Category / BU Challenges

Media & Midwifery journal paper: An open access publishing success story!

BU Challenges, open access, Publishing

This journal paper, ‘“Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media‘, was published in 2016 in the Open Access journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth [1].  This interdisciplinary and cross-faculty BU paper was initially rejected by two media journals that didn’t seem to value systematic reviews as a method in their discipline.  In 2016 BU funded the cost of Open Access publishing in BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth.  The paper has since been cited 50 times in SCOPUS (measured 11 May 2021); it has been submitted to REF 2021 in two different Units of Assessment – Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy and Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management.

Being Open Access, the paper has reached scholars outside the health field, as it has been cited not only in many health journals but also in media journals such as Discourse & Communication, International Journal of Sport Communication or Critical Studies in Media Communication as well as in Feminist journals such as  Feminism & Psychology or more Anthropological journals such a European Journal of Cultural Studies .

ResearchGate, the professional network for over 20 million scientists and researchers from all over the world, informed the authors last month (27 April 2021) that ‘“Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media‘ has been read 1,000 times.

Professor van Teijlingen believes that the success of Open Access publishing is often in the longer-term.  Between a paper getting published and being cited by fellow academics can easily take some years.  Funding Open Access publications is a long-term investment by BU.

Reference:

Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V. et al. “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 16, 40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x

If you have any Open Access success stories that you would like to share, please do get in touch with pphatch@bournemouth.ac.uk

Open Access Publishing @ BU

BU Challenges, Guidance, open access, Publishing

Do you want to know more about what open access publishing means at BU and how it works? The Bournemouth University Library and Learning Support LibGuide provides a single source of information where you can find relevant topics on open access such as ‘Depositing your research’, ‘Copyright and Licenses’, ‘Open Access Funding’, ‘Predatory publishers’, so on and so forth.

So head over to the page now, and learn more about open access publishing @ BU!

https://libguides.bournemouth.ac.uk/c.php?g=471706&p=3226076

 

Wiley-Jisc read and publish agreement – update!

BU Challenges, open access, Publishing

We have been informed that the Wiley Jisc read and publish agreement overall fund has been drawn down more quickly than initially projected. As a result, Wiley has estimated that restrictions will need to be introduced at the end of June 2021 which limits OA publishing to UKRI/Wellcome funded articles only.

This has not yet been confirmed, and Wiley will continue to monitor the fund but this is an early warning that some sort of restrictions will be placed on the Wiley-Jisc read and publish agreement later in the year.

Open access publishing is the ethical choice

BU Challenges, open access, Publishing

**Article originally published on WonkHE.com**

When Martin Eve had a stroke five years ago, paywalls prevented him researching his condition. He argues that the current system is patronising, elitist, and needs to change.

Martin Eve is Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing at Birkbeck, University of London.

This is Martin’s view on open access publishing —

I had a stroke half a decade ago and found I couldn’t access the medical literature on my extremely rare vascular condition.

I’m a capable reader, but I couldn’t get past the paywalls – which seemed absurd, given most research is publicly funded. While I had, already, long been an open access advocate by that point, this strengthened my resolve.

The public is often underestimated. Keeping research locked behind paywalls under the assumption that most people won’t be interested in, or capable of, reading academic research is patronising.

Able readers

More than half (50.2 per cent) of the UKs 18- to 30-year-olds now go to university.

These students and graduates, and many others across the population, are able readers who can navigate research materials in their field. To say that there isn’t a public appetite for academic research is a stalling technique from publishers, designed to slow progress towards full open access. What we need is easy access to scholarly output so that people, whether they’re working from home, hospital, or anywhere else, can get digital open access.

But open access does come with its challenges. As an early career researcher, I was given the conflicting choice of publishing in a prestigious venue that would advance my career, against publishing in open access journals that often don’t have an established reputation. This is a common conundrum – and, of course, many take option A.

Even though the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) has opened the discussion about how researchers and the outputs they produce are evaluated, there’s still a lot to be done to swing perceptions of the ‘best venues’ for publishing research. Regardless of how much we want to believe that DORA has influenced how selection committees appoint researchers, if you want to get an academic job, being published in a prestigious journal can still provide a golden ticket.

Taking a stance

While this moral quandary should not be passed to young researchers, there may be benefits to them in taking a firm stance. Early career researchers are less likely to have grants to pay for article processing charges to make their work open access compared to their senior colleagues. Early career researchers are also the ones who are inadvertently paying the extortionate subscription fees to publishers. According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the amount of money UK universities fork out each year to access paywalled content from Elsevier – the largest academic publisher in the world – could pay 1,028 academic researchers a salary of £45,000 per year.

