Quarterly Review of Research - October 2023

Arts and Humanities

• Filonik, Jakub; Plastow, Christine and Zelnick-Abramovitz, Rachel eds. (2023). Citizenship in Antiquity: Civic Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean. Rewriting Antiquity. London: Routledge.

  Citizenship in Antiquity brings together scholars working on the multifaceted and changing dimensions of citizenship in the ancient Mediterranean, from the second millennium BCE to the first millennium CE, adopting a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. The chapters in this volume cover numerous periods and regions – from the Ancient Near East, through the Greek and Hellenistic worlds and pre-Roman North Africa, to the Roman Empire and its continuations, and with excursuses to modernity. The contributors to this book adopt various contemporary theories, demonstrating the manifold meanings and ways of defining the concept and practices of citizenship and belonging in ancient societies and, in turn, of non-citizenship and non-belonging. Whether citizenship was defined by territorial belonging or blood descent, by privileged or exclusive access to resources or participation in communal decision-making, or by a sense of group belonging, such identifications were also open to discursive redefinitions and manipulation. Citizenship and belonging, as well as non-citizenship and non-belonging, had many shades and degrees; citizenship could be bought or faked, or even removed. By casting light on different areas of the Mediterranean over the course of antiquity, the volume seeks to explore this multi-layered notion of citizenship and contribute to an ongoing and relevant discourse.

• Gibson, Jonathan (2023). Making the Memoirs: missing leaves in the manuscript of Lucy Hutchinson’s life of John Hutchinson. The Seventeenth Century, 38(3), pp. 403–412.

  Analysing watermark sequences in early modern manuscripts makes it possible to identify, without disturbing the binding, points at which leaves have probably been removed. Applied to Nottingham City Museum and Galleries NCM 1922–71 (previously Nottinghamshire Archives MS DD/HU/4), the autograph manuscript containing Lucy Hutchinson’s famous biography of her husband John, this technique uncovers five instances in which it seems likely that Hutchinson herself intervened in this way. I discuss possible reasons for Hutchinson’s removal of the leaves in question, explain the basis for this kind of watermark analysis, and highlight the importance of physical study of the manuscript to an understanding of the contexts and purposes of the Memoirs.

• Lymberopoulou, Angeliki (2023). Post-Byzantine Cretan Icon Painting: Demand and Supply Revisited. Arts, 12(4), article no. 139.

  Since Manolis Chatzidakis’s pivotal publications on post-Byzantine Cretan icon painting in the 1970s, research in the field is, by now, very well established. In turn, these studies have demonstrated the contribution of Venetian Crete’s artistic production to European culture. Despite Giorgio Vasari’s condemnations of the ‘Greek style’, Byzantine icons remained popular in Renaissance Europe among Western patrons. Research on Venetian Crete has greatly benefitted from the survival of its archives, presently housed in Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia), an incredibly rich and invaluable source of information. One of the best-known published and referenced documents from these archives, supporting the wider popularity and dissemination of Cretan icons, is a contract offered to three Cretan painters dated 4 July 1499 concerning the production and delivery of 700 icons of the Virgin in just 42 days, by 15 August 1499, the day of the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin. This paper revisits the information the famous contract provides with the aim to scrutinise it further.

• Oddy, Niall (2023). Reading Europe in the Renaissance: continent, personification and myth in Ronsard's Discours de l'alteration et change des choses humaines. Renaissance Studies (Early Access).

  Renaissance readers were familiar with two traditions of visualizing the continent of Europe as a woman: the myth of Europa and the bull, and personifications of Europe as a queen. This article examines the impact of these traditions on the geographical, political and cultural discourses of Europe through the example of the French poet Ronsard's Discours de l'alteration et change des choses humaines. It argues that the reference in the Discours to the Ottoman Empire assailing Europe the continent would evoke for readers a female figure. The article conducts an analysis of the poem in light of this, exploring how the spectre of sexual violence associated with the Europa myth enhances the political critique of the Ottoman Empire in the Discours. As such, the article shows how the dynamic interplay of myth, personification and geographical space enriched the meanings and associations of the signifier ‘Europe’. In doing so, it articulates a method for approaching how ‘Europe’ was used and understood in Renaissance texts.

• Sciampacone, Amanda (2023). "Invisible Destroyers": Cholera and COVID in British Visual Culture. In: Morton, Marsha and Akehurst, Ann-Marie eds. Visual Culture and Pandemic Disease since 1750: Capturing Contagion. Science and the Arts since 1750. New York: Routledge, pp. 137–156.

  As with past pandemics, the emergence of a novel coronavirus with seemingly no clear cause in December 2019 led to the proliferation and use of images to make the invisible visible and comprehensible. In attempting to give visual form to this new illness, media portrayals of COVID-19 would reaffirm concerns of the unknown and ostensibly foreign origins of epidemic disease. Through a selective visual comparison, my chapter examines how representations of COVID-19 in the British press would recall an older visual history of pandemics from the plague epidemics of the medieval and early modern periods, and the cholera epidemics of the nineteenth century. Cholera generated deep fears in British society because of its mysterious nature and apparent origins in India. As my chapter demonstrates, nineteenth-century images reworked plague iconography of shrouded skeletons, dancing cadavers, and the king’s touch with martial and racial themes to depict cholera as an invisible, foreign destroyer that endangered Britain. Two centuries later, newspaper articles would recall plague and cholera imagery by sensationalising COVID-19 as a virus carried and transmitted by Chinese bodies and as an invisible killer threatening the world.

• Wainwright, Leon (2023). Art and Acceptability: Some Problems of Visualising Caribbean Slavery through Modernism. Africanidades, 2(2), pp. 160–176.

  The uses of art to commemorate resistance to slavery has a complex history in the Caribbean. Two artists, Aubrey Williams and Philip Moore, both born in the colony of British Guiana (subsequently independent Guyana), employed painting and sculpture during the 1960s and ‘70s in order to visualise the historical events of 1763, when enslaved Africans staged a failed yet heroic rebellion against Dutch planters. Williams and Moore were committed to making art in a stridently anti-colonial mode, in their attempts to comment on present-day political circumstances by way of attention to the historical past. Two of their artworks – one produced before, the other after the watershed of Guyanese Independence – bear fruitful comparison as equally unsuccessful gestures. Williams’s painting was withheld from public view for much of the 1960s, while Moore’s monumental public sculpture met with wide disdain. Such unhappy relations between artworks and their various viewers demonstrate the frictions between modernism and the process of historical remembrance with regard to slavery. Ultimately examples from Williams and Moore show that there are limitations that surround art when it is used for memorialisation, and how this process is integral to the Caribbean’s history of art.

Psychology and Counselling

• Fellows, Nina K. (2023). The lability and liability of female ‘borderline’ sexuality: a feminist Foucauldian discourse analysis of Thompson et al.’s (2017) ‘Sexuality and sexual health among female youth with borderline personality disorder pathology’. Journal of Psychosocial Studies (Early access).

  The purpose of this discourse study is to deconstruct how a journal article published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry, ‘Sexuality and sexual health among female youth with borderline personality disorder pathology’ (Thompson et al, 2017), constructs the sexuality of young women diagnosed with ‘borderline personality disorder’. The methodology used was Foucauldian discourse analysis, following Hook’s (2001) recommendation to re-situate a text within its socio-political location and among its material correlates, as well as analysing its intra-textual discursive features. The process of analysis involved repeated close readings of the text by Thompson et al (2017), with a focus on binary oppositions within the text, and the power/knowledge nexus in which it is situated. The analysis identified three key discourses at work in the text: the discourse of the academy, the discourse of dichotomy, and the discourse of ‘borderline’ sexuality, which contains a conceptually unstable paradox concerning female ‘borderline’ sexual agency. The consequences of these findings, their historical context, and implications for practice and classification are discussed.

• Frances, Tanya; O'Neill, Kel and Newman, Kirsty (2023). ‘An extra fight I didn't ask for’: A qualitative survey exploring the impact of calories on menus for people with experience of eating disorders. British Journal of Health Psychology (Early access).

  Objectives The UK government made it mandatory for large restaurants and cafes in England to display calorie labels on menus. Existing evidence identifies minimal potential for benefit, but significant potential for harm to those with eating disorders. To date, only one published study has directly explored the impact of this legislation on those with eating disorders. This study explores the impact of calorie labelling on menus on adults with experience of eating disorders in England.

  Design A qualitative online survey was designed and distributed, and 399 adults with current or past experience/s of eating disorders completed the survey.

  Methods Reflexive thematic analysis was used, informed by a critical realist approach.

  Results Six themes were developed: (1) impacts on relationships, (2) exclusion and increased isolation, (3) restricted freedom, (4) dis/embodiment, (5) anger and frustration at the perpetuation of diet culture and (6) we are all responsible for ourselves. Most participants felt calorie labels on menus is detrimental to their eating disorder and/or recovery. People are navigating multiple opposing cultural narratives around health, bodies and eating disorder recovery that can put additional barriers in place to developing a relationship with food and body that they would like.

  Conclusions Calorie labelling on menus is likely to adversely impact those with eating disorders. Menus with calories should be available separately but should not be the first or only one provided. People with experience of eating disorders should be directly involved in the development of public health legislation and policy that is likely to affect them.

• Minhas, Rashid and Frumkin, Lara (2023). A review of cultural and ethnic bias in investigative decision-making: selected cases. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice (Early Access).

