A working library for young researchers.
How a high school student writes a research paper and gets it published
Academic writing is not a format. It is a sequence of steps anyone can learn. This guide walks from the research question, literature, method, IMRaD structure and citation to choosing a journal, submitting and answering reviewers, for students writing their first paper and the parents supporting them.
CompetiLab Editorial · 17 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Where a secondary school student can publish research
A verified guide to the journals that take work by high school researchers, what each one expects, what it costs, and when a paper is ready to aim higher: at an MDPI journal or a machine learning workshop.
CompetiLab Editorial · 5 min read
iGEM for high school teams: what the rules have required
Who counts as a high school team, who has to sign, what organisms are allowed, and when the season runs. A guide assembled from the iGEM Foundation's own pages, with a clear line between what we verified and what you must check for the current year.
CompetiLab Editorial · 3 min read
Biodesign Challenge: how a school takes part
Who can register, what a classroom gets, what the Summit is, and what a high school team has already shown is possible. Assembled from the organizer's own pages, with the parts you must confirm marked.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
What machine learning is, and why it is a good first research field
An explanation for students who have heard the words everywhere and parents who want to know what their child would actually be doing: what a model is, what an experiment looks like, and why the field rewards curiosity more than prior knowledge.
CompetiLab Editorial · 3 min read
What iGEM is, and what it asks of a team
An introduction to the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition for students and parents who keep hearing the name: what the competition is, who runs it, and what a season actually involves.
CompetiLab Editorial · 3 min read
What is biodesign?
A field at the edge of biology, design and art, and the competition that has done the most to shape it. An introduction for students who have never heard the word, and for scientists who are suspicious of it.
CompetiLab Editorial · 3 min read
How to write a research question you can actually answer
Most student projects fail at the first step, not the last. A question that is too big cannot be investigated; a question that is too small is not worth the effort. Here is how to find the one in between.
CompetiLab Editorial · 3 min read
Growing a material: a first mycelium experiment
Mycelium composites are the gateway material of biodesign. A guide to a first, safe, documented experiment, and to the questions a prototype should be able to answer.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
Reading a scientific paper in three passes
A research paper is not meant to be read from the first word to the last. Here is a method for deciding what a paper is worth to you before you spend an afternoon on it.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
Human Practices is not a checkbox
Teams often treat stakeholder engagement as a section to fill in near the end. The projects that mature are the ones that let conversations with real people change the design.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
Citation is an argument, not a formality
Students learn citation as a set of punctuation rules. It is better understood as the way a paper shows its reasoning, and the reason academic integrity is not optional.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
Model before the bench
A simple mathematical model, built before the first experiment, is the cheapest experiment a team will ever run. Here is what it can tell you and how little mathematics it needs.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read
Speculative design, explained for scientists
Design that proposes futures in order to question them has a bad reputation among people who measure things. It deserves a better one, with conditions.
CompetiLab Editorial · 2 min read