About — JBE Research Education

Our Story

Why empirical research, specifically?

Most "research programs" for high schoolers produce essays, opinion pieces, or creative projects packaged with academic vocabulary. That's not research. Real research is empirical — it tests hypotheses against data using accepted methods.

We started JBE because we saw two failure modes in the high school research market. The first: programs that promise rigor but deliver high-school-style essays. The second: students with genuine research talent who couldn't find mentors willing to take them seriously.

JBE is built for the second group. We pair ambitious students with university professors actively publishing in business and social science. We teach the methods — survey design, archival analysis, regression, replication studies. And we build every program around journal submission, because real research has a real audience.

"We don't write papers for students. Mentors guide; students write. We don't promise publication; we position students to be publishable."

The Method

How we work

A research workflow modeled after graduate-level methodology, scaled appropriately for high school.

MatchEvery student starts with a free 30-minute consultation. Based on the student's research interest, academic level, and time commitment, we match them to a professor whose published work sits in a related area.
QuestionThe student and mentor refine a feasible empirical question — one that can be answered with data the student can actually access. This is the most-skipped step in weak programs and the most important step in strong ones.
DesignThe student learns the appropriate methodology: survey design, secondary data analysis, archival research, replication, or experimental design. We teach the basics of inferential statistics — t-tests, correlation, regression — as needed for the project.
Collect & analyzeThe student collects data and runs analysis using R, Stata, or SPSS, depending on the mentor's preference and the student's existing skills.
WriteDrafting follows journal-article structure: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion. The mentor reviews each section; the student revises.
SubmitFor students in the 3-Month Premier track, we identify appropriate peer-reviewed high school journals, prepare the submission package, and support the student through the revision-and-resubmit process.

Our Standards

What we don't do

Honesty about what JBE is — and isn't — saves families time and money.

We don't write papers for students

Mentors guide. Students write. If the work isn't authentically the student's own, the publication doesn't matter and the college essay won't hold up.

We don't promise publication

Promising publication is a regulatory and ethical risk. Peer review is real review. We position students to be publishable and walk them through the process honestly.

We don't take every student

If a student's research interests don't fit our mentor expertise (we focus on business and social science), we'll tell you in the free consult. No hard sell.