references in the abstract except under unusual situations.
Keywords: Important phrases (one to three words each) that can help find the paper in searches.
Introduction: The nature of the problem and why it is of interest should be conveyed in the opening paragraphs. This section should describe clearly but briefly the background information on the problem, what has been done before (with proper literature citations), and the objectives of the current project. A clear relationship between the current project and the scope and limitations of earlier work should be made so that the reasons for the project and the approach used will be understood.
Methodology: Many papers present results from an experiment. For such papers, a section that follows Introduction is usually titled “Materials and Methods” or "Methodology". Authors may choose to incorporate subheadings within this section if desired.
Results: This section should summarize relevant data, observations, and findings. Tabulation of data, equations, charts, and figures can be used effectively to present results clearly and concisely.
Discussion: The discussion section consists of analysis and interpretation of the results. The crux of the report is the analysis and interpretation of the results. What do the results mean? How do they relate to the objectives of the project? To what extent have they resolved the problem?
Conclusions: A section outlines the main conclusions of the project. Directions for future work are also suitably expressed here.
Acknowledgement: Only include if desired.
References: Use APA style for the references listed in the manuscript. Please visit https://apastyle.apa.org/ for Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020).
Appendices: Only include if absolutely necessary.