Congratulations to the Challenger Research Journal at University of California San Diego, winner of the “Excellence in Student Journals – Research” Gold Award at the 2026 EPIC Awards Ceremony in Chula Vista, California, as part of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 48th Annual Meeting. Editors-in-Chief Meghana Hariprasad, Johnny Tran, Leanne Liaw, and Publishing Coordinator Sofia Ruiz-Murphy were recognized for their contributions to the undergraduate journal, which is published by the University of California’s eScholarship Publishing program.

Challenger Research Journal began as a paper series within the eScholarship Repository, offering an academic publishing training ground for students within the UC San Diego McNair Scholars Program, whose purpose is “to encourage low-income and first-generation college students, and students from historically underrepresented ethnic groups to expand their educational opportunities by enrolling in a Ph.D. program and ultimately pursue an academic career.” The students ultimately launched the journal in 2024, joining 26 other UC-campus based student journals currently published by eScholarship. The UC San Diego Undergraduate Research Hub’s McNair Program Coordinator serves as the advisor to the publication, ensuring continuity as students rotate through the editorial board. 

For Challenger Co-Editor-in-Chief Meghana Hariprasad, this EPIC award “recognizes the meticulous work and dedication of both the editorial team and the authors that are a part of Challenger and highlights the importance of supporting interdisciplinary student journals. When initiatives like ours are funded and supported, it provides students from underrepresented backgrounds more opportunities in academia, furthering academic equity and ensuring the success of these students.”

Co-Editor-in-Chief Leanne Liaw reflects on the advantages of the diamond open access model for student authors:  “I…have come to appreciate how especially fortunate this journal is to be on the eScholarship platform and benefit from having to pay no submission or publishing fees. As someone who has been tracking the long-term impacts of our volumes, I have deeply appreciated how removing this immense financial barrier has allowed our authors not only receive thousands of views on their publications but also citations from articles whose projects are led by researchers around the world.”

Student journals occupy an important and unique place in academic publishing. Like so many research universities, the University of California San Diego provides many opportunities for undergraduates to work closely with faculty and to produce original research that contributes to the scholarly record. Student journals build on this experience by providing a space to explore and learn about scholarly communication. The Challenger Research Journal offers students the kind of first-hand knowledge of the academic publishing process that is necessary for career advancement. 

The full press release with all the winners can be found on the SSP website.

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