What’s happening in Library Research Services: Autumn 2025

Members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be on hand to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Coming up in the following months:

September
October
November

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2025/2026.

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

Open Access Support Sessions in 2025/26

Are you looking for advice and information on open access or managing publications? Come to one of our monthly drop-in sessions and meet members of the Library Research Services team, who will be happy to answer questions on:

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, student or simply keen to explore the possibilities within open access, this session offers a welcoming space to ask questions, gain insights and delve deeper into the realm of open access.

These are informal sessions, however, registration is required for you to receive the online teams link. 

All are welcome!

Open Research Awards 2025

We’re delighted to announce that the Newcastle University Open Research Awards for 2025 are now open.

The Open Research Awards recognise colleagues and students who have used open practices to make research more accessible, transparent or reproducible, and demonstrate an understanding of the aims of open research.

The awards are open to all students and colleagues working in any research-related role, at any stage, within any area of the University. We encourage applications from researchers in any discipline, including those where open research is not yet the norm, and who may use qualitative, quantitative or creative practice methodologies. 

The winners will be announced at a celebration event and presented with a bespoke award created by the University’s glass blowing workshop, as well as a certificate and letter of commendation to recognise their contribution to building a more open research culture.

Important Dates (2025)

  • Submission closes: Nov 7th (17:00)
  • Panel shortlisting:  Nov 17th
  • Celebration event: Nov 24th (12:00-14:00)

Latest UKRI funded open access book published

Sustainable Food Consumption in China: Changing Foodscapes, Values, and Practices by Alex Hughes, Shuru Zhong, Mike Crang, Guojun Zeng, Fernando Fastoso, Hector Gonzalez Jimenez and Bob Doherty, has been published open access by Routledge, as part of their Critical Food Studies series.

Sustainable Food Consumption in China investigates the current and potential roles of food consumption to address sustainability challenges in China.

Focusing on the megacity of Guangzhou, it looks at sustainability and food from the perspectives of government, commercial, and third sector actors, and through the lived experiences of consumers. It charts the rapidly transforming landscapes of retail across urban China and the ways they are shaping and are shaped by everyday food consumption practices. Using a multi-method research approach of quantitative and ethnographic data, it provides readers with a rich and comprehensive understanding of the relationships and tensions between contemporary practices of food consumption and pressing sustainability challenges. It unpacks the complex foodscape in contemporary Chinese cities, from traditional wet markets to online deliveries, from supermarkets to farmers markets and alternative food providers, to understand the values and practices promoting and hindering sustainability in food consumption.

The book is intended for academics from advanced undergraduate level through to Masters, postgraduates and scholars across key social science disciplines including Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, and Business, and internationally given the global interest in the focus on China.


This is the third book published at Newcastle as a result of the UKRI open access policy for long-form publications, with open access costs covered by UKRI funding. You can read the other books:

The UKRI open access policy aims to ensure that findings from research funded by the public through UKRI can be freely accessed, used and built upon. The policy was updated at the beginning of 2024 from previously focusing on peer-reviewed research articles to now include long-form outputs, namely book chapters, monographs and edited collections.

Full details of the UKRI open access policy and how we in Library Research Services can support you to publish open access can be found on our UKRI Policy for long-form publications page.

If you have any questions or concerns about the policy, and how this might affect any current or future publications, please contact openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

Book Giveaway!

Routledge Critical Food Studies book series will soon publish “Sustainable Food Consumption in China: Changing Foodscapes, Values, and Practices” by Alex Hughes, Shuru Zhong, Mike Crang, Guojun Zeng, Fernando Fastoso, Hector Gonzalez Jimenez and Bob Doherty.

Simply, share or like one of the following posts by 12 June 2025 for a chance to win a print copy!

The book, expected on 18 June 2025, will be published open access as a result of the UKRI open access policy for long-form publications, with open access costs covered by UKRI funding.

Full details of the UKRI open access policy and how we in Library Research Services can support you to publish open access can be found on our UKRI Policy for long-form publications page.

