TL;DR

• SIURO publishes peer-reviewed math research by undergraduates.

• Submissions must be original work completed during your undergraduate degree.

• Faculty advisor co-certification is required before submission.

• Accepted papers are published open access at no cost to authors.

• Revision rounds are normal; rejection does not mean the work is poor.

You finished a mathematics research project. Your advisor says it is strong. Now you want to know whether it can be published, and if so, where. SIAM Undergraduate Research Online, known as SIURO, is one of the most respected venues for undergraduate mathematics research in the world. It is run by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), a professional organisation founded in 1952 with over 14,000 members across industry and academia.

The submission process is more structured than most students expect. There are formatting rules, certification requirements, and a peer review stage that can take several months. Understanding each step before you begin saves time and reduces the chance of a desk rejection.

This guide walks through every stage of submitting to SIURO, from checking eligibility to responding to reviewer comments. If you are still deciding whether SIURO is the right fit for your paper, the overview below will help you make that call before you invest time in formatting.

What is SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO) and who can submit?

SIURO is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by SIAM that accepts original research in applied and computational mathematics from undergraduate students. To be eligible, the core research must have been conducted while you were enrolled as an undergraduate. Graduate students may not submit work completed after their undergraduate degree ended. Co-authors can include faculty advisors, but the primary intellectual contribution must come from the undergraduate author or authors.

SIURO covers a wide range of mathematical topics. According to SIAM's own published scope, the journal welcomes work in areas including differential equations, numerical analysis, mathematical biology, operations research, and data-driven modeling. Pure mathematics papers are considered if they have clear connections to applications. If your work sits firmly in abstract algebra with no applied angle, SIURO may not be the right venue.

The journal is fully open access. Readers anywhere in the world can download published papers without a subscription. There are no article processing charges for authors. This makes SIURO unusually accessible for students who do not have institutional publishing budgets.

One detail that surprises many first-time submitters: SIURO requires a faculty advisor to co-certify the submission. This is not the same as co-authorship. Your advisor signs a statement confirming that the work is original, that you conducted it as an undergraduate, and that it meets basic standards of mathematical rigor. You need to arrange this certification before you submit, not after.

How to prepare your manuscript for SIURO submission

Manuscript preparation for SIURO follows SIAM's standard formatting guidelines, which are detailed in the author guide available on the SIAM website. Submissions must be written in LaTeX using SIAM's own document class, siamltex.cls or the newer siamltexmm.cls. Microsoft Word files are not accepted. If you have not used LaTeX before, allow extra time to learn the basics before attempting to format a full paper.

The structure of a SIURO paper follows the conventions of any applied mathematics journal. You will need an abstract of no more than 250 words, a clear introduction that situates your work within existing literature, a methods or analysis section, results, and a conclusion. References must follow SIAM's citation style, which uses numbered citations in square brackets ordered by appearance in the text.

Figures and tables must be publication-quality. Blurry screenshots or low-resolution plots will draw negative comments from reviewers even if the mathematics is sound. Export figures at a minimum of 300 dots per inch. Label every axis. Include a caption that explains what the figure shows without requiring the reader to search the surrounding text.

Before you submit, read your paper as if you are a reviewer who has never seen your project. Every claim should be supported. Every variable should be defined when it first appears. Every theorem should be stated precisely. If you are unsure whether your paper is ready, working through a structured feedback process before submission can surface gaps you have stopped seeing after months of close work. Publication Compass is a platform that helps student researchers do exactly this, by giving structured, section-by-section feedback on a draft before it reaches a journal's editorial desk.

For broader context on what the submission process looks like across different journals, the guide on how to submit a research paper to a peer-reviewed journal covers the general stages in detail.

The SIURO submission process: step by step

Submitting to SIURO follows a defined sequence. Skipping any step will delay your submission or result in it being returned without review.

1. Create a SIAM account. Go to siam.org and register for a free account. You will use this account to access the submission portal. Your advisor will also need an account to complete the co-certification step.

2. Prepare your LaTeX source files. Compile your paper using SIAM's document class. Make sure the PDF compiles cleanly with no missing references or undefined commands. Submit the LaTeX source files alongside the compiled PDF.

3. Complete the advisor co-certification. Your faculty advisor logs into the SIAM system and certifies that the research was conducted during your undergraduate enrollment and that the work is original. This step must be completed before the editorial office processes your submission.

4. Submit through the SIAM manuscript portal. Upload your PDF, your LaTeX source files, and any supplementary materials. Fill in the metadata fields: title, abstract, author names, and subject classification codes from the Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC) system. Choose the MSC codes that best describe your work. SIAM editors use these to identify appropriate reviewers.

5. Await editorial screening. An editor will conduct an initial review to confirm the paper falls within SIURO's scope and meets basic formatting and eligibility requirements. Papers that do not meet these criteria may be returned without external peer review. This stage typically takes a few weeks.

