How to submit to PSHSJ (2026)

Key facts

Full name

PennScience High School Journal

Kind

Journal

Field

All sciences (high-school authors)

Next cycle

May 1 - November 1, 2026

Page limit

3-5 pages including references and figures

On Lumina

$149 per paper

Deadlines

As recorded in Lumina's venue data on 9 September 2026; confirm on the venue's site.

Formatting and submission rules

• Hard cap: 3-5 pages including references and figures. The reference list and every figure count against the cap - measure it on the compiled PDF, not on the body text
• Submission window is May 1 to November 1. No late entries
• A signed Publication Permission Form must be submitted with the paper
• Papers must be written on the PSHSJ manuscript template and follow the PSHSJ styling guide
• Peer-reviewed by PennScience, the high-school division of the PennScience Undergraduate Research Journal (University of Pennsylvania)

A roadmap that counts back from the deadline

Each step counts back from the submission deadline.

1. 12 weeks beforeFix the question and the claim

   One sentence: what you tested and what would have proved you wrong. Check the journal actually publishes your field.

2. 11 weeks beforeGather approvals and paperwork

   Human subjects or vertebrate animals mean extra forms at submission. Get them now: you cannot obtain consent or approval after the fact, and it is the most common reason a finished student paper cannot be published.

3. 10 weeks beforeBackground reading

   8-15 sources you can actually cite. Two lines each on what they found and how yours differs.

4. 9 weeks beforeWrite Methods while you remember them

   Enough detail that another student could repeat it: quantities, models, settings, dates, how many trials.

5. 8 weeks beforeResults and figures

   Every figure needs a caption that stands alone. State the test you ran and the exact numbers, not just "significant".

6. 7 weeks beforeFull draft on the venue template

   Start from the journal template rather than reformatting later. Section order is fixed and reordering a finished draft is where students lose a weekend.

7. 2 weeks beforeMentor read

   A teacher or mentor reads it end to end. Some journals require an adult to submit on the student's behalf, so this is a hard dependency, not advice.

8. 1 week beforeFormat pass against the venue rules

   Page cap, abstract word count, section order, citation style, file formats. These are machine-checkable and they are what gets a student paper desk-rejected.

9. Deadline weekSubmit

   Upload through the journal's system, pay or request a waiver for any fee, and keep the confirmation.

What Lumina does for a PSHSJ submission

Venue Fit checks that PSHSJ is the right target for the paper. The Guided Builder writes it in PSHSJ's format, the Manuscript Audit re-checks the statistics and the claims the way a reviewer would, the Submission Checklist runs the venue's rules before you upload, and deadline reminders keep the roadmap above honest. Every tool needs a free account; preparing a paper for PSHSJ is $149, paid once per paper.

Format your paper for PSHSJ — free to start See the roadmap

Questions

Lumina is not affiliated with PennScience High School Journal; submission decisions are the venue's alone.

Other venues

All venues →NeurIPSICLRICMLCVPRACLAAAIarXivIEEESpringerElsevierNHSJSJEI