Carolina CrossTalk is USC’s student-led undergraduate research magazine, featuring
students’ personal stories in conducting research across diverse disciplines. CrossTalk
aims to communicate about research and inspire others to pursue their own research
curiosities.
There are two ways to be featured in our CrossTalk issues:
Write up your own reflection of your research, following the guidelines under “Submit
your materials.”
Be interviewed by one of our CrossTalk writers, who will work on communicating your
research story based on your thoughts and experiences. You can be as involved as you
would like to be with the editing process. We will work with you on ideas.
Articles must be written about your own research project (it is completely okay to
be working with a faculty mentor).
Articles should have a conversational tone—you should write as though the reader has
minimal background experience in research.
Submit your article in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Articles must be submitted as a Word document.
You must submit a Faculty Approval Form for each submission; the form must be signed by the faculty mentor connected to the
research in the submission.
Photographs
We would love to have your photos to accompany your article!
Submit a minimum of 2 photos for us to review and insert into the magazine layout.
Please include a short caption for each photo.
Resolution should be 72 DPI. To check this, go to the properties of the image and
look for the resolution.
Save images as a .jpg.
If any individuals besides yourself are present in the photo, you must also submit
a signed Video/Photo Release for each person so that we can publish with their permission.
If you would like to request a CrossTalk photographer to come to the lab, project
area, an event, or to document anything else relevant to your research, please email
carolinacrosstalk@gmail.com.
We’re looking for editors, writers, designers, and photographers to join our team!
No research experience is necessary. Email carolinacrosstalk@gmail.com to learn more about joining the CrossTalk team and/or fill out our application.
FAQs
Carolina CrossTalk accepts research from all disciplines! You can publish an article
regardless of whether you started the research project or joined one in progress.
Also, CrossTalk qualifies as an alternative publication towards Graduation with Leadership Distinction if the researcher writes their own article. This experience will provide a professional
environment for critiques.
Whether you’ve been working on a research project for a few months or two years, we
would love to feature you in our next issue! Our purpose is to share the research
experiences of individuals at different points in the research—from getting started
with emailing professors to presenting research projects at conferences.
Carolina CrossTalk has opportunities for editors, writers, photographers, graphic
designers, and public relations representatives. Joining the CrossTalk team will teach
you editorial, marketing, and design skills with no prior experience required! Email
carolinacrosstalk@gmail.com with your name, major, year, and which roles caught your interest.
There is no experience required, though some writing experience is preferred. The
CrossTalk team can help refine your skills and train new members if they are unfamiliar
with the responsibilities of their role. We are always looking for enthusiastic people
to join our staff!
Being a researcher is not required, but Carolina CrossTalk is looking for people who
have a natural curiosity for the world around them! We still encourage researchers
to join CrossTalk if interested
It depends on how involved you want to be! We do our writing, editing, and designing
in phases where writers and editors have alternating week-long deadlines for three
drafts. Then graphic designers are needed towards the end of the semester to put the
magazine together. Public relations representatives market the magazine throughout
the semester whether it’s sending email blasts, posting on social media, or hosting
a table at the student organization fair. Photographers work on an as-needed basis
because some researchers may already have finished their project.
Our existing team members are willing to meet with you to give you a better idea of
what the roles look like for each position. We do ask that you commit to a role(s)
2-3 weeks into the semester
Carolina CrossTalk prints physical magazines by request. Either email carolinacrosstalk@gmail.com or fill out this form. The cost of the individual magazine depends on demand.
Generally, the magazine issues are released in the first few weeks of the following
semester. They’ll be published on this website, but if you want a print copy, please
reach out to us at carolinacrosstalk@gmail.com to place an order in advance.
Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.