Calling All Young Scientists: The Journal of Emerging Investigators

Yesterday, I stumbled across an article on CNN about a teen who figured out that if the U.S. federal and state governments changed the typeface they use on printed materials, they could save $400 million a year in ink. Pretty impressive.

That article led me to the site of the Journal of Emerging Investigators, where the young man's money-saving idea was published. JEI is a student-run organization at Harvard that maintains "an open-access journal that publishes original research in the biological and physical sciences that is written by middle and high school students. JEI provides students, under the guidance of a teacher or advisor, the opportunity to submit and gain feedback on original research and to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Because grade-school students often lack access to formal research institutions, we expect that the work submitted by students may come from classroom-based projects, science fair projects, or other forms of mentor-supervised research."

Other studies published by middle schoolers include a comparison of Huggies and Pampers diapers which found that "Huggies Little Snugglers absorb over 50% more salt water than Pampers Swaddlers, although both absorb significantly more fluid than what an average newborn can produce."

JEI is based in Boston but it appears any middle-school or high-school student can obtain guidance and submit their projects.