If you have any questions or concerns about the policy, and how this might affect any current or future publications, please contact openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

What’s happening in Library Research Services: June, July and August 2025

As we move towards the summer months, members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be on hand to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

There are also a number of interesting events happening:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2025.

New book published under the UKRI open access policy

Cover image of monograph entitled Diaspora Reads: Community, Identity, and Russian Literaturocentrism

Diaspora Reads: Community, Identity, and Russian Literaturocentrism, written by Dr Angelos Theocharis from the Newcastle University School of Arts & Cultures, has been published open access (OA), by Modern Humanities Research Association/Legenda https://www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Diaspora-Reads

Diaspora Reads explores the role of literature and reading practices in the community life of Russian-speaking migrants in Britain. Russophone culture abounds with myths about the special mission of literature and the writer in society. The broader cultural myth of Russian literaturocentrism encompasses the sacralisation of highbrow literature, the idolisation of authors as heroes and martyrs, and the idealisation of avid readership. In the diaspora, literaturocentrism takes on a new form, retaining elements of the Russian and Soviet tradition while primarily responding to the needs of migrant readers.

Following the discussions, games, and celebrations of a community book club in London, Diaspora Reads demonstrates how collective reading enables migrants to shape shared cultural identities, forge communities, build a long-distance relationship with their homelands, and become members of a global network of readers.

Angelos Theocharis is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Department of Media, Culture, Heritage at Newcastle University. Diaspora Reads is his first monograph.


This is the second book published at Newcastle as a result of the UKRI open access policy for long-form publications, with open access costs covered by UKRI funding. You can read more about the first edited book Pushing the Paradigm of Global Water Security, published in October 2024.

The UKRI open access policy aims to ensure that findings from research funded by the public through UKRI can be freely accessed, used and built upon. The policy was updated at the beginning of 2024 from previously focusing on peer-reviewed research articles to now include long-form outputs, namely book chapters, monographs and edited collections.

Full details of the UKRI open access policy and how we in Library Research Services can support you to publish open access can be found on our UKRI Policy for long-form publications page.

If you have any questions or concerns about the policy, and how this might affect any current or future publications, please contact openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

What’s happening in Library Research Services: March and April 2025

This March, you can come and chat with members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team at our in-person event (12.00-14.00) on the 28th in the Henry Daysh Building, HDB.1.04, as part of the Universities for North East England Open Research Week.

Other events coming up:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2025.

Universities for North East England Open Research Week – 24 to 28 March 2025

The Universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside are pleased to invite you to attend their Open Research Week.

We have organised a series of events, featuring a range of speakers, discussing Open Research practices in our institutions and beyond. The events aim to explore and share good practice, discuss barriers and strategies to enable Open Research.

Who should attend? Anyone with an interest in knowing more about Open Research, including researchers, academics, technicians, research staff support and students.

Registration details and more information about each event are available at the links below (all times are in GMT). The majority of events are hosted online via Teams, and registration is open to all.

Monday 24th March

  • 14:00 – 15:30 – Open Data?! Benefits and strategies for sharing research data
    (Prof Eamonn Bell, Durham University; Dr Alan Bowman, Teesside University; Dr Martin P Eccles, Newcastle University; Prof Sarah Lonbay, University of Sunderland; Dr Sebastian Potthoff, Northumbria University; Dr Louise Rayne, Newcastle University)

Tuesday 25th March

Wednesday 26th March

Thursday 27th March

Friday 28th March

Each institution will advertise an in-person drop-in session open to its own staff and research students. Please check individual institutions for details.

  • 11:00 – 13:00 – Open Research Drop-in (Research Commons Collaboration Space 1)
    (at Northumbria University)
  • 12:00 – 14:00 – Open Research Drop-in
    (at Teesside University)

Friday 4th April

Link to all events

If you have any questions please contact Library Research Services lrs@ncl.ac.uk

What’s happening in Library Research Services: February 2025

The Library Research Services (LRS) team are here to help in 2025.

Coming up in the next month:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2025.