  When making decisions, police, like all people, fall prey to negative stereotypes. Police must regularly make decisions about threats, so the stakes are higher than the typical decision-making process. This review looked at the threat and violence risk assessment processes through a new lens, exploring the relationship between (un)reasonable suspicion based on behaviors and snap assessments through an overreliance on perceived prejudicial stereotypes. The paper outlines seven cases exemplifying inaccurate assessment of threats based on two UK criminal justice policies, (i) Stop and Search (ii) and the CONTEST Strategy. The case analysis review suggests that assessments are based on unstructured judgments and profiling grounded in cultural, religious and racial stereotypes.

• Rix, Katie; Monks, Claire.P and O'Toole, Sarah (2023). Theory of Mind and Young Children’s Behaviour: Aggressive, Victimised, Prosocial, and Solitary. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(10), article no. 5892.

  Theory of mind (ToM) undergoes significant developments during childhood, particularly between the ages of four and seven years. A growing body of research has indicated that children’s social understanding may be related to their social behaviour with peers, in line with Theory Theory which proposes that children’s social cognition is influenced by and influences their peer interactions. The current study examined the relationship between ToM and behaviour among 193 children aged 4–7 years. Children carried out a battery of ToM tasks, and teaching staff reported on children’s aggressive, prosocial, and solitary behaviour and victimisation experiences. Aggression was not directly related to ToM; prosocial behaviour was positively associated with ToM for girls but not boys. Solitary behaviour and victimisation were negatively related to ToM. When this was broken down by gender, there was only a significant association between solitary behaviour and ToM for boys. When controlling for the relationship between behaviours, the only significant predictor of ToM was solitary behaviour for boys. ToM was also a significant predictor of solitary behaviour for boys, demonstrating that there is a bidirectional relationship at play. The findings highlight the importance of looking across these four behaviour types and understanding the relationship between behaviour profiles and ToM for boys and girls separately.

• Stenner, Paul and Andreouli, Eleni (2023). Revisioning psychology and deglobalisation: The case of Brexit. Theory & Psychology, 33(2) pp. 209–226.

  This article approaches the theme of the psychology of de/globalisation by taking up the example of Brexit as an historical conjuncture that hinges upon troublesome questions of sovereignty. Operating at the interface between history and psychology, and informed by liminality scholarship, the paper offers a broad genealogical sketch of three mutations in the semantics of sovereignty as a mode of power that implicates subjectivity. Theological (premodern), nationalist (modern), and neoliberal/economic (postmodern) variants share the mythical motif of absolute autonomy. An account of globalisation as the spatial spread of the events of an initially partial process across the whole of a global field offers a view of the psychological as a subjective field of intelligibility shaped by societal and political settings. Drawing upon data from a focus group study conducted just before the 2016 referendum, attention is given to the resurgence of the theme of sovereignty amongst ordinary people.

Social Sciences and Global Studies

• Lombardozzi, Lorena (2023). An historical analysis of state capitalism through structural transformation: the case of Uzbekistan. Globalizations (Early access)

  Structural transformation is important in improving socio-economic conditions in low and middle-income countries. Yet, its transformative outcome is often conditional on the creation and distribution of surplus value realized by the state. By expanding the understanding of state-led systems of accumulation in Uzbekistan, the article contributes to our knowledge of how structural transformation is brought about.

• Latham, Sally and Pinder, Mark (2023). Is it Good to Conceive of One’s Life Narratively? Philosophia (Early access).

  Grace Hibshman has developed a new explanation for why narrative self-conceptions might contribute to one’s flourishing: conceiving of one’s life narratively, she argues, can facilitate an improved self-understanding. In this paper, we argue that, contra Hibshman, life narratives tend to misrepresent and mislead. So while they may give the impression of an improved self-understanding, that impression is typically mistaken. In this respect, conceiving of one’s life narratively hinders flourishing.

• Maiden, John (2023). Charisma, Gender and "Glocality": Catholic Charismatic Women in the 1970s. Journal of Modern and Contemporary Christianity, 2(1) pp. 91–114

  This article addresses the role of women in Catholic charismatic renewal, with reference to the movement in both the United States and England. It examines the renewal in relation to a wider mid-century context in which the role of Catholic women was being re-evaluated. It looks closely at the role of women in Catholic prayer groups, showing how while a ‘rediscovery’ of the Spirit contributed, broadly, to a democratising tendency where the laity were concerned, the place of women was contested. It shows how the dominant approach to gender to emerge in the United States – a patriarchal model linked to high profile charismatic ‘covenant communities’ in the upper Midwest cities of South Bend and Ann Arbor – did not have the same influence in England, where a more egalitarian approach tended to develop. This study is therefore also a case study of the ‘glocality’ of the Catholic charismatic movement.

• Jónsson, Gunvor (2023). Tactical strangers: Mobility, trade, and gendered strangerhood in West Africa. American Anthropologist, 125(2) pp. 298–309

  Mande women in West Africa unable or unwilling to conform to patriarchal gender expectations risk being evicted from social and kinship support structures. Some nonconformist women from Mali respond to this predicament by engaging in tactical strangerhood: they choose to remain on the social margins, capitalizing on their situation as strangers by working as foreign traders in Dakar (Senegal). Tactical strangerhood entails only partial inclusion into patriarchal family and social structures and constitutes one of the nonconformist ways in which women in West Africa enact gender roles. Long-distance trade and travel by Mande women have led to new forms of gendered strangerhood, challenging—and potentially transforming—dominant ideologies of gender differentiation in this part of West Africa. Tactical strangerhood is therefore an implicitly feminist and emancipatory exercise.

• Taylor, Dan (2023). Militant conversion in a prison of the mind: Malcolm X and Spinoza on domination and freedom.Contemporary Political Theory [Early Access]

  The Autobiography of Malcolm X highlights the subject’s conversion from aimless rage and criminality to a form of militant study while in prison. This article explores Malcolm X’s concepts of ‘conversion’ and ‘prison’, identifying them, not only as mere spatiotemporal locations, but also as larger frames in which Malcolm conceives of domination and freedom. It identifies how radical education and mental liberation drive his project of Black nationalism. It then considers the significance of an unexpected ally invoked by Malcolm: the 17th century philosopher Benedict de Spinoza, described as a ‘Black Spanish Jew’ and presented as an oppositional figure to the western philosophical canon. Malcolm and Spinoza offer distinct but significant contributions to ideas of domination and freedom in terms of both an individual and a collective capacity to think and act.

• Gabb, Jacqui; Aicken, Catherine; Di Martino, Salvatore; Witney, Tom and Lucassen, Mathijs (2023). More–than–relationship quality: A feminist new materialist analysis of relationship quality and the potential of digital couple interventions.Journal of Family Theory & Review (early access).

  Long‐established studies have advanced understandings of family function, marital satisfaction, and couple relationship quality. The underpinning constructs nevertheless remain under‐conceptualized and largely removed from the heuristic of everyday life and the dynamic of contemporary coupledom. We propose that a paradigm shift is required to sufficiently engage with the digital worlds of 21st century intimacies. Ideas in feminist new materialism revitalize the epistemology and ontology of relationship science. This enables a new look at how relationship quality is manifest in and created through human–technology intra–actions. The research tools of feminist new materialism are, however, typically creative and intentionally exploratory. We demonstrate how using a practices approach, which focuses on everyday lived experience, facilitates investigation of multidimensional public–private worlds. We deploy this to build a feminist new materialist analysis of a digital couple intervention. Through this, we develop the concept of more–than–relationship quality.

School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

• Walton, Craig R.; Hao, Jihua; Huang, Fang; Jenner, Frances E.; Williams, Helen; Zerkle, Aubrey L.; Lipp, Alex; Hazen, Robert M.; Peters, Shanan E. and Shorttle, Oliver (2023). Evolution of the crustal phosphorus reservoir. Science Advances, 9(18)

  The release of phosphorus (P) from crustal rocks during weathering plays a key role in determining the size of Earth's biosphere, yet the concentration of P in crustal rocks over time remains controversial. In this paper, Fran Jenner and colleagues combine spatial, temporal, and chemical measurements of preserved rocks to reconstruct the physical and chemical evolution of Earth's continental crust.

  They find a threefold increase in average crustal P concentrations across the Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic boundary 600 to 400 million years ago, showing that biomass burial in shelf seas acted to progressively concentrate P within the continental crust. This rapid compositional change was made possible by the removal of ancient P-poor rock and the deposition of young P-rich sediment during an episode of enhanced global erosion. Subsequent weathering of newly P-rich crust led to increased riverine P fluxes to the ocean.

  Their results suggest that global erosion coupled to coastal sedimentation forged a markedly nutrient-rich crust at the dawn of the Phanerozoic era when complex lifeforms first emerged.

• Semieniuk, Gregor; Chancel, Lucas; Saïsset, Eulalie; Holden, Philip B.; Mercure, Jean-Francois and Edwards, Neil R. (2023). Potential pension fund losses should not deter high-income countries from bold climate action. Joule (Early Access)

  Stranded fossil-fuel assets, i.e. fossil-fuel reserves and related infrastructure that lose value in a transition to sustainability, are an important dimension of climate policy, but relatively little is known about precisely who owns them and thus who stands to lose from this aspect of the transition. This has important implications for the potential political, institutional, and structural barriers to transforming society towards more sustainable lifestyles.

  Using detailed data on financial asset ownership and wealth distributions, Neil Edwards, Philip Holden and colleagues find that while the top 10% of wealth owners bear two thirds of all losses, these losses pale in comparison to their wealth. In contrast, the few percent owned by the least wealthy half of the population are sufficient to create risks for their material wellbeing as pensions or other financial nest eggs are affected substantially and unequally, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.

