We are thrilled to announce the release of our fourth edition of the Social Science Student Journal, an undergraduate publication celebrating and showcasing excellent student research from the School of Social Sciences, Education, and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast.

This year marks a significant milestone, as we’ve released the journal both online and in print for the first time ever. The 4th edition features the outstanding work of eight successful undergraduate students from our school, setting a new record for the number of published essays. This achievement underscores the growing impact and reach of our journal since its founding in 2018. Our mission remains steadfast: to provide a platform where undergraduate students can disseminate high-quality assignments beyond the lecture halls to a wider audience of peers, academics, policymakers, and practitioners. The interdisciplinary nature of the social sciences allows our journal to bring together diverse perspectives from subject areas like sociology, education, social policy, and more.

Over the past four successful editions, we have had the privilege to publish assignments covering a vast range of relevant social issues. Some notable topics have included a review of suicide prevention policy in Northern Ireland, transnationalism and the global care chain, illegal drug use in early adolescence, and understanding depression in older adults, to name but a few. As we celebrate the success of our latest edition, we’re already looking ahead to the future. We’re excited to announce that applications will open for our fifth publication on September 1, 2024. The submission window will run from September 2024 to February 2025. We encourage all undergraduate students in the School of Social Sciences, Education, and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast to consider submitting their research.

We welcome empirical, theoretical, and methodological submissions from undergraduate students across all levels and years of study. Particularly, we encourage contributions that are:

• Focused on contemporary societal issues and debates.
• Engaging with concepts, theories, and data in an analytical and critical manner.
• Demonstrating an extensive literature review and synthesising information from academic sources.
• Rigorously designed and implemented, using an appropriate methodology.
• The structure is coherent, with a clear argument and rationale.

While we expect submissions to be of an excellent scholarly standard, we understand that for many students, this represents their first experience formally writing for publication. Our editorial team is pleased to work closely with prospective authors during the submission and publishing process to improve papers and prepare them for final publication. We are proud to offer this unique platform for the next generation of social science scholars, and we are confident that the research showcased in these pages will contribute meaningful insights to academic discourse and public debates surrounding pertinent social challenges of our time.

Thank you for visiting our website and showing an interest in our students.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and continuing to highlight the exceptional work of our undergraduate community in the upcoming 5th edition.

Kelly Razey – Editor

Saffy Baker – Assistant Editor