We know for-profit publishers, such as Elsevier, hold all the cards with respect to those prestigious titles. What we need are systematic “read and publish” deals that allow people to publish where they want without having to find funding for open access.

Currently, UK universities, supported by Jisc, are in negotiations with Elsevier. Working on behalf of researchers and students, universities have two core objectives: to reduce costs to levels they can sustain, and to provide full and immediate open access to UK research.

However, there are some problems – not least cost. Most libraries already pay around 30 percent of their budget to Elsevier, and price of “agreements” continue to rise. An agreement with Elsevier can only be truly “open” if universities like mine can afford to participate in them.

The current outlook for prospective researchers to secure an academic position at a university is compromised because so much money is spent propping up for-profit, commercial publishers. Rather than focusing on career damage to those who can’t publish with an Elsevier title, we should focus on the opportunity cost in hundreds of lost careers in academia.

It can be done

We often say early career researchers struggle to take risks, but I did – and I was then appointed as the youngest professor of English in the UK. If you’re willing to make a stand on open access, it can create opportunities.

My passion for open access was ignited when I was a PhD student, but it hasn’t held me back in my career. Six of my seven published books are open access, and three more are in the pipeline that will be published open access. I have also secured agreement to make that first book OA retrospectively. All my conference papers are freely accessible too. I may be the humanities author with the most open access monographs in the world – and I live in this open access world because I’ve made an ethical career choice to do so.

There’s not enough focus on this worthwhile cause that benefits society. I get frustrated by people who only see the negatives of open access and just want to continue the status quo. We are already living in an open access world if you choose it.

The sector’s negotiations with Elsevier should be thought of in that spirit. The world is ready for open access, and I hope that Elsevier will catch up. Otherwise, they’ll become a relic to leave behind as we consider what we really want from research dissemination.

AT Virtual STEAMLab on Wednesday, 12 May 2021

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities

This is a reminder that on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 from 11.30am to 1pm, RDS will be hosting Virtual STEAMLab event under the strategic investment area of Assistive Technology.

Please booking your place by the end of Wednesday, 5 May 2021.

We ask all participants to download and complete the AT STEAMLab Application Form and return this to Ainar Blaudums and/or Theresa McManus.

For more information please read our previous AT STEAMLab blog post.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact RDS Research Facilitators Ainar Blaudums or Ehren Milner.

We are looking forward to meeting you at the STEAMLab next week.

SIA game-changing ideas EoI call: reminder to drop-in!

BU Challenges, innovation

At the risk of needling you with yet another blogpost regarding our exciting Strategic Investment Areas Game-Changing Ideas call for Expressions of Interest (closing 30 April), RDS will take this opportunity to remind you that there are a further two drop-in sessions, on 19 and 22 April respectively: you can find the meeting links on the blogpost regarding these events here: https://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2021/04/01/the-call-for-game-changing-research-concepts-is-currently-open/.

Tips on completion of the EoI will be dispensed at those events, which are entirely informal and also provide possible networking opportunities with others whose ideas may resonatewith yours and with whom you may consider strategically joining join forces.

Finally, should game-changing ideas crossover with one of the other SIAs (as they invariably will, if grand!), we can advise that there are two remaining SIA briefings: Assistive Technology on 22 April, 10.30am, and Sustainability, Low Carbon Technology and Materials Science on 23 April at 10.00am. For the session links, see https://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2021/04/12/88688/

Do pitch up for an informal chat over how you can make your idea a winning one. We look forward to seeing you there!

Invitation to AT Virtual STEAMLab

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities

On Wednesday, 12 May 2021 from 11.30 to 1pm, RDS will be hosting Virtual AT STEAMlab (Science/Tech/Engineering/Arts/Maths lab) event under the strategic investment area (SIA) of Assistive Technology (AT). It will be the second of a series of up to 2-hour long virtual STEAMlabs to be held in the course of 2021.

The ideas generated at this event may also be used to help select colleagues for further Scramble events at short notice.

Booking onto this event

To take part in this exciting opportunity, we ask all participants to download and complete the AT STEAMLab Application Form and return this to Ainar Blaudums by Wednesday, 5 May 2021.

By applying, you agree to attend for the full duration of the event on 12 May from 10:30am to 1pm. Places at the event are limited and you will be contacted to confirm your “virtual space” by 7 May 2021.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact RDS Research Facilitators Ainar Blaudums or Ehren Milner.

 The Brief

We’re seeking to come up with highly innovative and urgently required research which is ambitious in scope and will require a high level of expertise, commitment and funding. The research must address challenges in the AT field.

