Students who want their articles to be read by a wider audience are in luck. Since this academic year, the Radboud University (RU) has its own linguistic magazine: RU:ts. This is an academic magazine which will appear twice each year. RU students will be able to publish and review academic articles related to linguistics. ANS spoke with Iris Faber and Myrthe Reuver. They have founded RU:ts along with Sander Nederveen and they are now editors-in-chief.
Text: Jeyna Sow
Translation: Aafke van Pelt
‘More and more frequently, I finish a course with a research report instead of an exam’, Faber says. Students therefore frequently write academic articles, but in many cases good reports are not shared with a wider audience. Faber and Reuver, who are both doing their research master in Language & Communication, have noticed this as well. ‘It is such a waste if good reports disappear into a drawer where they remain unread.’ RU:ts intends to offer students the possibility to publish their own work. ‘It is not impossible to publish by yourself, but this often happens in cooperation with a teacher. We want to make it more accessible for students.’
Students can decide on their own if they want their articles to be published. The submission is reviewed by multiple people. ‘RU:ts is created as a true scientific journal and therefore peer-reviewing is used. These peer-reviewers will determine if an article is good enough to publish. This is a good way to learn how publishing an academic article works’, Faber explains. When the reviewer has judged the article, it is decided whether or not the article is good enough and if it is suitable for the magazine. If this is the case, the article will be published. The magazine’s strength according to Reuver is that it is completely open-access. ‘Everybody can access the magazine’s articles. Academic articles can actually be shared with a wider audience this way.’
Faber and Reuver emphasize that the magazine has a lot of potential since it is suitable for multiple studies. ‘It does not matter what you have studied. If your research concerns language and you write articles about this, RU:ts can help you out.’ The two hope to bring the magazine into the spotlight this way. ‘It would be amazing if everybody who has anything to do with linguistics is enthusiastic about RU:ts and wants to publish articles in it.’