Research in Natural and Clinical Sciences and Technology (URNCST) Journal was launched in 2017 and is a leading publisher of research spanning broad and multidisciplinary fields.

Research conferences and case competitions are held globally, yet their abstracts often go unpublished. Thus, the URNCST Journal was established to provide conference and article committees with a meaningful way to establish their legacy, as well as provide researchers attending these conferences with the opportunity to see their work published.

Furthermore, the journal promotes innovative research education initiatives, such as the URNCST Journal Paper Initiative and the URNCST Journal Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Encyclopedia Entry Initiative , which provide researchers with the opportunity to receive mentorship on a defined research topic and draft and submit a full-length manuscript for consideration for publication in the journal.

The journal also provides opportunities for professors and other research faculty who have a passion for supporting researchers to contribute to the editorial board and/or peer-review process.

The URNCST Journal provides a unique platform for researchers to publish their articles and fills a significant gap that has existed for years. Researchers typically spend 3–4 months as part of a research placement course contributing to a portion of a larger study led by a professor.

As a result, it is not uncommon for researchers to lack sufficient data to publish their work in a professional-level journal. One option is to submit work to an entry-level research conference; however, very few conferences publish abstract books, and even fewer index them in scholarly databases.

One key feature that the URNCST Journal prides itself on is its continuous publication model. The journal endeavors to shorten the time between submission and peer-reviewed decision, which benefits authors in multiple ways.

A faster turnaround time allows research placement and/or senior thesis supervisors to review work sooner and enables candidates to apply for academic or professional opportunities in a timely manner.

Aims and Scope

The URNCST Journal primarily publishes abstracts for articles and case competitions internationally in multidisciplinary areas, as well as full-length articles.

Multidisciplinary Manuscript Submissions

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Medical, Health, and Clinical Sciences
• Physics
• Psychology
• Technology
• Arts

• Science
• Social Science
• Engineering
• Fashion Designing
• Special Education
• Pharmacy
• Nursing
• Management
• Education
• Agriculture
• Ayurveda
• Mathematics
• English
• Commerce

Eligible Multidisciplinary Article Submissions

Please note that the URNCST Journal accepts the following multidisciplinary article submissions:

1. Articles from individual authors (i.e., primary articles, review articles, or clinical case studies) that have not been selected for submission through a research conference, the URNCST Journal Mentored Paper Initiative , or the URNCST Journal Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Encyclopedia Entry Initiative .
2. Abstracts or articles with a first author who is not a professional researcher, with the exception of conferences that accept research abstracts.
3. Abstracts or articles that focus on research outside of a natural or clinical science or technology discipline (e.g., humanities, social sciences, fine arts), unless there is a clear interdisciplinary linkage.
4. Articles that do not meet submission criteria include perspective, commentary, or opinion pieces. Abstracts may only be submitted when there is an active call (e.g., for a conference).

Target Audience

While the URNCST Journal’s primary authors are researchers, its readers include authors and academics of all kinds. The URNCST Journal serves as a platform for faculty members and independent researchers.

Types of Articles

Conference Planners

The URNCST Journal's main focus is to publish abstracts accepted by and/or presented at professional research conferences. As the journal’s scope is broad and multidisciplinary, conferences eligible to publish their research abstracts in the URNCST Journal must include content related to natural science, clinical science, and/or technology.

For example, the URNCST Journal will publish abstracts from a general science conference or even a science and arts conference; however, it will not publish abstracts from a solely arts-based research conference.

Conference planners and abstract book authors do not necessarily need to be students. Please note that as of January 2021, the URNCST Journal publishes conference abstract books free of charge.

If you are part of the planning committee of a research conference and are interested in publishing your conference abstract book in the URNCST Journal, please review the Instructions for Conference Planners page and contact us at manuscript@urncstuk.org for full terms and conditions.

For Selected Individual Authors

The URNCST Journal typically publishes articles written by individual researchers only if they were selected to submit an article at a research conference whose abstract book was published by the journal, or if their abstract was accepted through either the URNCST Journal Mentored Paper program or the URNCST Journal Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Encyclopedia Entry Initiative .

