Category / writing

BU Workshop on Health Systems in Nepal

open access, writing

You are invited to a two-hour ‘Workshop on Health Systems in Nepal’ at Bournemouth University (BU) on Thursday 25th May in the Bournemouth Gateway Building (BGB room 315) starting at 14.00, aiming to finish at 16.00.  We have the pleasure of welcoming three academic visitors from Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu who are at BU on an Erasmus+ exchange.

‘Prof. Sujan Marahatta, Dr. Sujata Sapkota and Dr. Sujan Gautam from MMIHS are part of an international project examining the consequences for the health system of Nepal’s move to a federal government structure.  This project, launched in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, is led by the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with BU, the University of Huddersfield, PHASE Nepal and MMIHS.  This nearly four-year project is UK-funded by the MRC (Medical Research Council), the Wellcome Trust and DFID (now called Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office [FCDO]) under the Health Systems Research Initiative.

The project has resulted in several publications, all in Open Access journals.  The first of three papers introduced the research project ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system: a longitudinal analysis’ [1], the second focused on COVID-19 when examining the effects of changing Nepal’s constitution towards a federal republic on its health system [2], and the third one highlighted  Public Health approaches around the ongoing federalisation of the state of Nepal and the associated decentralisation processes in its health system [3].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (formerly CMMPH)

 

References:

  1. Sapkota, S., Panday, S., Wasti, S.P., Lee, A., Balen, J., van Teijlingen, E., Rushton, S., Subedi, M., Gautam, S., Karki, J., Adhikary, P., Marahatta, S., Simkhada, P. for the Nepal Federal Health System Team (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of Nepal Public Health Association 7 (1): 36-42.
  2. Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., Subedi, M., Balen, J., Karki, J., Simkhada, P. on behalf of the Nepal Federal Health System Team (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146
  3. Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Gautam, S., Ghimire S., Karki J.K., Lee A.C., Marahatta S.B., Pandey S., Pohl G., Ruston S., Sapkota S., Simkhada P.P., Subedi M., van Teijlingen E.R., on behalf of the NFHS Team (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system. Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3(3)

Writing Academy 2023: 3-Day Workshop

Post-award, Training, writing

This 3-Day workshop covers strategies for academic writing: writing to prompts, targeting a journal/specific criteria, types of prompt for academic writing, ‘snack writing’, goal-setting for writing, motivation, freewriting, generative writing, analysing academic writing, drafting and revising an abstract/summary, constructing a ‘contribution’ argument, using prompts in series, outlining, productive writing behaviours, wellbeing, writing groups, micro-groups and retreats. Many of these can be used in preparing for a concentrated spell of writing at a writing retreat.

This is a practical workshop. The aim of the writing activities in this workshop is to let you try these strategies and consider how/if/where they can fit in your writing practice. We also discuss how they can be used for writing theses, articles and other writing. They also let you start/work on your writing project during the workshop.

The online version of this course involves several short writing activities, all designed to help you develop your paper/chapter/thesis and use productive, healthy writing habits. By signing up to this course you agree to do the writing tasks and to talk about your writing in online small-group discussions, to give and receive feedback on this writing and to discuss your writing plans and goals.

You can find the programme here

 

Workshop Date Time Location
Writing Academy: Day 1 Wednesday, 21st June 2023 10.00 – 16.00 Online
Writing Academy: Day 2 Thursday, 22nd June 2023 08.55 – 16.45 Online
Writing Academy: Day 3 Friday, 23rd June 2023 08.45 – 16.45 Talbot Campus

 

Please note, participants are required to attend all three days of the Writing Academy sessions.

To book a place on this workshop please complete the Booking Form.

 

For any specific queries regarding this workshop please email Pengpeng Hatch: pphatch@bournemouth.ac.uk.

BU PhD student publishes in The Conversation

international, Publishing, Student Engagement, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations the Abier Hamidi, PhD student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) whose PhD work was published in The Conversation this week (24 April) under the title Social media now trumps traditional family networks in Libya – my Facebook survey reached 446,000 women.  Her piece in The Conversation on the recruitment of female participants for a PhD study in a rather patriarchal society brings together issues of anonymity, gender, and wider social culture.

This is Abier’s PhD research is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health and the Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

Double congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker

Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker, Professor of Society & Social Welfare in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, who just published his historical-sociological analysis of British Welfare under the title Analysing the History of British Social Welfare – Compassion, Coercion and Beyond.  The book it is published by Policy Press and will be available next week.   This book offers insights into the development of social welfare policies in Britain. By identifying continuities in welfare policy, practice and thought throughout history, it offers the potential for the development of new thinking, policy making and practice.

In addition Jonathan also published a new edition of his popular textbook Introducing Social Work SECOND EDITION.  This edited volume included chapters by BU academics Dr. Orlanda Harvey (Chapter 26) and Dr. Sally Lee (Chapter 22) as well as an array of internationally renowned social work academics.

Congratulations!
Prof.Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

Writing Academy 2023- 3 Day Workshop

Post-award, Training, writing

Online education Flat isometric vector concept of online education, e-learning, webinar, training academic publishing stock illustrationsThis 3 Day workshop covers strategies for academic writing: writing to prompts, targeting a journal/specific criteria, types of prompt for academic writing, ‘snack writing’, goal-setting for writing, motivation, freewriting, generative writing, analysing academic writing, drafting and revising an abstract/summary, constructing a ‘contribution’ argument, using prompts in series, outlining, productive writing behaviours, wellbeing, writing groups, micro-groups and retreats. Many of these can be used in preparing for a concentrated spell of writing at a writing retreat.

