From Paper to Public Research
Sycamore senior gets published in The Journal of Student Research
Senior Abi Singstock spent a significant portion of her junior year working on her AP Research paper, an exploration into the various meal options for students with vegetarian or vegan diets. Singstock’s paper would end up expanding to 30 pages worth of compiled data, analysis, and research, and was published by the High School Branch of The Journal of Student Research. Her work is now also being referenced by the Board of Education to develop more vegetarian and vegan-friendly cafeteria options for students at school, bringing Singstock’s ideas to reality.
Have you ever considered taking AP Research at SHS? Senior Abi Singstock decided to take this class in her junior year in the Synovation Lab.
Singstock had just gone vegetarian and wanted to “explore the amount of plant-based options” that were available in public schools around Cincinnati. And due to the sheer abundance of information Singstock had to share, the research she put together ended up taking her the entire school year.
“It was definitely a lot of writing. I think I had to condense the font when I submitted it to the journal but it was at one point 30 pages long. I had to summarize a lot of stuff into tables and created these little meal plans of what someone following a plant-based diet would follow, or like what they could eat at the school,” said Singstock.
After finishing her research and constructing her paper, Singstock realized that more people than just her teacher and the readers of her AP exam should see this. In July, she applied to the Journal of Student Research, which, according to their website is “an academic, multidisciplinary, and faculty-reviewed journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research published by high school, undergraduate, and graduate students” to get her paper published.
“They got back to me around October, and I had to actually pay for them to do what they consider a fast track review. Usually, they get back by April or so,” Singstock said.
As expected, with her fantastic research, Singstock’s application to be published was accepted.
“I wanted to push [my paper] out to the world and let other people see what I have to say and what my research says. I was hoping that it could touch more people. Right now I’ve been kind of working with the Board of Education to see if we can work on including more plant-based foods into lunch and having those options available,” said Singstock.
The goal of Singstock’s research paper was to display all of her findings. She wanted to influence others with her research, and by the end of her paper, Singstock had gone from vegetarian to vegan herself. Not only did Singstock influence others with her research paper, but changing her eating habits shows how she influenced herself as well. Her lengthy research paper may have taken time and effort, but the results proved fruitful, and may actually have an impact on our school and the real world around us.
You can read Singstock’s paper at this link here.
Quotes edited for clarity
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