  As a result, governments in wealthy countries can avoid social hardship by compensating such groups at low cost. The main political economic challenge to be overcome is lobbying by affluent fossil-fuel interests to protect their wealth at risk.

School of Computing and Communications

• Stawarz, Katarzyna; Katz, Dmitri; Ayobi, Amid; Marshall, Paul; Yamagata, Taku; Santos-Rodriguez, Raul; Flach, Peter and O’Kane, Aisling Ann (2023). Co-designing opportunities for Human-Centred Machine Learning in supporting Type 1 diabetes decision-making. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 173, article no. 103003.

  Managing Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) involves frequent daily decision-making, and modern technologies like machine learning offer promise in simplifying this process. However, implementing these technologies has proven complex.

  Researchers worked closely with 15 T1D individuals for nine months to explore machine learning's role in diabetes self-management. Surprisingly, participants were confident in their knowledge and hesitant to use machine learning for routine situations.

  What stood out was the need for technological support during unfamiliar situations, like holidays or illness, where individuals lack prior experience and validated mental models. Yet, machine learning relies on accumulated historical data, thereby presenting a challenge. The study suggests combining machine learning with artificial intelligence methods like expert systems for decision-making support in both routine and unexpected scenarios.

  This research emphasises the importance of tailoring technology to meet the specific needs of T1D individuals, particularly in unforeseen challenges, aiming to enhance their quality of life.

• Liu, Yaochen; Zhang, Yazhou and Song, Dawei (2023). A Quantum Probability Driven Framework for Joint Multi-Modal Sarcasm, Sentiment and Emotion Analysis. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AFFECTIVE COMPUTING (early access)

  Understanding different types of affective information in multimodal (e.g., linguistic, visual, and acoustic) conversations is an important characteristic of human intelligence. Sarcasm, sentiment, and emotion are three typical kinds of effect, which are tightly intertwined with each other. From the probability theory perspective, they are incompatible, i.e., they cannot be judged simultaneously, as judging on one would lead to cognitive bias that influences the subsequent ones.

  However, this problem cannot be sufficiently modelled by the classical probability theory that assumes a universal sample space, in which joint probabilities of random variables (i.e., compatibility) are assumed. Instead, quantum probability (QP), which is a generalisation of the classical probability and relaxes the compatibility assumption, provides a theoretically sound alternative.

  The authors first provide a justification of QP's theoretical advantages in addressing the problem. Then, a QP-driven joint multi-modal sarcasm, sentiment and emotion analysis framework is proposed, along with a deep neural network structure facilitating effective multimodal fusion and parameter learning. Extensive experiments demonstrate a significantly improved performance of the proposed framework over a wide range of current approaches.

School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences

• Cruz, Estevan D.; Missau, Juliano; Tanabe, Eduardo H.; Collinson, Simon R. and Bertuol, Daniel A. (2023). Efficient removal of Congo Red dye using activated lychee peel biochar supported Ca-Cr layered double hydroxide. Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring & Management.

  Azo dyes are useful dyes with textiles, leather and fibers, where Congo Red is one such dye it could be found as a pollutant in wastewater. Unfortunately, Congo Red is known to be a persistent and recalcitrant industrial pollutant and is also known to cause cancer, so its presence in bodies of water is dangerous.

  The present research synthesized and characterized a biochar composite and evaluated its application in the adsorption of Congo Red dye from water. Using a biochar composite as an adsorbent is important regarding sustainability because the biochar is derived from a waste material, herein from lychee peelings. Importantly this biochar composite showed good adsorption of the Congo Red from water and that it could itself be cleaned and recycled in further adsorption applications.

  This work is a collaboration with Brazilian researchers, one who was a recent visitor at the OU.

• Kristen Reid, Diane L. Butler, Catherine Comfort & Andrew D. J. Potter (2023) Virtual internships in open and distance learning contexts: Improving access, participation, and success for underrepresented students, Distance Education, 44:2, 267-283

  This study at The Open University in the United Kingdom examined the effectiveness of specifying ‘virtual’ internship opportunities for underrepresented student groups in two faculties (Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and the Faculty of Business and Law). Data, gathered through intern focus groups and supervisor interviews, demonstrate that the virtual internship scheme has been successful from both intern and supervisor perspectives, providing flexible and supportive opportunities which help interns to develop transferable skills and confidence.

  The virtual internship approach provides opportunities for large-scale distance learning institutions to routinely offer work experience to their students, supported by the further development of effective remote working practices. Unexpected benefits of this program emerged through the staff-student partnerships developed in university-based internships. Future research will focus on mechanisms to further improve and scale up the virtual internship program to enhance access for underrepresented students and to explore how ‘virtuality’ contributes to new perspectives of employability.

School of Mathematics and Statistics

• Christiansen, Colette E.; Arathimos, Ryan; Pain, Oliver; Molokhia, Mariam; Bell, Jordana T. and Lewis, Cathryn M. (2023). Stratified genome-wide association analysis of type 2 diabetes reveals subgroups with genetic and environmental heterogeneity. Human Molecular Genetics, article no. Ddad093.

  Type 2 Diabetes is a global health concern due to the chronic exposure to high blood sugar which induces clinical complications, including cardiovascular disease, visual impairment, lower limb amputation and renal disease. Type 2 Diabetes has both genetic and environmental drivers including obesity. As a result, it is a very heterogeneous disease with the genetic and environmental drivers varying between individuals.

  In this study individuals were stratified into groups based on obesity and age at onset of their diabetes and then the genetic profile of individuals with diabetes and those without was compared. This identified places in the genetic code which were different between the groups. The study also found that the weighting between the genetic impact and the environmental impact differed between the groups and prediction of diabetes status was improved when this was allowed for. As sample sizes increase in genetic studies stratification approaches are likely to be more widely used.

• Liu, Hong; Pikhurko, Oleg; Sharifzadeh, Maryam and Staden, Katherine (2023). Stability from graph symmetrisation arguments with applications to inducibility. Journal of the London Mathematical Society [Early Access].

  A network, or a graph, is a collection of points and lines connecting some of them. Networks are ubiquitous in modern life, but also fascinating objects whose mathematical study for their own sake has developed into a rich theory.

  This paper is about 'extreme' networks which have many copies of a given subnetwork. What do these networks look like, and what is the largest number of copies there could be? In general, this problem -- the inducibility problem -- which was first studied in the 1970s, is largely unresolved, even when the given subnetwork is very simple, such as the path with four points.

  We show that, for a certain type of subnetwork, there is a strong 'stability' property, meaning that any such network has a similar structure to the one with the maximum number of copies. This is true even when we don't know what this structure is.

  In order to study this problem about 'discrete' objects (networks), we define some related 'continuous' objects and a way of measuring the distance between them. We also use computer-assisted optimisation to determine the maximising structure in some new cases.

School of Physical Sciences

• Rider-Stokes, BG; Greenwood, RC; Anand, M; White, LF; Franchi, IA; Debaille, V; Goderis, S; Pittarello, L; Yamaguchi, A; Mikouchi, T and Claeys, P, Impact mixing among rocky planetesimals in the early Solar System from angrite oxygen isotopes, NATURE ASTRONOMY 7. 836-842 (2023)

  This research stemmed from the OU PhD research work conducted by Mr Ben Rider-Stokes, currently a PDRA in the School of Physical Sciences. He will be defending his thesis at the end of September.

  This work was based in the OU’s analytical laboratories, where state of the art and one-of-a-kind instrumentation (funded in part by the recent Wolfson Foundation investment) were exploited to undertake isotopic and petrological analysis of nine angrite meteorites. Angrite meteorites are thought to represent ancient ballistic igneous rocks that formed in the Solar System within the orbit of Jupiter. However, the results Ben presents suggest that these materials underwent high-temperature processes and bear signatures of impact-driven isotope mixing, which have consequences when we want to use meteoritics to accurately define the Solar System’s evolutionary timeline.

  Nevertheless, the results demonstrate impact mixing occurred between angrite-parent bodies and material rich in Oxygen -17 isotopes, sometime 2-3 million years after the Solar System first formed, lending significant evidence to the “Grand Tack” scenario, where it is proposed the giant planet Jupiter formed much closer to the Sun than it is today, first migrated inwards, then reversed its motion, to the position we observe today.

• Banerjee, Agnibha, Barstow, Joanna K, Haswell, Carole A., Lewis, Stephen R. Effect of centrifugal force on transmission spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2023) Letters, Volume 523, Issue 1, pp.L64-L68

  A paper entirely with OU authors, and another publication by an OU PhD student studying in the School of Physical Sciences. This paper was chosen because it stemmed from an idea Agni generated the first year of his PhD studies, initially independently of his supervisors (the other co-authors on the paper). Following the idea, Agni was encouraged to develop his independence and the concept, and the result is this paper, published recently in MNRAS (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society), a high-impact astronomy journal.

  Agni’s work is highly topical: to “observe” the atmospheres of exoplanets (planets transiting stars in other stellar systems, i.e. not the Solar System), requires high resolution telescopes, and complex retrieval processes of the transmission spectroscopy of the planetary atmosphere as its host planet is observed orbiting (or transiting) its host star. The science is complex: it consists of generating numerous models and comparing them to observations (with telescopes such as the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope)), to solve the problem of trying to observe the atmosphere and extract its properties, without knowing which molecules are present in the atmosphere or what the temperature density or chemical structure of that atmosphere might be.