Full-length manuscripts must be submitted as one of the following article types:

• Primary Research
• Review
• Research Protocol

Authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the formatting guidelines for each article type, which can be found on the Instructions for Authors page.

Solicited and Unsolicited Manuscripts

Unsolicited manuscripts are considered on a case-by-case basis to ensure the quality of submissions. If you wish to submit an unsolicited manuscript, please contact the editor at manuscript@urncstuk.org to discuss the suitability of your article before making a submission.

Unsolicited manuscript submissions that have not been approved by the editor will be subject to immediate rejection.

Peer Review Process

Conference Planners

It is expected that the URNCST conference planning committee will hold their own peer-review process to screen which abstracts or articles they wish to see presented at their conference. The URNCST Journal requires that each planning committee take the necessary steps to ensure that all abstracts are sufficiently worthy of publication and that consent has been obtained from all authors of all articles or abstracts to have their work published in the journal.

For Selected Individual Authors

Prior to submission, authors must ensure that all studies described in the manuscript have been conducted ethically. If your study involved human or animal participants, you are required to state in your manuscript that your study was approved by your institution’s research ethics board. Authors should only submit original material and ensure that the methodology is appropriate for the study conducted, and that the results, discussion, and conclusions are reported accurately and appropriately.

It is expected that the first author will consult their research supervisor to ensure that the manuscript meets all of these criteria prior to submission to the URNCST Journal. If the section editor determines that one or more of these criteria are not met during initial review, the author will be contacted to make the necessary revisions before the manuscript is sent out for peer review.

During the submission process, authors should provide the names of individuals with whom they do not have conflicts of interest and who they believe are suitable experts to review their study. Authors should also declare the names of individuals whom they do not wish to serve as peer reviewers.

Upon receiving a manuscript submission, the manuscript will be assigned to a section editor who will first determine whether the manuscript adheres to the following three conditions:

1. The first author meets the journal’s authorship requirements
2. The manuscript meets the criteria outlined in the Instructions for Authors
3. The manuscript falls within the scope of the URNCST Journal

If all three conditions are satisfied, the section editor will send the manuscript for peer review to at least two experts in the field. These reviewers may or may not include one or more author-suggested peer reviewers. Section editors and peer reviewers will be acknowledged in the published manuscript if it is accepted for publication.

Once at least two peer reviewers have submitted their reviews and the section editor has assessed their comments, the author will be informed of the editorial decision. This decision may be to accept the manuscript, request minor or major revisions, or reject the manuscript.

If the manuscript is rejected by the section editor, the decision is final and cannot be appealed. If revisions are requested, the section editor will provide instructions and a turnaround time for submitting a revised manuscript. The revised manuscript may or may not be returned to the peer reviewers at the section editor’s discretion.

If the section editor determines that the manuscript is suitable for publication, the author will receive all necessary information to proceed with publication and will be required to complete a publishing agreement form provided by the editor upon acceptance.

Journal Structure and Format

The URNCST Journal is an innovative research journal that publishes abstracts and articles on an ongoing and continuous basis. This means that manuscripts are published online immediately following acceptance, rather than waiting until a specific number of articles have been accepted.

As a result, URNCST Journal issues and volumes are time-dependent rather than article-dependent, and the journal archives 12 issues per year.

The URNCST Journal strives to be an environmentally conscious journal and therefore publishes articles exclusively in easily accessible online formats.

Open Access Policy

The URNCST Journal is an open access publisher, meaning that all articles can be accessed and read by anyone with an internet connection, except for non-funding articles. The Budapest Statement defines open access as follows:

“There are many degrees and kinds of wider and easier access to this literature. By ‘open access’ to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.

The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.”

Copyright is retained by the authors, and articles may be freely used and distributed by others. Articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published by the URNCST Journal, is properly cited.

Journal Indexing and Social Media

A section editor will inform authors once an article has been published in the URNCST Journal. The journal will also promote published articles on its official social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Authors are encouraged to share their published articles through their own social media networks as well.

All articles published in the URNCST Journal are indexed in Scopus and Google Scholar.

Journal Governance

The URNCST Journal’s Editorial Board is comprised of accomplished multidisciplinary researchers. Members of the Editorial Board are appointed by the Editor-in-Chief for a renewable three-year term.