In short, we anticipate the development of innovative, ground-breaking cross-disciplinary and ambitious projects which have the capacity to attract significant, high value external funding from the public and private sectors in the future.

Who should attend?

We welcome those who wish to contribute to having a positive impact through addressing scientific challenges, but in particular, we are specifically targeting the following:

  1. Those academics whose research aligns with one or more of the BU’s core research areas, or whose research would benefit from the multidisciplinary, collaborative engagement supported by the AT SIA;
  2. Those who have experience of involvement in medium to large scale research projects.

We will also be inviting relevant external attendees, such as digital technology companies, to contribute on the day.

Some Answers to your FAQs:

Do I need to do anything in advance?

No, you do not. During the STEAMLab, you’ll be guided through a process which results in the development of collaborative research ideas. The process facilitates creativity, potentially leading to grand, innovative and interdisciplinary research. These ideas will be shared and explored with other attendees, and further developed based on the feedback received.

 What is the immediate objective?

The objective by the end of the STEAMlab is to have scoped some leading and grand ideas around which a working group or cluster can be formed to take forward towards the development of a large grant application. This event is run to facilitate new interdisciplinary research collaborations.

What do I need to do afterwards?

Your project idea may be “oven-ready”, but it is more likely than not that, given the level of pioneering innovation sought, you/your group’s project idea/s will require some time to crystallise fully, and for the optimum partners to be found for the building a winning consortium, and bringing to fruition a fully-fledged grant application. To this end, it is envisaged that you and your potential collaborators will be committed to meeting on a regular basis, with a firm timetable.

What if my topic area is very specialised, within fields such as medical diagnostics or environmental science?

Your contribution will be very welcome! One of the main benefits of a STEAMlab event is to bring together individuals with a range of backgrounds and specialisms who are able to see things just that bit differently to one another.

REIGNITE LONDON – London Calling: Sharing is Caring! rebuilding life, communities and economythrough Hospitality and Tourism and the Central London Alliance

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, conferences

REIGNITE LONDON – London Calling: Sharing is Caring! rebuilding life, communities and economy
through Hospitality and Tourism and the Central London Alliance
JOIN US Tuesday 20th April 15:00:-17:00

The meeting will be broadcasted LIVE on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/BUTourismHospitality
Organised by:
Bournemouth University International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research
Central London Alliance
PATA UK Bournemouth University Student Chapter
Chaired: Professors Dimitrios Buhalis and Adele Ladkin
Keynote: Tony Matharu, Integrity International Group and Central London Alliance
Panel:
Daniela Wagner, Travel Weekly Group and PATA EMEA
Robert Paterson, CEO, Best Western Hotels
CENTRAL LONDON ALLIANCE is a collection of London businesses large and small, communities, charities,
associations and authorities who are pooling their resources and considerable influence to push
for a faster and more sustainable recovery of the capital city.

Animation, Simulation, Visualisation: you are already immersed….

BU Challenges

“Smart” homes, cities, and motorways, the Internet of Things, and Digital Twins are just some of the 21st century phenomena fast becoming – if not yet a ubiquitous reality on the (Western) ground – at least now common parlance, and no aspect of our lived experience and myriad environments remains untouched by such technologies. As you will be aware, your research – in whatever field you specialise – is not unaffected by these developments. Our Animation, Simulation and Visualisation (ASV) Network literally and virtually plugs into these digital drivers and interfaces, now forming an expanding transdisciplinary group populated by talented, research-active academics from all BU faculties and several research centres, and sharing a commitment to growing high-end, collaborative, fundamental and applied research at BU.
Included in the network are our internationally reputable National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) and the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) – both renowned for sterling achievements in their fields – and our more recently launched Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions (IMSET), and Institute for Medical Imaging and Visualisation (IMIV), who already have a raft of invigorating projects in the pipeline. They are exemplars of the scope and impact of ASV-based or deployed research, and mentioned here to fire up your enthusiasm to explore ASV and ponder how this strategic investment area may be relevant to or harnessed for your research. The strategic mission of the ASV network is to orient the valuable research projects undertaken by BU academics, their partners and stakeholders towards current “real-world” problems which require innovative solutions.
Whether it is entertainment and the pandemic-induced move towards virtual production, the rapidly-evolving digitisation of education, public health or environmental crisis management, the democratisation of medical self-surveillance, state-of-the-art ASV medical diagnostics, AR/VR-enhanced surgical training, virtual access to natural and cultural heritage, inter alia, ASV features in much of the research and practices, products and outputs immanent to these areas of knowledge and expertise. As well as conceptualising, supporting and securing funding for transdisciplinary projects, the ASV network seeks to nurture ECRs and MCRs in their career progression and encourage BU academics to network and explore ambitious, mutually beneficial cross-fertilisations from an ASV perspective which they may not have considered previously.
If you wish to explore how you might become involved in the mission, aims and objectives of the ASV strategic investment area, and ascertain how you might strategically tailor your research for the common good by becoming part of this broad-based, vibrant and dynamic network, please contact me, Nicolette, at nbliebchen@bournemouth.ac.uk, or via MS Teams for an informal chat.
To pique your interest in the strategic investment areas in general, do have a look at the SIA Expression of Interest call for Game-Changing Concepts on the BU Research Blog (on which you shall also find the EoI template: deadline 30 April 2021)