  Supervised by STFC ERF Jo Barstow who is a world expert in such retrieval models , Agni showed that one fundamental assumption of all the models constructed to date may not be valid – namely that the planet can be treated as no isolated spherical nonrotating body. If in fact the planet is rotating, then the centrifugal acceleration due to the planet’s rotation opposes the gravitational pull on the planetary atmosphere and increases one key property of that atmosphere, the scale height (or in other words the distance from the planetary surface that we need to consider that the atmosphere “stretches” to).

  The result is that observations, such as those made of WASP-19b and WASP 121b with JWST, planets close to their stars with low gravitational effects, if retrieval models include the centrifugal effect and the change in scale height results, then the differences between the true and retrieved values for gas abundances in the atmosphere can vary by up to 1 sigma (or +/- 34 % of the value originally quoted). The assumption Agni challenged has therefore been shown to have an incredible effect on scientific results from JWST exoplanet atmospheric retrievals, and proves how important it is that at any stage of our scientific careers we ask the difficult questions and check we are certain we understand what is happening with our codes and results.

School of Engineering and Innovation

• Hettiarachchi, Sunil Jayantha; Bowen, James; Kershaw, Matthew; Baragau, Ioan-Alexandru; Nicolaev, Adela and Kellici, Suela (2023).Nanostructured Al2O3/Graphene Additive in Bio-Based Lubricant: A Novel Approach to Improve Engine Performance. ribology International, 186, article no. 108619.

  Researchers in E&I and LHCS, along with colleagues at London South Bank University and the Romanian National Institute for Physics, have developed nanoparticle additives which – when added to coconut oil – impart this sustainable and widely-produced lubricant with similar properties to the mineral-based engine oil 15W40. It is hoped that this work will help to address global challenges including reducing global dependence on petrochemicals and fossil fuels, while also reducing environmental pollution.

• Cook, Matthew and Karvonen, Andrew (2023). Urban Planning and the Knowledge Politics of the Smart City. Urban Studies [Early Access].

  Many major cities now identify themselves as smart cities. Typically, such cities have installed sensor networks and data hubs which provide digital data on urban systems (e.g. transport) to help augment their management. Of course, being smart and making smart decisions is important - new knowledge can be useful in city management. But smart decisions are not necessarily wise decisions. For example, smart city initiatives may identify efficient transport routes but tell us little about the lived experience of making journeys – smart cities may tell us that it is efficient to travel from Milton Keynes to London at 23:52 on a Sunday evening but they do not tell us much about the lived experiences of making that journey.

  Drawing on the ancient Greek intellectual virtue Phronesis (making prudent/ wise decisions) this article explores how smart cities are not automatically wise cities. The article argues that deliberate action is necessary to ensure that smart cities do not close down certain ways of knowing cities (other than through digital data) and that wise decisions are made to ensure progressive urban development.

Knowledge Media Institute

• Knoth, Petr; Herrmannova, Drahomira; Cancellieri, Matteo; Anastasiou, Lucas; Pontika, Nancy; Pearce, Samuel; Gyawali, Bikash and Pride, David (2023). CORE: A Global Aggregation Service for Open Access Papers. Scientific Data, 10(1) p. 366.

  Over the last 12 years, CORE (Connecting Repositories) has become a widely used Open Access scholarly infrastructure supporting the needs of the open repositories network, funders, researchers and any organisation requiring machine access to academic content, including for the purposes of innovative AI-powered tools. With the recent growing interest in generative AI and the surrounding legal and ethical problems in acquiring a large trustworthy corpus of knowledge, CORE has become a prime collection for the training of generative AI models on scientific documents.

  This is a key reference paper for CORE and its continuously growing dataset. It presents the challenges associated with systematically gathering research papers from thousands of data providers worldwide at scale and outlines the solutions developed by CORE to overcome them. It provides an in-depth discussion of the services and tools built on top of the indexed content and finally examines several use cases that have leveraged the CORE dataset and services.

• de Batlle, Jordi; Benítez, Ivan D; Moncusí-Moix, Anna; Androutsos, Odysseas; Angles Barbastro, Rosana; Antonini, Alessio; Arana, Eunate; Cabrera-Umpierrez, Maria Fernanda; Cea, Gloria; Dafoulas, George E; Folkvord, Frans; Fullaondo, Ane; Giuliani, Francesco; Huang, Hsiao-Ling; Innominato, Pasquale F; Kardas, Przemyslaw; Lou, Vivian W Q; Manios, Yannis; Matsangidou, Maria; Mercalli, Franco; Mokhtari, Mounir; Pagliara, Silvio; Schellong, Julia; Stieler, Lisa; Votis, Konstantinos; Currás, Paula; Arredondo, Maria Teresa; Posada, Jorge; Guillén, Sergio; Pecchia, Leandro; Barbé, Ferran; Torres, Gerard; Fico, Giuseppe and the GATEKEEPER project (2023). GATEKEEPER’s Strategy for the Multinational Large-Scale Piloting of an eHealth Platform: Tutorial on How to Identify Relevant Settings and Use Cases. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, article no. E42187.

  Longer life expectation stresses the need for promoting healthy life-style habits aimed at postponing and mitigating the insurgence of chronic conditions. Digital health solutions present a potential competitive cost/benefit value but frequently fail to reach a maturity stage and wide adoption. In this paper, Dr Antonini worked with colleagues of the H2020 GATEKEEPER project in the design of the largest pilot study of digital health solutions ever carried out in Europe with a target of almost 40k participants, eight EU and three Asian countries.

  They offered a practical approach to the design of a multi-centric large-scale pilot addressing the problem of identifying and selecting a medical use case. Specifically, the paper provides a viable approach to keep aligned local socio-economic characteristics of the population and health-related challenges with the need of coordinate a coherent international study that collaborates to the European Data Space.

• Ahmad, Sardar; Akbar, Saeed; Kodwani, Devendra; Halari, Anwar and Shah, Syed Zubair (2023). Compliance or non‐compliance during financial crisis: Does it matter? International Journal of Finance and Economics, 28(3) pp. 2348–2366

  Abstract

  This paper investigates whether shareholder value is affected by non‐compliance with the prescriptions of a principle‐based ‘comply or explain’ system of corporate governance in the context of the global financial crisis of 2007–2009. Using System Generalized Method of Moments estimates to control for different types of endogeneity, the main findings of this paper suggest that non‐compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code adversely affects shareholder value. Furthermore, ex‐post estimates reveal that compliance with certain corporate governance mechanisms is more beneficial than others. With regard to this, compliance with provisions related to board independence is more important than complying with performance‐related pay requirements of the code. These findings have implications for policy makers and financial institutions regarding the usefulness of compliance with a prescribed code of corporate governance, specifically during periods of financial distress.

• Wong, Donna and Meng-Lewis, Yue (2023). The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Situational Crisis Communication and the COVID-19 Pandemic Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Communication & Sport(Early Access).

  Abstract

  Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were postponed for a year. While getting through with the organizing of an Olympic Games amid a global pandemic is seen as a success by many (‘The Good’), it was overshadowed by the relentless virus as the Games closed with a muted spectacle in 2021 (‘The Bad’). Pushing on with the Games after the postponement, at the height of the pandemic, has resulted in strong criticisms and caused damage to the organizers (‘The Ugly’). This study seeks to assess the crisis communication strategies implemented by the organizers as they navigated the capricious condition of trudging on with a pandemic era sport spectacle. Through examining the organizers’ crisis communications to the challenges that emerged and public reactions to the strategies, this study seeks to understand the outcome of the strategies on the organizational image and reputation. It also provides reflections on the management of the Games through the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, it is argued that the situational crisis communication theory offers a useful framework that can provide theoretical connections between crisis management in a sports mega-event and organizational response strategies.

• Tomkins, Leah and Bristow, Alexandra (2023). Paradoxes of organisational learning in policing: ‘The truth, but not the whole truth, for everyone’s sake’. Management Learning (Early access)

  Abstract

  This article examines the complex and often contradictory dynamics of organisational learning through the lens of paradox. Based on a 4-year action research programme in policing, our findings reveal two key tensions relating to knowledge control (codification-discretion) and knowledge disclosure (transparency-occlusion). Casting paradox as an ‘either/and’ relationship, we use these themes of control and disclosure to explore the interplay of learning (where actions either enable and inhibit learning) and emotion (where actions either reduce and increase anxiety). We consider how knowledge and learning are entangled in issues of emotional and institutional security, which operate at the threshold between public-service and public-served. In the psycho-politics of this relationship, the police attempt to safeguard either themselves from the anxiety of unwarranted blame and their communities from the anxiety of unmediated disclosure of the dangers of the world. From this perspective, we theorise organisational learning in policing as a paradox of either success and failure, either care and self-care and either potence and impotence. While grounded in policing, our reflections have a broader relevance for the ways in which knowledge tactics both shape and reflect relations between organisations and their key stakeholders, especially those based on the contingent and incongruous logics of service.

• Hamdani, Maria Riaz; Wallin, Ann; Ashkanasy, Neal M. and Fenton-O’Creevy, Mark (2023). Common Methodological Issues in Quantitative Management Education Research and Recommendations for Authors. Journal of Management Education (Early access)

  Abstract

  In this essay, we focus on methodological issues that reviewers and editors commonly encounter when evaluating empirical articles in scholarship of teaching and learning in management education. We organize our discussion around three stages—design, analysis, and reporting. The essay identifies which types of issues are likely to receive rejection, and which issues can be addressed in the subsequent reviews of the manuscript. We provide authors with some suggestions on how to address these issues in their research.