If you are interested in joining the URNCST Journal’s editorial team or nominating a colleague, please email us at editorialboard@urncstuk.org, indicating which role the applicant wishes to undertake.

All applicants must submit a curriculum vitae (CV) outlining their education, relevant work-related experience, and research publications, along with any additional information demonstrating suitability as a board member.

We are currently recruiting for the following positions:

• Associate Editors
• Editorial and Advisory Board Members

Individuals interested in serving as mentors for the URNCST Journal Mentored Paper or the URNCST Journal Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Encyclopedia Entry Initiative should apply for the position of Associate Editor.

Editorial Roles and Responsibilities

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief will:

• Mandate Turnitin similarity reports for all submissions, with plagiarism below 10% and AI similarity below 20%
• Set and review journal policies related to authorship, peer review, quality control, and ethics
• Monitor and maintain agreed policies
• Ensure transparency of journal processes
• Take final responsibility for editorial content
• Maintain editorial independence
• Make final decisions on manuscripts
• Manage and organize the editorial office
• Attract high-quality manuscript submissions
• Develop and plan for the future of the journal
• Represent the journal nationally and internationally

Managing Editor and Deputy Editor(s)

The Managing Editor and Deputy Editor(s) will:

• Assist the Editor-in-Chief in all editorial responsibilities

Associate Editors

The Associate Editors will:

• Assist in implementing journal policies
• Correspond with authors and reviewers
• Review and revise manuscripts
• Recommend editorial decisions within their specialty

Assistant Editors

The Assistant Editors will:

• Support senior editors and the production team
• Communicate with authors and reviewers
• Manage manuscript tracking systems
• Ensure efficient manuscript workflow

Development and Communications Liaison

The Development and Communications Liaison will:

• Develop networking and legacy-building opportunities
• Propose recruitment strategies ensuring diversity
• Build partnerships with open access organizations
• Enhance community engagement and outreach

Engagement Leads

The Engagement Leads will:

• Coordinate promotional and marketing activities
• Organize journal competitions

Production Manager

The Production Manager will:

• Ensure manuscript structure and formatting accuracy
• Maintain editorial consistency and clarity
• Verify references, tables, figures, and citations
• Prepare manuscripts for final publication

Editorial and Advisory Board Members

The Editorial and Advisory Board Members will:

• Advise and support editorial leadership
• Serve as reviewers or recommend reviewers
• Contribute editorials and invited articles
• Assist with policy and financial decisions
• Promote the journal internationally

Trademarks

Certain material on this website, including graphics, icons, HTML, JavaScript, color schemes, multimedia, logos, photographs, and copywriting, is protected by copyright.

Names, logos, designs, and phrases may constitute trademarks or service marks of the URNCST Journal or Open Journal Systems. The display of trademarks does not imply any license has been granted.

Fee Schedule

The URNCST Journal strives to keep submissions free of charge; however, certain publication types require a one-time publication fee to support journal operations and open access dissemination.

Article Type	Submission Fee	Publication Fee
Conference Abstract Booklet	$0 CAD	$0 CAD
Mentored Paper / AI Encyclopedia Entry	$0 CAD	$350 CAD
Primary Research / Review / Protocol	$0 CAD	$350 CAD
Editorial	$0 CAD	$0 CAD

Publication fees of $300 CAD apply to manuscripts submitted before January 2025 or conferences with prior agreements.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Authors may use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to support specific tasks during manuscript preparation, such as improving language clarity or grammar, provided such use is transparent, limited, and appropriate.

AI tools must not be listed as authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the integrity or originality of a manuscript. Authors are fully responsible for all content submitted, including any material generated with AI assistance, and must carefully review and verify its accuracy, originality, and appropriateness.

The use of AI tools must be disclosed in the manuscript’s Acknowledgements section or in a separate disclosure statement, specifying the tool or tools used and the nature of their use.

Undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI, including use that leads to plagiarism, fabrication, or undisclosed image or data manipulation, will be considered a breach of publication ethics and handled in accordance with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

This policy was informed by guidance provided by multiple authorities in scholarly publishing, including the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) , the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) , the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) , the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) , and the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) .