About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science is an open access, online, peer reviewed scientific journal. The Proceedings is intended to stimulate research by West Virginia scientists and Academy members and provide them an outlet for publication of their research results in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Geology, Mathematics, Mining, Physics, Psychology, Science Education, History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Social Science, Health Science, and Environmental Science.

Peer Review Process

Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science relies on the peer review process to uphold the quality and validity of individual articles it publishes. To this end, a blind review process is used wherein anonymity of reviewers is preserved.

Publication Frequency

Two issues of scholarly articles per year and one issue of the proceedings of the annual meeting of the WV Academy of Science (abstracts).

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources.

Journal History

The West Virginia Academy of Science is an organization for professional associates in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Geology, Mathematics, Mining, Physics, Psychology, Science Education, History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Social Science, Health Science, and Environmental Science. It is a corporation chartered by the authority of the West Virginia State Legislature, for the advancement of scientific knowledge and the promotion of scientific work in the State of West Virginia.

The West Virginia Academy of Science (WVAS) was founded at West Virginia University on November 28, 1924. This novel statewide Academy of Science was the product of the earlier West Virginia University Scientific Society (WVSS). A member by the name of J.A. Eiseland stated that state academies of science are "organically affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and that such a plan for our state would give national status for the organization." This lead to the generation of a committee within the University's society, with the intention to develop such a statewide Academy of Science. The president of the University's society at the time, Dr. G.R. Bancroft, stated that the purpose of this proposed Aacdemy of Science was to "bring about a closer affiliation among scientists of the State, and to organize as a group to national recognition."

Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science has been published since 1925 by the West Virginia Academy of Science. The journal moved to an electronic format in 2016 and welcomed new Editor-in-Chief Dr. Joseph Horzempa of West Liberty University.

The Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science (ISSN:2473-0386) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published twice annually by the West Virginia Academy of Science at West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Joseph Horzempa.