• Bend, Gemma L. and Priola, Vincenza (2023). ‘There Is Nothing Wrong with Me’: The Materialisation of Disability in Sheltered Employment. Work, Employment and Society, 37(3) pp. 645–664

  Abstract

  This article explores the lived experiences of disabled men and women who work in sheltered employment. Specifically, it analyses how the entanglement of sociomaterial practices affect disabled workers’ co-constructions of work and disability. Theoretically grounded in posthumanist performativity theory, the article shows how embodied employment experiences within organisational spaces contribute to the materialisation of disability. Findings emerged from ethnographic participant observations and interviews with management and workers at a sheltered workshop. The data highlights how the entanglement of bodies, space, objects and discourses affect materialisations of disability in ways that appear more inclusive than in mainstream employment. However, these sociomaterial practices remain embedded in a productivity-oriented work logic.

• Szablewska, Natalia and Kubacki, Krzysztof (2023). Empirical business research on modern slavery in supply chains: A systematic review. Journal of Business Research, 164, article no. 113988.

  Abstract

  Modern slavery is a persistent global practice, with an estimated 50 million people trapped in one of its many forms today. In the last decade, attention has shifted to how business facilitates modern slavery and plays a key role in eliminating it from its operations and supply chains. The purpose of this study is to provide a rigorous foundation for scholarly and practice-oriented research by systematically reviewing and synthesising the existing literature to identify key areas for future empirical business research on modern slavery in supply chains. Examination of 26 relevant studies provides an evidence base for future research and theory development to guide practice in addressing modern slavery in supply chains. The findings indicate that empirical business research on modern slavery is an emerging area of inquiry. To drive the global anti-modern slavery agenda, more empirical business research is needed that integrates the social, technological, and legal systems.

• Bailey, Nick; Winchester, Nik and Ellis, Neil (2023). What is your intention? Tacit knowledge and community-based learning for collision avoidance in the global maritime industry. Journal of Vocational Education & Training (Early Access).

  Abstract

  This paper examines the practice of collision avoidance in Merchant ships to highlight the role of tacit knowledge and collective learning in the formation of professional practice. Analysis of 1,431 recorded VHF radio conversations drawn from real-time ship-to-ship interactions provides a unique window onto professional competence in navigation, and the application of professional judgement underpinned by tacit knowledge learned through practice. Moreover, we argue that such tacit knowledge is gained within a ‘community of practice’. More specifically, our data reveal how: (i) the practice of collision avoidance is more collaborative than reference to the extant regulations (the COLREGS) alone would suggest, and (ii) the practice of discussing collision avoidance over the radio can be seen as a form of collective production and learning of tacit knowledge through practice. Consequently, our analysis provides insight into the social nature of collision avoidance practice. In so doing, the paper makes a significant contribution by (i) adding a new example to the corpus of research in this area, (ii) introducing the community perspective of learning to the maritime sector, (iii) extending the concept of community-based learning by presenting data that illustrates both individual and collective learning.

• Foley, Jim; Jones, Fergal; Hassett, Alex and Williams, Emma (2023). ‘Holding onto trauma?’ The prevalence and predictors of PTSD, anxiety and depression in police officers working with child abuse, rape and sexual exploitation victims. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles [Early Access].

  Abstract

  Research into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other common mental disorders (CMDs) in police officers is limited, with the majority of research predominately conducted outside the UK, and no study quantitatively examining the role of social support in relation to the mental health of UK police officers working with victims of trauma. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence and predictors of PTSD and CMD in UK police officers who investigate rape, sexual exploitation and child abuse, along with the potential protective role of social support. Participants were police officers ( n = 353) within one police area, who completed self-report measures of PTSD, anxiety, depression and social support. Results showed that 23% of officers had potentially clinical levels of PTSD, 26% had moderate to severe levels of anxiety and 35% had moderate to severe levels of depression. Female officers, those of constable rank, those working with victims of child abuse, and those with lowest levels of social support had poorer mental health. There was tentative evidence that social support statistically moderated the relationship between tenure and depression. These findings suggest the need for bespoke help for the sub-group of officers experiencing mental health problems and for further research into the potential protective role of social support.

• Calò, Francesca; Scognamiglio, Fulvio; Bellazzecca, Enrico and Ongaro, Edoardo (2023). Social innovation during turbulent times: a systematic literature review and research agenda. Public Management Review (Early Access).

  Abstract

  Contemporary societies are affected by profound and often disruptive changes leading to socio-economic turbulence. The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of such changes. Gaining a deeper understanding of how society-based responses – such as social innovation – work during turbulent times is of increased significance. This paper carries out a systematically conducted literature review on the forms of social innovation arisen during the first year of the pandemic. Based upon our findings, areas for middle range theorizing on how social innovation works under conditions of turbulence and a prospective research agenda are explored.

• Hampton, Sam; Blundel, Richard; Eadson, Will; Northall, Phil and Sugar, Katherine (2023). Crisis and opportunity: Transforming Climate Governance for SMEs. Global Environmental Change, 82, article no. 102707.

  Abstract

  Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key actors in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Their aggregate emissions are significant, and they are disproportionately affected by climate impacts, including extreme weather events. SMEs also play a vital role in shaping the environmental behaviours of individuals, communities, and other businesses. However, these organisations have been largely neglected by climate policies across all levels of government. A series of global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Europe and the Middle East, and energy price spikes, have posed an existential threat to millions of SMEs, while also acting as a catalyst for the reconfiguration of the social contract between business, society and the state, both temporary and more long-term. In this article, we make the case for increased focus on the governance of SME decarbonisation to address this turbulent context. We outline key challenges facing public policymakers and other governance actors, compare strategic options, identify evidence gaps that hinder effective interventions, and highlight implications for research. In doing so we set out key elements of a renewed social contract for business, society and state relations.

Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport

• Valero-Morales, Isabel; Nieto, Claudia; Garcia, Abad; Espinosa-Montero, Juan; Aburto, Tania C.; Tatlow-Golden, Mimi; Boyland, Emma and Barquera, Simon (2023). The nature and extent of food marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube posts in Mexico. Pediatric Obesity, 18(5), article no. e13016.

  Mimi Tatlow-Golden is highly networked and well known within the field of food safety and marketing for the ways in which her collaborative research is influencing policy internationally. This collaborative study, in which UK higher education researchers worked with colleagues from the Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, in Mexico contributes to evidence supporting the strengthening of food marketing regulations in Mexico. Food and beverage marketing appealing to children and adolescents has an impact on their food preferences, purchases requests, consumption patterns, health outcomes, and obesity. The objective of this study was to assess the nature and extent of food and beverage marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube posts in Mexico. This was a content analysis that followed the World Health Organization CLICK methodology to comprehend the landscape of digital food marketing campaigns of the top-selling food products and brands and the most popular accounts carried out between September and October 2020. A total of 926 posts from 12 food and beverage products and eight brands were included. Facebook was the social media platform with the most posts and greatest engagement. The most prevalent marketing techniques were brand logo, image of packaging, image of the product itself, hashtags, and engagement to consume. Fifty percent of the posts were assessed as appealing to children, 66% to adolescents, and 80% to either children or adolescents. Ninety-one percent of products (n = 1250) were classified as unhealthy according to the Mexican warning labels nutrient profile; 93% of the food promoted on posts appealing to either children or adolescents were unhealthy. Hashtags commonly referred to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the unhealthy food digital marketing features marketing techniques that appeal to children or adolescents; moreover, the use of the pandemic hashtag reflected brands' responsiveness to the environment at the time of the study.

• Heaney, Caroline and Kentzer, Nichola (2023). A Case Study Investigation Into a Group Online Sport Psychology Support Intervention for Injured Athletes. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(1) pp. 24–32.

  Caroline Heaney and Nichola Kentzer have particular expertise in sport psychology. In this study they collaborated to examine the impact of an online support hub for injured athletes. Sport psychology support can have a positive impact on sport injury rehabilitation; however, there appear to be barriers to injured athletes accessing such support (e.g. financial and geographical constraints). Online delivery has been suggested as a method to address some of these barriers. This case study therefore sought to explore whether an online sport psychology support hub was an effective method of sport injury psychology support. Sixteen injured athletes (seven male and nine female) participated in a 6-week sport psychology intervention where they were given access to an online hub moderated by a sport psychologist, in which sport psychology support was provided through social support (online forum), written emotional disclosure (diary), and psychological skills development (education resources). The impact of the hub was measured through analysis of the forum posts, diary entries, and responses to an evaluation questionnaire. While engagement with the hub was not as high as anticipated, the athletes reported several positive benefits from using the hub and rated its overall impact highly, demonstrating the potential of online delivery.

  View a summary of the paper.

• Critten, Sarah; Connelly, Vincent; Dockrell, Julie E.; Mundy, Ian R. and O’Rourke, Lynsey (2023). Handwriting processes when spelling morphologically complex words in children with and without Developmental Language Disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, article no. 1112462.

