ABSTRACT. This paper reports fi ndings from an international survey into the research involvement and support of university teaching staff in a relatively new profession-orientated discipline, publishing studies (PS). It uses these fi ndings to consider barriers and
This paper continues the exploration of Kingston University’s pre-arrival shared reading scheme, the Kingston University Big Read (KUBR), this time considering action research into how best to choose a common book. After a review of methods used to choose books both specifically in American universities and generally within large shared reading groups, the method used for the KUBR is described. A key objective of the KUBR is to promote inclusion, so the longlist of titles considered was produced by inviting the entire community to submit suggestions. Since the list was extensive, time to make a choice was short, and there was a strong desire for the methodology to be as objective as possible, it was decided to identify the key criteria relevant to choosing a suitable book and then use a simple algorithm—essentially a weighted scoring system—to score each book using readily available data in order to make a shortlist of six books. These were then read by a panel of students and administrative and academic staff. The book finally chosen was Matt Haig’s The Humans. This paper details each step of the method and finishes with an appraisal and lessons learnt for next time.
This paper reports and reflects on the processes and outcomes of a shared reading programme targeted at new students embarking on a university qualification at Kingston University. It isolates the various stages involved, from selecting a book for sharing, to the despatch of a bespoke edition to new students and wider distribution within the institution. It then explores and assesses the effects the scheme had on the community, by role and department, through both informal measures of impact and post-delivery surveying of those involved. Recommendations are offered for further development of the project.
This paper, the first of several, reports on a research survey of more than 900 authors to investigate the early influences on writers and their current practices, motivations and benefits, and the barriers they face. It demonstrates that writers of all ages and health profiles derive immense satisfaction from their craft despite often despite often having to employ elaborate time-management strategies to make space for their writing. A particular feature of the survey was the outstanding quality and quantity of the answers to the open-ended questions; these provide great insight into the author voice. The survey, which aimed to fill a research gap into writer motivation and which is thought to be one of the largest of its kind could be of interest to writers themselves, the creative economy, the education sector, the health sector and to those connected with the happiness agenda.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.