This is a practical workshop. The aim of the writing activities in this workshop is to let you try these strategies and consider how/if/where they can fit in your writing practice. We also discuss how they can be used for writing theses, articles and other writing. They also let you start/work on your writing project during the workshop.

The online version of this course involves several short writing activities, all designed to help you develop your paper/chapter/thesis and use productive, healthy writing habits. By signing up to this course you agree to do the writing tasks and to talk about your writing in online small-group discussions, to give and receive feedback on this writing and to discuss your writing plans and goals.

You can find the programme here

 

Workshop Date Time Location
Writing Academy: Day 1 Wednesday, 21st June 2023 10.00 – 16.00 Online
Writing Academy: Day 2 Thursday, 22nd June 2023 08.55 – 16.45 Online
Writing Academy: Day 3 Friday, 23rd June 2023 08.45 – 16.45 Talbot Campus

 

Please note, participants are required to attend all three days of the Writing Academy sessions.

To book a place on this workshop please complete the Booking Form.

 

For any specific queries regarding this workshop please email Pengpeng Hatch: pphatch@bournemouth.ac.uk.

BU signs up to Jisc agreement with the American Psychological Association

Guidance, open access, REF Subjects, Research assessment, writing

BU authors can now publish OA for free in select journals with American Psychological Association. Read on to find out more!

Authors affiliated with UK institutions participating in APA’s Jisc agreement may publish open access in hybrid journals published by APA at no cost to the author, provided that:

  • The article’s corresponding author is affiliated with a participating institution’s UK campus.
  • The article is accepted after August 1, 2022.
  • The article is an original peer-reviewed research article or review article.

All articles under this agreement will be published under the CC-BY copyright license. Upon publication, articles will be made immediately open access.

You can find further information on how to submit an article for consideration and other key information, such as maximum number of articles, here.

As a reminder, BU holds a number of agreements with key publishers, many of which allow you to publish open access for free. You can read more about them here.

If you have any queries, please contact the Open Access team.

Writing Dis’stories – creative writing workshop for disabled writers

writing

Writing Dis’stories is a free, national, two-day creative writing workshop series for disabled writers. The event is run by Bournemouth University with Quality Research funding. Whether you are an established or aspiring writer, this event seeks to bring together talent and creativity, facilitated within a Higher Education environment.

What?

We have an exciting itinerary of writing workshops planned to inspire creativity and to address imbalances in disability representation. This event has been organised by published writer and Associate English Lecture Charlotte (she/her). Charlotte’s prose has previously been nominated for Penguin’s 2020 WriteNow Talent Scheme, and her regular ad hoc life-style pieces are published in the Metro.

Highlights include an online guest talk (Day 2) from author Penny Batchelor (she/her), whose debut novel My Perfect Sister was longlisted for the Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize 2020. Our in-person event (Day 1) will feature a poetry session from Associate English Lecturer and award-winning poet Imran Khan (he/him).

The creative writing workshop days are fully funded by Bournemouth University. The event aims to tackle inaccuracies in representation through creative writing methods, following the principles of the Social Model of Disability. Travel bursaries are available. Lunch, tea, and coffee will be provided at the in-person event, plus an optional accessibility tour of BU’s Talbot campus.

Our Day Two session will be online and is prioritised towards those who cannot attend BU’s campus. You are welcome to attend both writing days if you can, different activities are planned across the two sessions.

The sessions are led by Associate English Lecturer and Writer Charlotte Grace Fodor (she/her) and supported by Principal Academic Dr Simon Frost (he/him).

Where and When?

Day 1, In person: April 26th, Talbot Campus, FGO6

Day 2, Online: April 27th, Zoom

Accessibility

Upon booking, Charlotte will be in contact about any access or dietary requirements. If you have any queries, Charlotte can be reached at fodorc@bournemouth.ac.uk

Peer review picking up weaknesses in a scientific paper

international, Publishing, writing

Peer review is the the key pillar of academic publishing.  Peer reviewers will read the submitted paper and assess its knowledge contribution, the appropriateness of the research question, the ethical considerations, the quality of the research methods used and the appropriateness of the discussion, conclusion, and recommendations in the manuscript. [1]  It is worth bearing in mind that most peer reviewers are unpaid volunteers, academics like us who review for journals over and above the day job.[2]  For the authors peer reviewers can give excellent feedback.  Harvey and colleagues remind their readers that peer reviewers reading your manuscript with a fresh pair of eyes, can lead to them raising great questions and offering useful comments.  In short, reviewers’ reservations and misunderstandings can help you to rephrase and better focus your paper. [3]

However, what the review process does not do is picking up every possible minor mistake and typo in a paper.  I was reminded of this last week when I read a peer-reviewed paper in which the basic demographics table (the characteristics of the study participants) did not add up to 100%.  Luckily, the same authors (who shall remain nameless) published a different paper from the same study in another quality journal, which allowed me to check the numbers.  Interestingly, the second paper in another peer-reviewed journal had the same mistake.   In the end I ended up writing to two different editors pointing out this anomaly.   The editors contacted the authors who have since promised to rectify the mistake.

Something similar has also happened to us.  Occasionally I reread one of our articles in a good journal and wonder about some of the unclear sentences or poorly expressed grammar or style.  Neither the editor nor the peer-reviewers spotted it nor did my co-authors and I noticed these mistakes in the paper proofs.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Shanker, S. (2022) Selecting an Appropriate Journal and Submitting your Paper, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 20-31.
  2. van Teijlingen, E., Thapa, D., Marahatta, S.B., Sapkota, J.L., Regmi, P. Sathian, B. (2022) Editors and Reviewers: Roles and Responsibilities, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 32-37.
  3. Harvey, O., Taylor, A., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Struggling to reply to reviewers: Some advice for novice researchers. Health Prospect, 21(2):19-22.