Submissions

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Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship is an interdisciplinary space where students at the University of North Carolina Asheville can publish and share their scholarly work. Most articles constitute the authors' undergraduate thesis or capstone project required for degree completion. The journal considers submissions in any discipline, and articles must embody original research and must contribute new data and/or insights to their field. The University of North Carolina Asheville and its Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Program, which publishes the journal, value authentic research and scholarship experiences for undergraduates and promote discipline-relevant opportunities for professional development through the advancement of this publication. For the submission calendar and information about the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Program, please visit our website.

The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Research was established in 1988. Each publication was printed and bound in a book up until 2013, when the University moved to digitally host all publications going forward. In 2025, we moved all digital issues to UNC Press and renamed the journal Capstone. Before being accepted, all articles are subject to peer review by members of the UNC Asheville campus community and are accepted based on discipline-specific standards for scholarly work at the undergraduate level. The founding editors believed that publication is a vitally important part of the research process from which undergraduate researchers should not be excluded. Publication of significant, new results is the natural concluding stage of any successful project and it also serves as a reward for the student scholar. By completing the whole cycle of a project, from the initial identification of a problem and the preparation of a research strategy to the final publication of results, students achieve a much fuller understanding of the process by which knowledge is generated and disseminated. Moreover, publication of the best student papers also makes original, significant work available to the scholarly community. The editors also hoped that publication here would provide incentive for student scholars to continue to develop their projects and, after further refinement, to republish their work in nationally circulated publications.

Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship publishes written scholarship produced by UNC Asheville undergraduates. Submissions are welcome from all disciplines. Capstone does not publish visual arts portfolios, but will publish original art presented in the context of written scholarly work.

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By default, authors retain copyright of their work. If they choose, authors can select a creative commons, or other, copyright agreement during the submission process.

Capstone uses a double blind peer review process, which means that the authors' names are hidden from the submission before being sent to the reviewers, and the reviewers' names are hidden from the authors. Reviewers may choose to sign their name to their reviews.

The following licences are allowed:

• Copyright - More Information  
  <p>© the author(s). All rights reserved. Please select this option if you might submit a version of this scholarship for publication in a professional journal.</p>
• CC BY 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
• CC BY-ND 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
• CC BY-NC 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
• CC BY-SA 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
• - More Information  
  None

There are no publication costs for authors.

Capstone publishes two issues per year following each semester. Issues are typically published in January and June.