LOGOS

A Journal of Undergraduate Research

Archives for February 2020

Wait! Don’t Click the Submit Button Just Yet…

by

You’ve finally refined all your evidence in your psychology research paper. Or maybe you just wrote the final sentence of the epic conclusion to your short story. Are you ready to submit it? Here are some quick tips to help you get your piece in tip-top shape before you send it to the LOGOS staff for publishing consideration.

1. Make sure it represents YOU!

At LOGOS, we want to see unique and exciting approaches to any and all academic disciplines. Is this a piece you would be proud to have your name attached to in a journal that thousands of people will read for years to come? If you’re not passionate about your work, don’t submit it!

 

2. Give yourself TIME

You’ve heard the saying; time and money are two things that no one has (or at least, has enough of). However, if you’re reading this article right now, you still have 24 days to finalize your piece. Don’t wait until the last minute! Just like your professors, the staff at LOGOS can almost always tell when a piece has been worked on for multiple days versus just rushed through in a couple hours. If you want a shot of making it into the journal, do yourself a favor NOW and plan time in your schedule to work on your piece.

 

3. Feedback, feedback, and more feedback!

Do some rewriting on a short story piece based on the comments you received in class from your peers. Schedule a time to meet with your professor to talk about how you can strengthen the evidence you presented in a research paper from their class. The Writing Center is also a FREE tool, and a lot of the Writing Consultants are English majors. In other words, they have a knack for helping you solve your pesky writing troubles, especially if you need guidance in refining the thesis and other major aspects of your paper. The more people that look at your piece, the more ideas they might give you to make it even better!

 

4. Take a (short) break

After you’ve allowed your eyes to unglue themselves from a project for even a couple days, you may find yourself bringing fresh perspectives or even new ideas when you sit back down to work on it again. It also helps save your sanity, especially when you’re at the point when you need to cut out the clutter words or clean up your sentences.

 

5. Double-check ALL the LOGOS submission guidelines

Have you ever screwed up an assignment because you didn’t read the directions first? The LOGOS website has the guidelines laid out for you; go ahead and click on the link below! Trust me; when you’re brain-dead after midterms, you’ll thank yourself for making sure that your abstract is a quick summary of your research instead of a long page that repeats your conclusion. Making major changes close to the deadline can be a hassle!
https://www.missouristate.edu/logos/Submission-Guidelines.htm

 

6. Let it simmer if it needs to

Not sure if your piece will be ready to submit in one month? Maybe it needs extensive reworking in a couple places or perhaps a major overhaul? Don’t worry; you can always submit it to LOGOS next year. However, don’t be confined to Missouri State’s academic journal in the time between now and next March. Research other places that you can publish your work; thousands of possibilities await you! Check out the link below to see a list of journals, but make sure to do your own research or talk to your professors before submitting your work. They may even have some ideas for places you could check out!
https://library.sacredheart.edu/undergradpublishing/journals

 

7. Have fun with the process!

Your time here as an MSU undergraduate student will help you develop your knowledge in your field (or fields!), grow in the ways you communicate your ideas, establish professional connections, and much more. Submitting to LOGOS is a gateway to all of these possibilities; take advantage of it! We can’t wait to review your piece!

Meet the LOGOS Volume 13 Social Marketing Editor: Katie McWilliams

by

Meet The LOGOS Volume 13 Social Marketing Editor: Katie McWilliams

Hello fellow scholars, casual readers, and social media enthusiasts! My name is Katie McWilliams, and I am very excited to serve as the Social Marketing Editor for LOGOS Volume 13! This is my second year as a proud Missouri State bear (technically I’m a junior with credit hours). I was born and raised in the suburban area of Parkville, right next to the heart of Kansas City, Missouri (the Missouri side, not the Kansas side). If you’re on the Kansas side, though, please stop at Joe’s Kansas City barbecue and try their Z-Man and fries (you’ll thank me later). I am an aspiring poet in the English/Creative Writing program (with a distinction in the major) and a Spanish minor (I’m sort-of bilingual). I have always enjoyed making music as well, and I love playing in the MSU Symphony Orchestra as a second violinist. I am also involved in virtually everything around campus pertaining to Residence Life and Creative Writing. One day, you might see my bubbly self sharing my amazing MSU experiences to prospective students and families as a University Ambassador. The next day, you might see me reading my poetry at a Pagination Bookshop Open Mic Night (please check out Jen Murvin’s wonderful bookshop if you haven’t already!).