  Sarah Critten led this collaborative study with authors from across UK Higher Education Institutions, building on her psychological background and particular expertise in children’s language and literacy development. Representations activated during handwriting production code information on morphological structure and reflect decomposition of the root and suffix. Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have significant difficulties in spelling morphologically complex words, but previous research has not sought evidence for a morphological decomposition effect via an examination of handwriting processes in this population. Thirty-three children aged 9–10 years with DLD, 33 children matched for chronological age (CA), and 33 younger children aged 7–8 years matched for oral language ability (LA) completed a dictated spelling task (21 words; 12 with inflectional suffixes, nine with derivational suffixes). The task was completed on paper with an inking pen linked to a graphics tablet running the handwriting software Eye and Pen. Pause analyses and letter duration analyses were conducted. The three groups showed similar handwriting processes, evidencing a morphological decomposition effect in a natural writing task. Pause durations observed at the root/suffix boundary were significantly longer than those occurring in the root. Letter durations were also significantly longer for the letter immediately prior to the boundary compared to the letter after it. Nevertheless, despite being commensurate to their LA matches for mean pause durations and letter durations, children with DLD were significantly poorer at spelling derivational morphemes. Handwriting processes did significantly predict spelling accuracy but to a much lesser extent compared to reading ability. It is suggested that derivational spelling difficulties in DLD may derive more from problems with underspecified orthographic representations as opposed to handwriting processing differences.

• Khanolainen, Daria; Cooper, Victoria; Messer, David and Revyakina, Elena (2023). The Complexity of Student-led Research: from Terminology to Practice in a Case Study of Three Countries. Oxford Review of Education (Early Access).

  Victoria Cooper is a key member of the Open University Children's Research Centre and collaborated on this project with Open University colleague David Messer and academics from universities in Austria and Finland to problematise evidence about research considered led by children and young people as students. Preparing young people to meet emerging contemporary challenges has become a global imperative. Over two decades, there has been a call for students’ active participation in the life of school and society, and an important feature of this call is student-led research (SLR). However, this pedagogical and empowering call with many potential benefits is not unproblematic. There are far-reaching differences between various conceptions and use of student-led research in secondary schools both within and between different countries, reflecting a contrast between skill development and voice. This contrast, however, has not been previously scrutinised and discussed. We review student-led research in England, Ireland, and Russia showing that its development has been initiated and carried out in different countries with very different goals and focuses. Our study is in the form of a case study of the three countries covering a wide range of discussions related to SLR. By looking critically at how SLR is conceived and supported in various contexts, we evaluate facilitators and barriers, which ultimately offers a better understanding of how ideologies and political decisions influence students and teachers, and how educational policies and educational values are transferred into practice.

• Kemp, Nicola and Josephidou, Joanne (2023). Creating spaces called hope: the critical leadership role of owner/managers in developing outdoor pedagogies for infants and toddlers. Early Years [Early Access].

  The key strand in Jo Josephidou’s work is seeking appropriate pedagogies for the very youngest children in the education system (0-5) including issues around gender and babies' & toddlers' access to nature. This collaborative research with a colleague in another UK higher education institution demonstrates the potential for owner/managers to act as critical pedagogues creating spaces called hope. There is increasing concern about the ways in which neoliberalism is impacting Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), particularly in relation to infants and toddlers. The neoliberal agenda positions the outdoors as risky and a place to be physically active, potentially excluding the youngest children from these spaces. Drawing upon case study data from a larger project exploring outdoor provision for infants and toddlers in England, we demonstrate the critical leadership role owner/managers can play. They do this by creating different kinds of pedagogic spaces (cultural, physical and reflective) for practitioners to develop their outdoor practices. We argue that the creation of such spaces requires explicit acts of resistance and disruption to neoliberal understandings about the place of infants and toddlers outdoors.

• Hammersley, Martyn (2023). Can epistemologies and methodologies be racially unjust? The case of Allison Davis and cultural deprivation. International Journal of Research & Method in Education (Early Access).

  Martyn Hammersley continues to make methodological contributions to the field of Social Science, illustrated through problematisation of historical educational research, looking for insights to contribute to contemporary debates on decolonisation of universities and of research. This paper considers what it could mean to say that epistemologies and methodologies are racially just or unjust. It has been argued that this has nothing to do with whether an individual researcher is racist: he or she could be anti-racist but still use an epistemology that is racially biased. To explore this issue, some pioneering research by Allison Davis, an influential African-American scholar in the 1940s and 1950s, is examined. This research dealt with the effects of social class cultures on academic achievement in the United States. While Davis was well-known at the time, his work in this field is now largely forgotten. Two senses of ‘racially-just’ are examined in this paper, relating: to the intrinsic character or origin of epistemologies and methodologies; or to the implications for and likely consequences of their use. Davis’s investigations employed methods and assumptions that are rejected by many educational researchers today. I will address the question of whether these can be criticised as racially unjust; and, if so, on what basis. This evaluation will lead to a consideration of the broader question of the terms in which it is appropriate to assess educational research, and in particular the epistemologies and methodologies on which it depends.

Health, Wellbeing and Social Care

• Keogh, Peter (2023). Recovering Political Knowledge in Public Health: Learning from Sexual and Reproductive Health Work. Critical Public Health (Early Access).

  Like many areas of public health, sexual and reproductive health is concerned with politically contentious matters such as abortion and LGBT+ rights. Global setbacks at the hands of the far right highlight the extent to which the rights and practices underpinning sexual and reproductive health are politically mediated. Yet the political is often occluded in mainstream sexual and reproductive health responses. In this paper, I consider the recent travails of sexual and reproductive health in order to critique technocratic knowledge forms that dominate both sexual and reproductive health and public health responses. Exploring sexual and reproductive health responses across time and space, I identify alternative knowledge forms and approaches relevant to public health.

• MacGilleEathain, Rebecah; Smith, Tamsin and Steele, Isabel (2023). Sexual well-being among young people in remote rural island communities in Scotland: a mixed methods study. BMJ sexual & reproductive health [Early Access].

  Background: It has been identified that rural young people face barriers to accessing support for their sexual well-being such as availability and transport, knowing healthcare staff personally, and fear of being judged negatively within their community. These factors may contribute to widening health inequalities and expose young people living in rural areas to increased risk of poor sexual well-being. Little is known about the current needs of adolescents residing in remote rural island communities (RRICs).

  Methods: A cross sectional mixed methods study was conducted with 473 adolescents aged 13-18 across the islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Analysis included descriptive, inferential statistics and thematic analysis.

  Results: 59% (n 279) of participants held the perception there was no support, or did not know if there was support, about condoms and contraception in their local area. 48% (n 227) said that free condoms were not easily available for local young people. 60% (n 283) said they would not use youth services if they were locally available. 59% (n 279) said they did not receive enough relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education. Opinion differed significantly by gender, school year group, and sexual orientation. Qualitative analysis identified three key themes: (1) alone yet visible, (2) silence and disapproval, and (3) safe spaces, with an underpinning theme of island cultures.

  Conclusions: A need for further sexual well-being support that addresses the complexities and challenges for young people residing in RRICs is identified. The intersectionality of being LGBT+ and residing in this context may increase the experience of inequality in sexual well-being support. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.]

• Borgstrom, Erica; Jordan, Joanne and Henry, Claire (2023). Ambitions for palliative and end of life care: mapping examples of use of the framework across England. BMC Palliative Care, 22, article no. 83.

  Background: Since 2015, the Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: a national framework for local action has provided guidance for care within England and beyond. Relaunched in 2021, the Framework sets out six Ambitions which, collectively, provide a vision to improve how death, dying and bereavement are experienced and managed. However, to date, there has been no central evaluation of how the Framework and its Ambitions have been implemented within service development and provision. To address this evidence gap, we investigated understanding and use of the Framework.

  Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted to identify where the Framework has been used; examples of how it has been used; which Ambitions are being addressed; which foundations are being used; understanding of the utility of the Framework; and understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in its use. The survey was open between 30 November 2021–31 January 2022, promoted via email, social media, professional newsletter and snowball sampling. Survey responses were analysed both descriptively, using frequency and cross-tabulations, and exploratively, using content and thematic analysis.

  Results: 45 respondents submitted data; 86% were from England. Findings indicate that the Framework is particularly relevant to service commissioning and development across wider palliative and end of life care, with most respondents reporting a focus on Ambition 1 (Each person is seen as an individual) and Ambition 3 (Maximising comfort and wellbeing). Ambition 6 (Each community is prepared to help) was least likely to be prioritised, despite people welcoming the focus on community in national guidance. Of the Framework foundations, ‘Education and training’ was seen as most necessary to develop and/or sustain reported services. The provision of a shared language and collaborative work across sectors and partners were also deemed important. However, there is some indication that the Framework must give more prioritisation to carer and/or bereavement support, have greater scope to enhance shared practice and mutual learning, and be more easily accessible to non-NHS partners.

  Conclusions: The survey generated valuable summary level evidence on uptake of the Framework across England, offering important insights into current and past work, the factors impacting on this work and the implications for future development of the Framework. Our findings suggest considerable positive potential of the Framework to generate local action as intended, although difficulties remain concerning the mechanisms and resources necessary to enact this action. They also offer a valuable steer for research to further understand the issues raised, as well as scope for additional policy and implementation activity.

• Samra, Rajvinder; França, Alex Bacadini; Lucassen, Mathijs F G and Waterhouse, Philippa (2023). A network approach to understanding distance learners' experience of stress and mental distress whilst studying. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), article no. 27.

  Research has shown that learners' stress and mental distress are linked to poorer academic outcomes. A better understanding of stress and mental distress experiences during study could foster more nuanced course and intervention design which additionally teaches learners how to navigate through to protect their academic performance. The current study draws on data collected via validated self-reported questionnaires completed by final year undergraduate students (n = 318) at a large distance education university. We examined how common features of stress, depression and anxiety link to each other using a network analysis of reported symptoms. The results included findings demonstrating the symptoms with the greatest relative importance to the network. Specifically, these included the stress symptom 'I found it difficult to relax' and the depression symptom 'I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything'. The findings could help institutions design interventions that directly correspond to common features of students' stress and distress experiences.

