Category / Research Training

Pritchard & Harding paper cited in top journal, but there’s a ‘but…’

Featured academics, Publishing, Research communication, Research Integritiy, Research news, Research Training, writing

cloudAs an ECR I am delighted to see that a research paper that Prof. Pritchard and myself wrote in 2014 has been cited in one of the most well regarded journals in the field.

Our paper on the occupational backgrounds of Non-executive directors at NHS acute trusts, published in the Journal for the Royal Society of Medicine Open, was also the subject of an article in the now defunct Independent  newspaper and a post on this blog in May 2014.

Last year, in 2015, it was cited by a paper published in the Journal for Health Services Research and Policy. I won’t name which edition or paper because there is a ‘but…’, and it concerns the carelessness of the authors who cited our work.

There is a ‘but…’ because the authors got my name wrong – both in the in text citation and in the bibliography. The good news is that it still links on citation tracking systems (such as the function on Google Scholar) as a paper that I co-wrote. Yet as an ECR, who is trying to make his way in the ‘publish or perish’ world of academia, I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated. Here’s my name in a top journal, but it’s incorrect.

So I took action, I emailed the editors. To their credit I got a response within minutes, with an apology for the carelessness of the authors and that contact with the publisher had been initiated to see if it could be corrected. Yet, due to the inflexibility of doi, apparently this is unlikely.

This then got me thinking about my first publication. I have to admit I did not check the final galley proof thoroughly enough. Indeed, when it was published, it became apparent that I had not corrected some basic incorrect spelling of names in the bibliography. In other words, some very respected authors’ names were wrong! I can happily report that this was corrected, and no offence caused (I hope!).

But the lesson here – check final galley proofs. If you cite an article, I think the very least you can do, out of respect for colleagues, is to get the authors name right. I have made this mistake, and so have authors who have cited me, so it would scream hypocrisy if I was too mad! But it does show that it might be a relatively common problem, so again – check final galley proofs!

However, once the relative pain bypassed, one our papers has still been cited in a top journal – and that is very satisfying indeed.

 

Research culture at BU

BU research, Guidance, Research Training

cultureI have recently read a couple of interesting reports on research cultures within universities and what makes a high-performing research unit.

The first of these is a King’s College London report commissioned by HEFCE issued in November 2015 ‘Characteristics of high-performing research units‘ and the second is a BIS report issued in 2014 ‘Economic Insight: Growing the best and the brightest‘.

Both analysis identify the following:

  • High-performing research units (HPRUs) have more staff with PhDs, professorial postitions, international experience and externally funded salaries (mainly from external research funding agencies);
  • HPRUs focus on recruiting the best and retaining them;
  • HPRUs provide training and mentorship programmes to develop staff;
  • Activities supporting the recruitment, development and motivation of researchers are critical drivers of research excellence;
  • Staff within HPRUs display a distinct ethos of social and ethical values;
  • Leaders of HPRUs have earned ‘accountable autonomy’;
  • HPRUs receive more income per researcher than the average research unit;
  • HPRUs enable and encourage researchers to initiate collaborations organically as opposed to a top down approach;
  • Activities relating to collaborating with others, creating and implementing research strategies, securing a mix of funding and responding to competitive pressure are important;
  • ‘On-the-ground’ or ‘day-to-day’ initiatives by individual researchers can be at least as important as the ‘high-level strategic’ initiatives instigated by institutions.

Please do read the documents above if you would like more information on how the key factors were determined.

RKEO’s Delivery Plan is currently being finalised with UET.  The plan identifies that research funding is crucial for building a sustainable research base and enhancing the vitality and sustainability of the research environment.  We will be working with the Faculties to support the development of high-performing research teams and to support BU with mechanisms and requirements for building a successful research culture.  This will also be supported by the new and improved RKE Development Framework (to be launched this summer). A variety of opportunities will be available, which will include greater access to targeted bid writers, proof-reading services, and stronger direction to strategically important funding options. We will organise activities to facilitate collaboration and networking both internally and externally with academic and non-academic partners. Keep an eye on the research blog for further information.

In the meantime, don’t forget it is BRAD week next week.  Click here to see what training and development opportunities are available to you.Research

 

 

Introduction to Research Professional – 5 April 2016

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research Training

Research-Professional-logoResearch Professional will be delivering training at Bournemouth University between 12.30 – 2.00pm on 5/4/16 as part of Bournemouth Researcher Academic Development (BRAD) week.

Research Professional is a search engine designed to help researchers find potential funding calls, keep researchers up to date with developments in the higher education sector and can bring researchers together to compete for a funding call.

From this session you will be able to:

  • Register an account
  • Learn how to search for funding calls
  • Understand to search for articles
  • How to set up searches and personal alerts
  • How to use the Expression of Interest feature
  • How to find and use the pre-set BU workgroups

To book onto this session, please follow the link here.