What do I want to do with my Creative Writing major, you might ask? My dream career is to be a writer or editor at Hallmark Cards. I absolutely love composing verses and creating cute designs for the handmade cards I send to my friends and family. I create cards for all occasions imaginable, whether it’s a whimsical Star Wars-themed birthday card (I love anything and everything Star Wars) or a pop-up teddy bear sympathy card for a friend that just lost a loved one. I’m also hoping that my Spanish minor will come in handy if I had the opportunity to work at Hallmark. My passions for Creative Writing and Spanish blended together beautifully when I wrote an original children’s book for a Spanish class, and I would love to work on similar projects in the future. I would also enjoy writing Spanish cards for Hallmark’s Vida line, which is exclusively for the Latin American community. DaySpring Cards (which is the Christian subsidiary of Hallmark) is another company that I’m thinking about applying for. I would love to write cards for a Christian audience, and I already use Bible verses in a lot of my own greeting cards. Regardless of where I might end up, it would be a dream for me to write cards that could go to millions of people all over the world. I’m currently applying for a summer Writing and Editorial Internship at Hallmark!

Here’s a little picture of me overlooking my hometown, and Hallmark headquarters (aka the home of my dream job) is just off in the distance!

How did you hear about LOGOS?

As a senior in high school, I remember seeing LOGOS listed as one of the many perks of enrolling in the Honors College on a packet I received in the mail. What in the world does that stand for? I thought, not really motivated to research the mysterious acronym as the swarms of college mail continued to pile in. A few short months later, I was sitting in the PSU theater at my SOAR session. I was trying to keep my growling stomach quiet during yet another financial aid presentation. When I heard Shannon Wick (our former Managing Editor) talk eagerly about the LOGOS journal and how it was one of the first organizations she joined on campus, my dinner daydreams immediately faded away. That could be me! I thought to myself. I applied and was accepted as a Peer Reviewer the following September. Little did I know how much I would enjoy this role.

I had always loved writing (I would hope so because it’s a huge part of my major!), but LOGOS was one of my first sneak peeks into the amazing world of publishing. I found that I was just as much at home in the collaborative discussions with my small group of Peer Reviewers (led by my lovely Associate Editor, Cara Sibert) as the close-knit workshops in my creative writing classes. I am also an Associate Editor for LOGOS Volume 13, and I hope that I can help instill the same enthusiasm I have for the reviewing process and LOGOS as a whole into my Peer Reviewers.

This is a picture of the outstanding LOGOS: Volume 13 crew at our training session, which kicked off the reviewing season. It was also my first day working with my lovely group of Peer Reviewers!

What made you want to apply for this position?

I was actively searching for an internship experience that would help me stretch my creative abilities, and the Social Marketing Editor position sounded like the perfect fit. I get to use my knack for writing clever lines to help encourage students to submit (or get involved with) LOGOS. Staging Volume 12 of LOGOS at random places around campus has already been a ton of fun to work on! Writing blog posts that feature some of the outstanding research of faculty and students at Missouri State is also a huge part of the position, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to refine some of the skills I gained during high school as the journalism intern for the Park Hill School District Professional Studies program. I had some really cool opportunities to interview students and their project managers from industries that I knew very little about, from a local recording studio to the control tower at the Kansas City International Airport (which I actually got to go up in!).

What is your advice for submitting and/or applying to LOGOS?

My number one piece of advice if you’re thinking about submitting to LOGOS? Go for it! You’ve got nothing to lose! Pick a piece you’ve worked on that you’re passionate about. I would also suggest getting as much feedback as possible before you submit your work. If it doesn’t make it into the journal, don’t be discouraged! Read the feedback that the amazing Peer Reviewers at LOGOS leave for you. Work on making your piece (and the knowledge you have in your field) even better; that’s the best way to learn!

If you’re a member of the Honors College and would love to improve your own writing and collaborative skills (as well as get a pretty snazzy resume line), consider joining our team! We’re always looking for more Peer Reviewers. I can say from personal experience that becoming a Peer Reviewer definitely helped me improve my own writing (both academic and creative) as well as reevaluate how I provide feedback on the work from my own peers. Our Peer Reviewer applications will open again in mid-August, so you have plenty of time to think about it! If you’ve got some experience with LOGOS under your belt, take advantage of some of the other amazing leadership opportunities we offer. We’re currently looking for the Copy Editor (if making things look pretty and fixing grammar is your thing) and the Chief Editor (if you want to be one of the head organizers and recruiters). Okay, I’ll end my advertising campaign now, but please…apply, apply, apply!

Closing Thoughts

I can’t wait to see what this semester brings for LOGOS; it’s going to be another fantastic publishing season! I hope that I can help the Social Marketing Editor position grow in new ways this semester as well, and I’m eager to get started on some cool marketing campaigns (stay tuned). Oh, and if you ever need ideas for what to write in a greeting card, stop by the Honors College office. I’d be glad to offer you inspiration!