• Rogers, Justin; Karunan, Victor; Ketnim, Pryn and Saeli, Aphisara (2023). ‘Doing family’ in adversity: Findings from a qualitative study exploring family practices in alternative care settings in Thailand. Children & Society [Early Access].

  This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that explored children's and families' experiences of alternative care in Thailand. The study used arts‐based methods to engage 160 children living in a range of care settings. This included government and NGO‐run residential care settings (RCS), children's villages, Buddhist temples, migrant learning centres and foster care homes. Interviews were also conducted with 20 parents/guardians who had placed their children in care. Findings show that despite the alternative care system presenting significant challenges, the participants revealed how they strived to preserve their family connections, and how they are ‘doing family’ in adversity.

• Stickler, Ursula and Emke, Martina (2023). Future-proofing language teaching: How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our profession. CALICO Journal, 40(2) pp. 137–152.

  Like other educators, language teachers were forced to move their teaching online during the pandemic. This was a particular challenge for a profession that relies on multimodal, multifaceted communication. Based on a series of questionnaires and observations, this article describes how language teachers' attitudes towards online teaching oscillated between initial concerns, scepticism and enthusiasm. At the same time, the process of shifting practices created a new understanding of roles for language teachers as mediators between resources and learners, designers of teaching materials, and critical voices in times of digital and societal change.

Languages and Applied Linguistics

• Álvarez, Inma; Fuertes Gutierrez, Mara and Gallardo Barbarroja, Matilde (2023). Team teaching in languages: a scoping review of approaches and practices in higher education. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching (Early access).

  What this research was about and why it is important

  Teacher collaboration and its positive impact on learners and teachers has been a subject of practice and research for a long time, but mostly in primary and secondary education, and in the context of in-service and pre-service teacher education programmes. This study looked at the research evidence to understand the extent to which languages are taught collaboratively (a practice known as team teaching or co-teaching) at universities, which co-teaching models have been implemented, and what lessons were learnt from the experiences that can be useful for improving current practices. We found that, in higher education, team teaching practices in languages classrooms are experimental and innovative. These practices are not part of bigger educational plans supported by relevant policies but rather ad hoc initiatives, however they are indeed present around the world to both enrich language teachers’ professional development and enhance students’ language learning experience and cultural understanding.

• Georgakopoulou, Alexandra; Giaxoglou, Korina and Patron, Sylvie eds. (2023). Small stories research: tales, tellings and tellers across contexts.Routledge Research in Narrative, Interaction, and Discourse. New York: Routledge.

  This collection showcases the diversity and disciplinary breadth of small stories research, highlighting the growing critical mass of scholarship on small stories, its extension to digital environments and its reach beyond discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives. The volume takes stock of and seeks to advance the development of small stories research by Alexandra Georgakopoulou and Michael Bamberg, as a counterpoint to conventional models in narrative studies, one which has accounted for “atypical” yet salient activities in everyday life, such as fragmentation and open-endedness, anchoring onto the present, co-constructive dimensions in stories and identities. This book will appeal to scholars interested in narrative inquiry and narrative analysis, in such fields as sociolinguistics, literary studies, communication studies, and biographical studies.

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• Singh, Jaspal (2023). ‘Purifying’ Hindi Translanguaging from English and Urdu Emblems: A Sociolinguistic Decolonization of the Hindu Right? In: Deumert, Ana and Makoni, Sinfree eds. From Southern Theory to Decolonizing Sociolinguistics: Voices, Questions and Alternatives. Studies in Knowledge Production and Participation (5). Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 18–38.

  As the right-wing Hindutva (Hinduness) movement is gaining political momentum, exclusionary, racist and nationalistic ideologies and practices become normalised and mainstreamed across Indian cultural spheres. Hindu enthusiasts, both from the higher echelons of society and from the grassroots, have made significant progress with ‘purifying’ social, political, legal, discursive and sociolinguistic practices in everyday life by purging emblems perceived as un-Indian or anti-national. Their vision is to create a new Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu Nation with the name of Bharat, in the near future. The purification uses language mythologies, i.e. emblematic readings of precolonial historicities, to agitate against both external threats to the Hindu way of life, such as western modernity and Islam, and internal threats, such as Dalit emancipation and other sticky categories of caste, gender, sexuality and indigeneity. By presenting the Hindu way of life as under threat, and the Hindus as victims of centuries of colonial oppression, the right-wing Hindutva movement frames itself as decolonial, thereby opening up the question of the movement’s relationship to the notion of decoloniality currently captivating left and liberal academic thought. Can a Hindutva project in any way be helpful for, or even reconciled with, developing decolonial tactics that allow us to push for material redistribution and radical epistemological shifts? In other words, is Hindutva a southern theory that we should take seriously and perhaps even collaborate with as part of a broad allied front against coloniality? I give negative answers to these questions. Hindutva is not decolonial because its practices and discourses are fundamentally exclusionary, nationalistic, racist, divisive and resemble conspiracy theories more than they resemble southern theories. To support my position, I discuss several sociolinguistic ‘purifications’ of Hindi translanguaging; i.e. moments in which metapragmatic efforts are made to speak/write/learn a ‘pure’ (shuddh) register of Hindi, which is free from what are perceived as historical impurities caused by Islamic rule (indexed by ‘Urdu’) and British colonialism (indexed by ‘English’). I begin, though, with some personal encounters with Hindi translanguaging.

• Seargeant, Philip; Giaxoglou, Korina and Monaghan, Frank (2023). Political Activism in the Linguistic Landscape: Or, how to use Public Space as a Medium for Protest.Multilingual Matters.

  This book, which takes the form of a graphic novel, looks at political activism in the public landscape. It has a particular focus on the UK activist group Led By Donkeys which has, since late 2018, been running a campaign to expose hypocrisy in the political classes. Their approach to activism involves the use of large posters and other forms of public display, which highlight the gap between the rhetoric and actions of politicians, and how language and communication is used to manipulate opinion. The activism discussed in the book includes four major issues: Brexit, Trump, Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The book is both an innovative visual approach to the presentation of academic research and thought, and an exploration of how the linguistic landscape can be a key resource for the communication of political activism.

• Pleines, Christine and Kan, Qian (2023). Exploring the use of tutorial recordings for beginner distance learners of Chinese. Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning [Early Access].

  In the area of online learning design, Pleines and Kan (2023) used surveys and stimulated recall interviews to investigate perceived learning benefits from watching recorded tutorials for beginner Chinese learners at a UK-based distance university. Findings support the view that both direct and indirect interaction can contribute to language development. Participants regarded the recordings as “fundamentally different from other course resources, with the tutor and live learners being perceived as ‘real’ in a way that speakers in other audio materials were not” (Pleines and Kan, 2023, p. 25). The study addresses an important theme in CALL – sustainability and reusability.

• Rienties, Bart; Calò, Francesca; Corcoran, Suz; Chandler, Kathy; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Haslam, Daniel; Harris, Claire A.; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Sargent, Julia; Suttle, Martin and Wahga, Aqueel (2023). How and with whom do educators learn in an online professional development microcredential. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 8(1), article no. 100626.

  A claimed technological advantage of online professional development (OPD) is the flexibility for educators to learn at a time and space of their convenience. However, the question of how, and with whom educators learn in OPD has received limited empirical attention. Using a participatory design approach, we explored the lived experiences and social networks of 19 educators following a formal OPD in a microcredential format. The mixed method study findings indicated that most (but not all) educators developed learning ties with their peers. This suggests that additional structural opportunities are needed to maintain social engagement in OPD. The findings will be of interest primarily to educators developing and delivering OPD, as well as current or potential professional learners who want to make the most out of OPD.

• Bozkurt, Aras; Gjelsvik, Torunn; Adam, Taskeen; Asino, Tutaleni I.; Atenas, Javiera; Bali, Maha; Blomgren, Constance; Bond, Melissa; Bonk, Curtis J.; Brown, Mark; Burgos, Daniel; Conrad, Dianne; Costello, Eamon; Cronin, Catherine; Czerniewicz, Laura; Deepwell, Maren; Deimann, Markus; DeWaard, Helen J.; Dousay, Tonia A.; Ebner, Martin; Farrow, Robert; Gil-Jaurena, Inés; Havemann, Leo; Inamorato, Andreia; Irvine, Valerie; Karunanayaka, Shironica P.; Kerres, Michael; Lambert, Sarah; Lee, Kyungmee; Makoe, Mpine; Marín, Victoria I.; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Mishra, Sanjaya; Naidu, Som; Nascimbeni, Fabio; Nichols, Mark; Olcott, Don; Ossiannilsson, Ebba; Otto, Daniel; Padilla Rodriguez, Brenda Cecilia; Paskevicius, Michael; Roberts, Verena; Saleem, Tooba; Schuwer, Robert; Sharma, Ramesh C.; Stewart, Bonnie; Stracke, Christian M.; Tait, Alan; Tlili, Ahmed; Ubachs, George; Weidlich, Joshua; Weller, Martin; Xiao, Junhong and Zawacki-Richter, Olaf (2023). Openness in Education as a Praxis: From Individual Testimonials to Collective Voices. Open Praxis, 15(2) pp. 76–112.

