TAMIU Faculty, Student, Alumni Researchers Succeed in Publishing Academic Paper Together During Pandemic
While the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly interrupted the daily lives of many, a tenacious group of six Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) faculty, students and alumni never gave up on their laser-focused goal of publishing their academic paper together.
The group’s impressive collaborative effort, made possible by months of virtual meetings marked by painstaking sessions of manuscript writing, reviewing and editing during challenging times of social distancing, has finally paid off.
Their Kinesiology paper, titled, “Inter-Device Reliability of Wearable Technology for Quantifying Jump Height in Collegiate Athletes,” has been accepted and will soon be published in the renowned academic journal, Biology of Sport. Paper co-authors included Dr. Brett Nickerson, Noel Medrano, Gabriel Pérez, Samantha Narvaez, Joshua Carrillo, and Misael Duque.
Dr. Brett Nickerson, TAMIU assistant professor of Kinesiology who led the effort, said that he is pleased that the group was able to achieve its objective.
“Obviously, I’m extremely excited for student publications,” he said, “I have been fortunate with publishing approximately 40 peer-reviewed manuscripts during my first four years at TAMIU. However, a limited number of my previous publications involved undergraduate students to the extent that the current project did, which makes this even more rewarding.”
The paper is related to the subject of strength and conditioning in Kinesiology and the study’s purpose was to evaluate the inter-device reliability of three VERT devices when worn on the waist during counter movement jumps in collegiate athletes. VERT is a wearable device, produced by Mayfonk Athletic, that helps athletes track their jump height and count.
For over a year, Dr. Nickerson and his students, some now TAMIU graduates, worked on their research. Some of the students worked part-time jobs while attending the University, and some are funded by TAMIU’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
“When COVID-19 hit and we could no longer collect data on human subjects, I had to think about how I could keep these students involved with research so they could continue to receive funding through their Fellowship,” Nickerson said, “That’s when the idea came to me that we could use WebEx to meet virtually and write manuscripts.”
During the manuscript writing process, Nickerson said he and his students formed a close working relationship. While writing, they also utilized extensive data they had already collected prior to the pandemic. As a result of the tight and frequent collaboration that took place, he said he was able to transfer to students the concept that they must be artful when writing an academic manuscript.
“I told them that an extremely good study may get rejected by a good journal if the authors are poor writers,” he said, “In contrast, authors that are really good writers can make a fairly simple study sound great, which subsequently may result in being published in a good journal.”
He continued, “In my opinion, it’s all about writing style and how influential the authors are when writing the manuscript. Therefore, I tried to really emphasize this to the students. Over time, I think they have slowly been learning my thought process and have become better writers.”
This is only one story of many successful ones at TAMIU, Nickerson said.
“There are a lot of great professors at TAMIU and our number one priority is always the students,” he said, “The ability of our professors to transition in the middle of the semester from face-to-face to online while delivering quality instruction demonstrates the level of determination by faculty to help students ‘Go Beyond.’ ”
Nickerson said he and his group are now working on submitting a second manuscript within the next few weeks.
For more information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180 or email prmis@tamiu.edu.
Additional information on the University’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 Pandemic is available on its online COVID-19 Response Center, located at https://www.tamiu.edu/coronavirus/index.shtml
Registration for Fall 2020 is now underway. TAMIUFlex, Hybrid, Face-to-Face and online courses will all have the same tuition rates. An online catalog containing a list of all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs is at http://catalog.tamiu.edu
TAMIU ranks 5th in the nation among the 100 Most Affordable Public Schools with the Highest Return on Investment (ROI), according to ranking authority Great Value Colleges. U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Edition of its popular Best Colleges guide ranks TAMIU as the second highest-ranked Texas public university in its Best Regional Universities West category and the highest-ranked regional campus of the Texas A&M University System.
Most recently, TAMIU earned a top tier ranking for its COVID-19 Pandemic response. The 2020 Educate to Career College ranking placed TAMIU in Tier I for colleges and universities that have responded to the pandemic in ways that benefit and protect students, especially in terms of available online learning resources. Some 1200 colleges across the nation were reviewed.
As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, TAMIU’s campus is closed only to the general public. Entry to campus continues for students, faculty, staff and those having legitimate reasons to be on campus. Online and virtual services at the University continue, practicing all CDC Guidelines on gathering, masking and social distancing and with most staff working remotely.
Office hours are subject to change and it is recommended that phone or email contact be made first to determine the office’s schedule of operation. An online directory is here.
