In February, after a full year of planning, the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management launched the Heinz School Review, an online journal that will showcase the research being done by their graduate students.

According to Amy Wendholt, a Heinz School master’s student and the project manager of the journal, the Review is intended to embody “sound intellectual integrity, enabling policy makers and practitioners to benefit from academic public policy and management research.”

The Review is the product of a Systems Synthesis project that was conducted by 15 Heinz School students. The idea for the journal originated at a meeting of Heinz School students and program administrators: a student asked why there was no journal for the school.

The response was simply that no one had proposed it.

Following the meeting, according to Wendholt, an exploratory committee of six students gathered to discuss how they could create a journal that would reflect the school's research and reputation.

The journal was created to fill a gap by presenting research by public policy practitioners and policy makers in an accessible way and was designed to display the relation between analysis and theory and policy implementation.

The Review is completely student-run, but academicians and practitioners in the field are also encouraged to submit their work. The current issue includes pieces on technology, environmental policy, social policy, and management. One article discusses Google CEO Eric E. Schmidt, and another is an interview with William Cooper, the first dean of the Heinz School.

Many Heinz School students are enthusiastic about the project and voice their support.

“It is good to get the school on the map to be able to compete with other top public policy schools, such as [The Kennedy School of Government]. It offers a great opportunity to gain experience in planning implementation and research. It is a good way to use what we have learned,” said Danielle Hill, a first-year Health Care Policy and Management student.

A few students have expressed some criticism, including Panote Preechyanud, a first-year Heinz School master’s student, who expected more in-depth articles.

“The content is pretty good,” said Preechyanud, “but [the Review] should include more independent research and should also have divided interest areas.”