Invitation to NERC webinar on national capability research

Events, Research communication, Research Training

On 7 April, NERC will be hosting a live webinar showcasing our new investments in multi-disciplinary national capability research within our centres. This will provide an opportunity for the wider academic community to learn more about these programmes and help to generate ideas for strategic research for submission to the NERC Strategic Programme Advisory Group (SPAG).

NERC has challenged its centres to develop a set of core multi-disciplinary programmes which capitalise on centre expertise across the breadth of NERC’s remit. These multi-centre programmes are expected to commence from April 2016. These new collaborative programmes redefine problems outside individual centre boundaries and will provide outcomes based on a new understanding of complex situations. The national capability funds are not new or additional money; the multi-centre programmes are focused plans as to what centres intend to do with a portion of their existing allocations over the next five years.

During the webinar, leads for each programme will present an overview of their research plans and anticipated outcomes. This will allow participants to understand the significance of this strategically-important work, and inform individual plans for strategic research for which these programmes could form the platform.

Programme for the day

09:15 Webinar open, people register and join.

09:30-09:40 Introduction and format of webinar

09:40-10:10 Ocean regulation of climate through Heat & carbon sequestration and transports (ORCHESTRA)

10:20-10:50 Land ocean carbon transfer (LOCATE)

11:00-11:30 The north atlantic climate System: integrated study (ACSIS)

11:40-12:10 UK Earth system modelling project (UKESM)

12:20-12:50 Achieving sustainable agricultural systems (ASSIST)

12:50 Close.

Registration for this event is via the online registration form . Please note that, as numbers will be limited, we would encourage colleagues to participate together where possible, providing one contact point for registering for this ‘shared access’.

Please also note that the event will be recorded, so if you are unable to participate on the day, you will be able to access the slides later from the NERC web site.

Introductory Research Professional Session: 5 April 2016

Research Training

Research-Professional-logoResearch Professional will be delivering training at Bournemouth University on 5/4/16 as part of Bournemouth Researcher Academic Development (BRAD) week.

Research Professional is a search engine designed to help researchers find potential funding calls, keep researchers up to date with developments in the higher education sector and can bring researchers together to compete for a funding call.

From this session you will be able to:

  • Register an account
  • Learn how to search for funding calls
  • Understand to search for articles
  • How to set up searches and personal alerts
  • How to use the Expression of Interest feature
  • How to find and use the pre-set BU workgroups

To book onto this session, please follow the link here.

BRAD 2016 starts in April – don’t miss out – get yourself booked in!

BU research, Research Training

The BU Researcher/Academic Development (BRAD) events programme will run 4th of April – 11th of April 2016.BRAD

With less than one month to go until our BRAD events programme begins – there is still time to book yourself into one or more of our exciting events through Organisational Development under the following themes.

Introduction and Basics

BRAD wordle

Case for Support with Dr. Andrew Derrington

Funding opportunities, Research Training

BRADAs part of BRAD week, Dr. Andrew Derrington has been brought in to run a “Case for Support” workshop on Monday 4th of April 2016.

The workshop is designed to start you working on an extremely efficient ’recipe’ for a research project grant, such as research council standard grant, that makes it possible to produce a case for support in 2 weeks. The case for support is the central component of a grant application. All the rest of the information in the application should derive from the case for support.

If you have a fundable project in mind at the start of the workshop, you should have a rough draft of the skeleton of the case for support, in the form of 10 key sentences, by the end of the day. If you don’t have a fundable project in mind at the start of the day you will practise the skills of writing the 10 key sentences with a dummy project.

For those who are interested in booking onto this training, please follow the link here to book through Organisational Development.

Fusion in Action: Clinical Academic PhD scholarships jointly funded with NHS

BU research, Fusion, PG research, Research communication, Research Training, student research, Uncategorized

Fusion Diagram Doing a PhD may appeal to midwives and other NHS health professionals, but it often involves having to make difficult choices. Undertaking a part-time PhD means studying on top of a busy clinical position, but starting full-time study involves stepping away from practice, which may lead to a loss of clinical skills and confidence. The Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) at Bournemouth University has come up with a novel solution making it easier for midwives to undertake a doctorate while still maintaining their clinical skills. This approach is highlighted in the latest publication by Dr. Susan Way and colleagues, describing a process where CMMPH collaborate with NHS partners to apply for a match-funded PhD. [1]  The first partnership was with Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (PHT), with later partners expanded to cover the Isle of Wight and Southampton. Currently there are negotiations with Dorset Country Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Non NHS organisations have also showed an interest with the Anglo European Chiropractic College (AECC) our likely next collaborator.

Dr. Know 2016

This jointly funded clinical academic doctorate allows midwives to combine clinical practice with a research role, working across BU and their NHS Trust. The studentships runs for four years and PhD students will spend two days per week working as a midwife in clinical practice and three days per week working on their thesis. This set up facilitates the co-creation of knowledge. Anybody interested in developing a joint clinical academic PhD with us please contact Dr. Susan Way (sueway@bournemouth.ac.uk), Prof. Vanora Hundley (vhundley@bournemouth.ac.uk), or Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (evteijlingen@bournemouth.ac.uk) .