Invitation to VIRTUAL STEAMlab

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Fusion

On Wednesday, 24 February 2021, BU’s Research, Support & Development Office will be hosting our very first, pilot Virtual STEAMlab (Science/Tech/Engineering/Arts/Maths lab) event under the aegis of the strategic investment area (SIA) of Animation, Simulation & Visualisation (ASV). It will also be the first of a series of 2-hour long virtual ASV STEAMlabs to be held in the course of 2021.

This first STEAMlab will introduce and address four core priority areas for the strategic development of ASV cross-faculty, multi-disciplinary collaborations across BU in conjunction with external partners. These 4 areas are:

Virtual Production

Digital Health

Environment in Crisis

Virtual Heritage

This first STEAMlab will focus on these ASV themes in break-out rooms to target specific funding opportunities.

The ideas generated at this event may also be used to help select colleagues for Scramble events at short notice.

Booking onto this event

To take part in this exciting opportunity, all participants should complete the ASV Virtual STEAMLab Application Form V2 and return this to Nicolette Barsdorf-Liebchen at nbliebchen@bournemouth.ac.uk by Friday, 5 February 2021.

By applying, you agree to attend for the full duration of the event on 24 February 2021, 1 – 3 pm. Places are strictly limited and you will be contacted to confirm your “virtual space” by 12 February 2021.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact Nicolette Barsdorf-Liebchen.

 

The Brief

We’re seeking to come up with highly innovative and urgently required research which is ambitious in scope and will require a high level of expertise, commitment and funding. The research must address challenges in the above-mentioned areas, and seek to deploy BU’s considerable ASV expertise and assets.

In short, we anticipate the development of innovative, ground-breaking and ambitious projects which have the capacity to attract significant, high value funding from the public and private sectors.

Who should attend?

We welcome those who wish to contribute to having a positive impact through addressing these challenges, but in particular, we are specifically targeting the following:

  1. Those academics whose research aligns with one or more of these core areas, or whose research would benefit from the multidisciplinary, collaborative engagement supported by the ASV SIA;
  2. Who has experience of involvement in medium to large research projects, and finally;
  3. Who either has the capacity to lead as PI on ideas arising from the STEAMlab in a working group towards development of a substantial grant application of close to or above £1 million, or has the ambition, research track record and commitment to be involved in the same.

We will also be inviting relevant external attendees, such as digital technology companies, to contribute on the day.

Some Answers to your FAQs:

Do I need to do anything in advance?

No, you do not. During the STEAMLab, you’ll be guided through a process which results in the development of research ideas. The process facilitates creativity, potentially leading to grand, innovative and interdisciplinary research ideas. These ideas will be explored with other attendees, and further developed based on the feedback received.

 

What is the immediate objective?

The objective by the end of the STEAMlab is to have scoped some leading and grand ideas around which a working group or cluster can be formed to take forward towards the development of a large grant application.

What do I need to do afterwards?

Your project idea may be “oven-ready”, but it is more likely than not that, given the level of pioneering innovation sought, you/your group’s project idea/s will require some time to crystallise fully, and for the optimum partners to be found for the bidding consortium, and bringing to fruition a fully-fledged grant application. To this end, it is envisaged that you and your potential collaborators will be committed to meeting on a regular basis, with a firm timetable. Substantial administrative support will be available from both RDS as a whole and the ASV Research Facilitator, Dr Nicolette Barsdorf-Liebchen, to advance your project development and manage working groups.

What if my topic area is very specialised, within fields such as medical diagnostics or environmental science?

Your contribution will be very welcome! One of the main benefits of a STEAMlab event is to bring together individuals with a range of backgrounds and specialisms who are able to see things just that bit differently to one another.

New article just published: Stoyanova-Bozhkova, S., Paskova, T., & Buhalis, D. (2020). Emotional intelligence: a competitive advantage for tourism and hospitality managers. Tourism Recreation Research, 1-13.

