Aims and Scope
The primary goal of the Columbia Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics is to provide undergraduate readers with high-quality, accessible articles on challenging topics, or novel approaches to teaching more familiar concepts. Articles published are purely expository; we do not accept research papers. Most range from 5 to 15 pages in length, with the primary exceptions being senior theses written by students at Columbia and other universities alike. The journal also accepts and publishes mathematical artwork with clear pedagogical value.
Mission
Math differs from other disciplines in that it is much harder for undergraduates to perform and publish novel research. However, there is plenty of high quality expository work being produced by undergraduates through coursework, REUs, and senior theses. These pieces are made better by the fact that the authors are undergraduates themselves, granting them insight into how other undergraduates think. Undergraduate-written expository work can be an invaluable supplement to textbooks when it can be accessed, however, there are few active academic journals publishing expository work by undergraduates, so this work largely vanishes, to the detriment of both undergraduate authors and the mathematical community. The Columbia Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics is a math journal by undergraduates, for undergraduates seeking to fill this gap in resources within the mathematical community.
Policies
Open Access
CJUM is an open access journal, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. Authors retain their copyright and agree to license their articles with a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. You can read more about Creative Commons licenses at creativecommons.org.
CJUM is a no-fee journal. Authors are not charged for the publication of their articles.
CJUM is a Diamond Open Access journal.
Peer Review
CJUM uses a double-anonymous peer review process for expository work. Peer reviewers are graduate students from the Columbia Department of Mathematics, along with undergraduate reviewers who read for style and language. The CJUM Executive Editorial Board and Chief Confidentiality Officer mediates between peer reviewers and authors during the editorial process, whose identities are not revealed to one another.
CJUM does not use peer review for creative submissions such as pedagogical artwork, which are directly published in the journal if accepted, pending minor edits suggested by the CJUM Executive Editorial Board.
Diversity and Inclusion
CJUM is committed to increasing the diversity of voices that is represented in mathematical spaces. This diversity includes differences in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of origin, religious or spiritual beliefs, ability, and socioeconomic status. Our double-anonymous peer review coupled with the mediating role of our editorial board represents CJUM’s commitment to a fair and respectful review process for all submissions. We also actively recruit editorial board members from a variety of backgrounds and identities in order to have diverse perspectives in our peer review process and to provide more opportunities for marginalized groups in math.
Ethics
CJUM upholds a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism by prospective authors. Any concerns should be directly addressed to the Editors-in-Chief of CJUM. In the interest of a fair deliberation process, CJUM requires all members of its editorial board to report conflicts of interest.
Journal Archiving
CJUM is archived in Columbia University’s Academic Commons. Academic Commons is Columbia University’s institutional repository, offering long-term public access to research shared by the Columbia community. A program of the Columbia University Libraries, Academic Commons provides secure, replicated storage for files in multiple formats. Academic Commons assigns a DOI and accurate metadata to each work to enhance discoverability.