6. Peer review. If your paper passes the initial screen, it goes to at least two external reviewers with expertise in your area. SIAM does not publish average review times for SIURO specifically, but peer review at applied mathematics journals commonly takes two to six months.

7. Respond to reviewer comments. You will receive a decision letter with reviewer comments. Even a positive decision usually requires revisions. Write a detailed response letter addressing every comment. Explain what you changed and why. If you disagree with a comment, explain your reasoning respectfully and with evidence.

If you want to see how this process compares across journals that also publish undergraduate research, the guide to publishing your first paper as an undergraduate gives a useful comparison across venue types.

What SIURO reviewers look for

SIURO reviewers evaluate undergraduate work using the same standards applied to professional research, with one adjustment: they consider the level of training the author had access to. This does not mean lower standards. It means reviewers assess whether the work represents a genuine intellectual contribution given the context of undergraduate study.

Reviewers look for four things above all others. First, originality: the result or method must not have been published before. Second, correctness: proofs must be valid, numerical experiments must be reproducible, and conclusions must follow from the evidence. Third, clarity: the writing must be precise enough that a reader in the same subfield can follow every step without ambiguity. Fourth, significance: the work must add something to the field, even if that contribution is modest.

A common reason for rejection at SIURO is not weak mathematics but weak framing. Students sometimes produce correct and interesting results but fail to explain why those results matter or how they relate to existing work. A thorough literature review and a clear statement of contribution in the introduction address this directly.

If you want to understand how journal-specific criteria affect your submission strategy, the post on how to choose the right journal for your research paper covers scope matching in depth. And if you are comparing SIURO against other options, the best journals for undergraduate research overview lists peer-reviewed venues across disciplines.

After acceptance: what happens next

Once your paper is accepted, SIAM's production team will contact you with copyediting queries and a proof to review. Read the proof carefully. Check every equation, every figure label, and every reference. Errors that appear in the final published version are difficult to correct and remain in the permanent record.

Published SIURO papers are assigned a digital object identifier (DOI) and appear on the SIAM website in the SIURO archive. Because the journal is open access, your paper is immediately available to anyone with an internet connection. You retain copyright under the terms SIAM specifies in the publication agreement, which you will sign before publication. Read this agreement before signing it.

After publication, sharing your work strategically increases its reach and citation potential. The guide on how to share your published research online covers the practical steps for doing this without violating journal policies.

If you are planning future submissions and want a platform that helps you match your paper to the right venue and prepare it for peer review, you can join the waitlist at Publication Compass to get early access when the platform opens.

Frequently asked questions about submitting to SIURO

Can I submit to SIURO if I have already graduated?

Yes, within limits. SIAM's guidelines for SIURO state that the research must have been conducted during your undergraduate enrollment. If you graduated recently and the work was completed before graduation, you may still be eligible. Contact the SIURO editorial office directly to confirm your specific situation before submitting.

Does SIURO accept papers with multiple undergraduate co-authors?

Yes. SIURO accepts papers with multiple undergraduate authors, provided all co-authors meet the eligibility criteria. Each undergraduate co-author must have made a genuine intellectual contribution to the research. Honorary authorship, where someone is listed without contributing substantively, is a violation of SIAM's publication ethics policy.

How long does the SIURO review process take?

SIAM does not publish a guaranteed timeline for SIURO. Based on standard practice at applied mathematics journals, initial editorial screening takes two to four weeks. External peer review commonly takes two to six months. Revision and final decision add additional time. Plan for a total process of six to twelve months from submission to publication.

What happens if my SIURO submission is rejected?

A rejection from SIURO does not mean your research is without value. Reviewers often provide detailed comments that improve the paper significantly. Read the feedback carefully, revise accordingly, and consider submitting to another peer-reviewed venue. The guide to publishing a research paper as a student outlines alternative journals and strategies after a first rejection.

Is SIURO indexed in major academic databases?

SIURO is published by SIAM, a recognised professional society, and papers are assigned DOIs. SIAM publications are indexed in MathSciNet, the primary database for mathematical research maintained by the American Mathematical Society. Indexing in MathSciNet gives your paper visibility among professional mathematicians and researchers worldwide.

The next step

Submitting to SIAM Undergraduate Research Online is a serious undertaking. The process rewards preparation. Get your LaTeX formatting right before you submit. Arrange your advisor co-certification early. Write a clear, well-framed introduction that tells reviewers exactly what you found and why it matters. Then submit, and treat every round of reviewer feedback as information rather than judgment.

The students who publish in SIURO are not necessarily the ones with the most sophisticated mathematics. They are the ones who prepared carefully, revised honestly, and stayed in the process long enough to reach acceptance. Start with the preparation, and the rest follows. For more guidance on academic publishing at the student level, visit the Publication Compass blog.