BU Challenges

New article just published: 

Stoyanova-Bozhkova, S., Paskova, T., & Buhalis, D. (2020). Emotional intelligence: a competitive advantage for tourism and hospitality managers. Tourism Recreation Research, 1-13.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2020.1841377

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of tourism and hospitality management through exploring the perceptions of and the application of emotional intelligence (EI) in the practices of managers. The effect of EI on improving business performance is widely acknowledged in business and management studies. However, there is limited research in the context of tourism and hospitality industries. The paper contributes to the literature through a qualitative study of the perceptions and experiences of middle-level managers. Data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in tourism and hospitality organisations in the UK.

The findings of the study reveal that EI can have a positive contribution to improving staff satisfaction, motivation and overall business productivity. They highlight the importance of building quality relationships among staff and the critical role middle management has in an organisation. Based on the finding from the qualitative inquiry, the authors propose a model conceptualising the role of managers’ EI in creating a competitive advantage for the organisation. Practical implications are discussed and recommendations for further research are provided. 

KEYWORDS: Emotional intelligence, staff satisfaction, self-regulation, staff motivation, tourism and hospitality industries, qualitative methodology

emotional intelligence
emotional Intelligence Model
Manager Emotional Intelligence

BU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre opening event -video recording

BU Challenges, Fusion

On Monday the 2nd of November we celebrated the opening of BU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre. 

During the event we provided an overview of the techniques, recording modalities and facilities that we have available, and discussed potential collaborations and projects.

The centre is designed to foster collaborative research in neuroscience within the university and with our external partners to enable us to bid for external funding. We also seek to promote education in neurosciences in graduate and post-graduate programs.

If you couldn’t attend and are interested in this area, please find below the video recording of the event. Thank you very much and we hope you enjoy it!

Link to recording: https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/rec/share/0Zhf4FTcv9M-KjqFHiuWOUZWVkW-8niOSW2fzs_j5gHQUwSRzfmoX-CURAXQ1goA.R6n_l-4nGOjAfOTg

Passcode: UK#E1QhK

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact any of us (Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk, Hanna Burianová hburianova@bournemouth.ac.uk, Emili Balaguer-Ballester eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk, or Peter Arabaci Hills phills@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Smart technology and the Future of Hospitality and Tourism after COVID-19

BU Challenges

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis contributed a presentation entitled
Smart technology and the Future of Hospitality and Tourism after COVID-19
to the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, PolyU, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

#IMPACT2020 Conference today.

https://youtu.be/YTqnN27khic

#CrisisManagement #Recovery #Strategy #TourismRecovery #RecoveryStrategy #Future #Hospitality #Tourism #Technology #COVID19 #PostCOVID19 

 

Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre informal event

BU Challenges, REF Subjects

We would like to invite you to the informal online opening event of BU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre on Monday 2 November from 10am – 12pm, in Zoom.

The centre is designed to foster collaborative research in applied, translational and theoretical neuroscience within the university and with our external partners to enable us to bid for external funding. We also seek to promote education in neurosciences in graduate and post-graduate programs. The centre offers a range of experimental and theoretical expertise and we are interested in collaborating with internal and external colleagues.

During the event we will provide a very brief overview of the techniques, recording modalities and facilities that we have available. Then we would welcome discussion around potential collaborations and projects.

Add this event to your diary and join us on Zoom. 

Meeting ID: 885 0146 7009
Passcode: BE@hTx^1

Thank you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you there.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact any of us (Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk  Emili Balaguer-Ballester eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk or Peter Abaraci Hills phills@bournemouth.ac.uk).

IMIV MRI Pump-Priming Research Scheme

BU Challenges

To celebrate the launch of the Bournemouth University Institute of Medical Imaging and Visualisation, and the opening of the MRI Centre in the Bournemouth Gateway Building, we are pleased to launch an MRI pump-priming scheme to support innovative MRI research projects.

The aim of this scheme is to support projects that will lead to competitive external funding applications for MR imaging studies.  Applications will therefore be required to demonstrate a clear plan for progressing preliminary studies to grant applications and larger studies.

  • All projects must have a Bournemouth University researcher as lead or co-lead applicant (see application form).
  • Up to 4 awards of up to 20 hours’ scanning time will be available. The award will not cover any additional expenses related to scanning, or other aspects of the project.
  • Projects must be deliverable within 12 months, including ethical approvals. Projects with ethical approvals already in place will be prioritised.
  • There will be online information and project development sessions with members of the IMIV team at 3.30pm on Thursday 22nd October and Thursday 5th November. Please email imiv@bournemouth.ac.uk to register your interest and receive the login details. You can view the virtual presentation here.

To register your interest, and receive the application form, please email imiv@bournemouth.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is 13th December 2020.