  Why is Openness in Education important, and why is it critically needed at this moment? As manifested in our guiding question, the significance of Openness in Education and its immediate necessity form the heart of this collaborative editorial piece. This rather straightforward, yet nuanced query has sparked this collective endeavour by using individual testimonies, which may also be taken as living narratives, to reveal the value of Openness in Education as a praxis. Such testimonies serve as rich, personal narratives, critical introspections, and experience-based accounts that function as sources of data. The data gleaned from these narratives points to the understanding of Openness in Education as a complex, multilayered concept intricately woven into an array of values. These range from aspects such as sharing, access, flexibility, affordability, enlightenment, barrier-removal, empowerment, care, individual agency, trust, innovation, sustainability, collaboration, co-creation, social justice, equity, transparency, inclusivity, decolonization, democratisation, participation, liberty, and respect for diversity. This editorial, as a product of collective endeavour, invites its readers to independently engage with individual narratives, fostering the creation of unique interpretations. This call stems from the distinctive character of each narrative as they voice individual researchers’ perspectives from around the globe, articulating their insights within their unique situational contexts

• Aristeidou, Maria; Cross, Simon; Rossade, Klaus-Dieter; Wood, Carlton and Paci, Patrizia (2023). Examining university student satisfaction and barriers to taking online remote exams. In: 9th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’23), UPV Press, València, Spain, pp. 1–8.

  Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of online exams at universities, due to the greater convenience and flexibility they offer both students and institutions. Driven by the dearth of empirical data on distance learning students' satisfaction levels and the difficulties they face when taking online exams, a survey with 562 students at The Open University (UK) was conducted to gain insights into their experiences with this type of exam. Satisfaction was reported with the environment and exams, while work commitments and technical difficulties presented the greatest barriers. Gender, race and disability were also associated with different levels of satisfaction and barriers. This study adds to the increasing number of studies into online exams, demonstrating how this type of exam can still have a substantial effect on students experienced in online learning systems and technologies.

• FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Sargent, Julia; Perryman, Leigh-Anne and Rossade, Klaus-Dieter (2023). A microcredentials-based Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice (PGCAP). EADTU.

  This paper presents a new certificate that consists entirely of microcredentials: a stackable model. The postgraduate qualification was piloted extensively with staff members at the Open University (OU) and will soon become available for a global audience. The successful completion of study entitles the certificate holder to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Agency in the UK, a highly regarded first stage professional membership and a proxy for teaching excellence. We will present key elements of the programme, key steps in the approval of the qualification and initial feedback from the pilot cohorts.

• Stagg, Adrian; Partridge, Helen; Bossu, Carina; Funk, Johanna and Nguyen, Linh (2023). Engaging with open educational practices: Mapping the landscape in Australian higher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 39(2)

  For more than a decade, Australian higher education has engaged with open educational practice (OEP). This paper presents findings from a study investigating the institutional approaches to OEP in Australian universities. Interviews were conducted with representatives from 10 Australian universities. The findings of a thematic analysis reveal organisational context, business processes and educational design as key themes through which OEP is enacted within Australian universities. Together, these themes document Australian universities experiences of and with OEP and contribute to addressing the need for translational research in Australian higher education. This research contributes to a growing evidence basis to construct an understanding of the dimensions of OEP for practical action. Implications for practice or policy:

• University policymakers should enact institutional open education policy to signal support and provide clarity.
• Learning designers and academic staff can leverage OEP to catalyse student-centred, authentic pedagogical transformation.
• OEP advocates need to address the root problem of sector-wide lack of awareness.
• Australian institutions should recognise existing pockets of good OEP engagement and more strategically codify or connect these practices to realise the benefits of OEP.

• Bossu, C. and Ellis, D. (2023). Open Educational Practice As an Enabler for Virtual Universities. In: Sankey, M. D.; Huijser, H. and Fitzgerald, R. eds. Technology-Enhanced Learning and the Virtual University. University Development and Administration. Singapore: Springer.

  This chapter explores a number of initiatives and research on open educational practices (OEP) to demonstrate their central role as enablers and catalysts for innovation and change in higher education, including for virtual universities. Key enablers such as open pedagogy, capacity building, policy development, and social justice and inclusion are covered. The chapter then makes recommendations for OEP implementation in the virtual university context and ends with some concluding thoughts. Key recommendations are predicated on both top-down and bottom-up approaches, along with engagement from not only educators but also learners, the need to adopt a wider view beyond western-centric and English language dominance in OEP, and the importance of encouraging active participation from those in the global south as well as the global north. Ultimately, OEP and the open educational resources (OER) movement, more generally, represent core enablers for virtual universities. However, their potential and affordances cannot be more fully realized unless a holistic and multidirectional approach is adopted across all levels – institutional, national, and international. If carefully and thoughtfully harnessed and implemented, the promise of OEP for virtual universities is substantial. In this manner, higher education can then be more accessible to more people in more places and contexts.

• Farella, Mariella; Arrigo, Marco; Tosto, Crispino; Seta, Luciano; Chifari, Antonella; Mangina, Eleni; Psyrra, Georgia; Domínguez, Ana; Pacho, Guillermo; Wild, Fridolin; Bowers, Lisa; Hillman, Robert; Goei, Sui Lin; Denaro, Paola; Dhrami, Doriana and Chiazzese, Giuseppe (2023). The ARETE Ecosystem for the Creation and Delivery of Open Augmented Reality Educational Resources: The PBIS Case Study. In: Higher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online, Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS), Springer, Cham, pp. 760–775.

  Augmented reality (AR) is rapidly emerging as an increasingly useful technology in educational settings. In the ARETE (Augmented Reality Interactive Educational System) H2020 project, consortium members designed and implemented an ecosystem aimed at supporting teachers in building a collaborative learning environment through the use of AR in order to improve educational experiences. In particular, one of the pilot projects aims to introduce AR into school behavior lessons for the first time, leveraging the Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support (PBIS) methodology. Specifically, in this paper we will discuss the proposed architecture within the ARETE project that incorporates AR technology into the learning process of behavior lessons to support the teaching, practice and reinforcement phases of expected behaviors. Through the combination of different technologies and systems, it is possible to create an example of a technological and innovative ecosystem designed for creating behavioral lessons in AR.

• Bossu, Carina and Iniesto, Francisco (2023). Guidelines for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Open Education Centering on Africa and Latin America Contexts. In: EDEN 2023 Annual Conference: “Yes we can!” – Digital Education for Better Futures, 18-20 Jun 2023, Dublin, Ireland.

  Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) has been a topic of recent debate within the Open Education (OE) community, and some would argue that it has underpinned the OE discourse since the beginning. However, access to free and online resources alone, such as Open Educational Resources (OER) cannot be considered equitable, diverse, and inclusive. In fact, the large majority of OER are only available in English, which limits access and reach for many learners around the world (Bossu et al., 2023). The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education. These doctoral researchers are at the core of the network; around them, over two hundred experts, supervisors, mentors and interested parties connect to form a community of practice. EDI has been driving the GO-GN agenda since its foundation in 2013, but it was only in 2018 when its first projects directly related to EDI was developed; the first one had a focus on EDI in Open Education in Africa, followed by a second project which focused on Latin America. One of the aims of these projects was to increase representation from these communities within GO-GN, as despite attempts, most of GO-GN participants are from Global North/developed countries. Another aim was to reach those who could potentially benefit the most from being part of this network (Rodés & Iniesto, 2021).

  In this presentation, we will briefly explore key aspects of these two EDI projects. We will also present, the GO-GN EDI Guidelines, which is an evidenced-based document that contains set of guiding principles that prompts questions and raises issues to be considered by higher education institutions, individuals, and in particular for GOGN, and other similar initiatives wishing to create a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive open education environment so that it can benefit those who need it the most. Although the EDI guidelines were informed and contextualised by some of the regions of the Global South, it can be changed and adapted to suit different EDI and open educational contexts

• Weller, Martin (2023). The Rise and Development of Digital Education. In: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf and Jung, Insung eds. Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education. Springer, pp. 75–91.

  Over the past 25 years, digital education has risen to prominence. It has a direct relationship with open education, which can be considered an umbrella term. In this chapter the rise of digital education is explored through five specific educational technologies. These technologies – the web, Learning Management System (LMS), blogs, social media, and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – all raise issues of control and ease of use. They also have a direct impact on different aspects of open education, which in turn helps inform their development. This chapter sets out the multiple interpretations of open education and their overlap with digital education. By then exploring five educational technologies, common themes are extracted which highlight this intersection of digital and open education.

• Shrestha, Sagun; Gnawali, Laxman and Laudari, Suman (2022). Issues of Participant Retention in an Online Course for English as a Foreign Language Teachers. International Journal of Research in English Education, 7(1) pp. 86–98.

  Online courses are popular around the world these days as people can access learning being in different times and spaces. At the same time, the retention of participants in any online course is always challenging. This qualitative case study investigated the issues related to participant retention in an online course and explored the effective ways to retain the participants in such courses. The data were collected through the interviews conducted with 12 teachers who partly or wholly participated in a year-long online course. Teacher participants’ online communication exchanges on Edmodo and Viber platforms during the course period also served as data for this study. The Edmodo and Viber extracts were originally in English while the interviews were conducted in Nepali; therefore, in the process of analysis, some key extracts were translated, especially focusing on the message they communicated. The findings based on thematic analysis reveal that the issues related to retention include facilitators’ delayed response, poor activity design and inappropriate selection of web tools, and need for additional time among others. This study is expected to assist course designers, institutions, and organizations that run online courses as well as teachers who plan to run and join online courses as they can be informed of the issues that play a role in the retention of participants in online courses.