In addition to providing the individual midwives with excellent education, these studentships are designed to examine an area of clinical practice identified by the collaborating organisation where the evidence is lacking and research is needed. As a consequence the research studies will be directly relevant to practice and will have a demonstrable impact in the future. Hence BU will be able to show that its research and education have a direct benefit to the wider society. Moreover, the studentships currently benefit midwifery practice by building a critical mass of research-focus practitioners, who will translate research findings into practice and so create a culture of evidence-based practice. At BU the model has also been adopted by other professional groups such as nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy (OT).

 

The result is a clinical academic doctoral studentship is probably the best practical example of BU’s concept of FUSION, since it truly fuses research, education and practice.

 

Susan Way, Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen.

CMMPH

 

 

References:

  1. Way. S., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E., Walton, G., Westwood, G. (2016). Dr Know. Midwives (Spring Issue): 66-67.

RKEO Academic and Researcher induction

BU research, Guidance, Research Training

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.

The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level.  The induction will also provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

The fourth induction will be held on 5th April 2016 on the 4th floor of Melbury House. The format of the day is as follows:

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RKEO academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RKEO staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development here. We will directly contact those who have started at BU in the last five months.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RKEO team

RKEO

Post-Doc Research Opportunities in Politics at BU

BU research, EU, Research Training

The Centre for Politics and Media Research in the Faculty of Media & Communication, Bournemouth University welcomes interest from recently qualified post-doctoral researchers to come and work in the Centre as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow.

Research projects of interest are:

  • Political talk and the online public sphere
  • Global citizenship, public engagement with global affairs and political participation (particularly engagement via digital media)
  • The media framing of politics and its impacts
  • The politics of public space
  • Extremist politics, security and social cohesion, fundamentalism, freedom of speech

Specialist skills training we can offer at Bournemouth University:

  • Quantitative and qualitative methodologies
  • Web platform and social media data capture and analysis
  • Mass media data capture and analysis
  • Psychological and sociological approaches to the study of politics
  • Consumer behaviour/psychology approaches to the study of political participation

Full details about the call can be found at the below link.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2226-msca-if-2016.html

Initial expressions of interest should be sent to the Centre Director, Dr Darren Lilleker (dlilleker@bournemouth.ac.uk) including a summary of the proposed research project and accompanying curriculum vitae.

The planned opening of the call is April 12th 2016 with a submission deadline of 14th September 2016.

Challenges in Research Event

Info Days, Research news, Research Training, Training

Challenges in Research

Wednesday 24th February, 12pm-2pm

Second Floor, Executive Business Centre, Lansdowne Campus

Open to all Research Staff from across the Faculties, this event will aim to enlighten you about some of the issues you might encounter as a researcher. There will be two sets of parallel sessions running for 1 hour per session covering the following topics:

  • Predatory publishing/Fake conference and editorial board
    1. Jenny Hall, Emma Crowley and Edwin van Teijlingen will be addressing the exponential growth in commercial (predatory) journals and ‘academic conferences’ over the past few years.
      • They will be highlighting some of the available information/ resources to help the confused researcher in finding the most appropriate journal for their academic paper.
      • The presenters between them have a wealth of experience in academic publishing, editing international journals, reviewing journal submissions as well as advising junior colleagues on developing  their publication strategies.
  • IP and Patents – Traps to avoid
  • Contractual complications
  • Sponsorship  
    1. “How to navigate the BU process and sponsorship” by Jason Edwards
    2. “Lots of people think that sponsorship and funding is the same think” – Laura Purandare will talk about what sponsorship is and the main issues you  might encounter and how to overcome them
  • A Brief Introduction to Open Research Data and Research Data Management by Michael Board. The talk will cover:
    1. Open Research Data – BU researchers are increasingly expected to share their research data with other stakeholders.  Find out about: the benefits of research data sharing, funder RDM requirements and the measures that can be taken to embargo research data if it is ethically or commercially sensitive.
    2. Research Data Management –  BU is in the process of implementing a RDM system to enable its researchers to share their research data.  Find out about: the key components of the RDM system that enables the deposition of research data into a data repository, and the features that make the data outputs accessible.

The sessions will be run by legal services along with library and research staff.

Further information about the timing of particular sessions will be posted closer to the time, as well as emailed out to anyone who has already pre-registered.

To register your place please click here

Online Resources for Principal Investigators

BU research, Guidance, Post-award, Research Training, Training

Leadership Development
Not too long ago HEFCE funded a project to provide online resources to help principal investigators develop their skills, these excellent resources are hosted by Vitae. This collaborative project involved colleagues at a number of universities across the UK, RCUK, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, ARMA and Universities UK.

The resources can be found here and include some fantastic sections on: