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Support for Decolonising Research

Support for Decolonising Research 

Decolonised research cannot be realised without the support of expert colleagues. Here we summarise examples of support that colleagues are able to access: 

i. The Library is committed to providing equitable resources and minimising the exclusion of voices and perspectives from published research. It encourages researchers to think about how racism and other forms of discrimination and bias within the scholarly publishing industry can lead to such exclusion. Examples of practices include: 

  • Literature searching: When searching for literature to inform research, it is important to acknowledge the voices that have been excluded and actively try to find research from marginalised groups. This could include going beyond mainstream databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, searching databases that index research from across the world, searching for grey literature and engaging with a greater range of academic voices on platforms such as Twitter. To help researchers go beyond the mainstream databases when searching for information, the Library has developed a collection of databases that showcase research from across the world, with a particular focus on the Global South.
  • Open access: Historically, the subscription-based model of academic publishing has disadvantaged researchers from low-income countries whose institutions may not be able to afford to subscribe to the scholarly literature. As the model has shifted to open access, however, increasingly via the 'gold' pay to publish model and more recently through 'transitional agreements', these same researchers may now struggle to publish their own research due to these costs.While most commercial publishers do offer fee waivers, there is evidence that authors based in countries eligible for fee waivers rarely publish open-access. Partly in response to the unsustainable cost of open access, cOAlition S developed their Rights Retention Strategy to help researchers retain sufficient rights to their own work so they can make it immediately open access from a repository without an embargo period.In order to foster the move to open access the Library is investing in national and international open access infrastructure projects, e.g. Open Book Publishers, SCOAP3 and the Open Library of Humanities which will enable scholars from around the world to publish and access research more easily and freely. The University of Leeds also jointly runs the White Rose University Press (WRUP) with the Universities of Sheffield and York. WRUP is a non-profit, open access digital publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals and books. WRUP welcomes proposals from across the academic community, not just from academics within White Rose institutions, and thus also expanding the possibility of those from LMICs and the Global South to publish and share their research freely.
  • Reading List Diversification Project: Following recent work at Imperial College and a 2021 LITE reading list project, the Library’s Access and Acquisitions team has collaborated with IT colleagues on a pilot reading list analysis tool to investigate the representation of authors on reading lists by geography. Using a variety of data sources to aggregate public information for authors on 49 volunteered reading lists across all seven Faculties, the analysis tool is a proof-of-concept project that aims to reveal the knowledges and voices that are undervalued in academia.The Library’s Learning Development team and Access and Acquisitions team are collaborating to create a toolkit to support academics to broaden the scope of their reading lists, in the way that is most appropriate within their disciplinary context.  The aim of the toolkit is to help encourage tutors’ self-reflection and evaluation of their reading lists. Including the experiences and voices of students will be central to the development of the toolkit.The Library has also worked with Nina Wardleworth to develop an online Primo collection to support academics with their decolonisation practices.
  • Collections, Special Collections & Galleries: The Library is aware that because of the age of its collections, and who created them, there will inevitably be historical terms within the objects themselves that are obsolete and offensive. There may also be historic catalogue descriptions that use outdated thinking and terminology. Whilst it will take time to develop an approach which can address this problem systematically, and which can also ensure that records that come into the catalogue from external organisations meet our standards, the Library is committed to undertaking this work guided by sector and University values.  To date we have undertaken a pilot project with LAHRI and The National Archives to apply linguistic analysis software to certain catalogues, to see how offensive and contested terms can be quickly identified. We have also started a long-term piece of work to identify previously hidden voices – and gaps - in our collections, and we are hosting internships under a programme led by the Leeds Insitute of Teaching Excellence (LITE) who are exploring the history of the University with a colonial lens.We have also been taking a broader approach to diversity.  The Library has been making significant investments in its online digital collections to increase the range and diversity of voices represented. Our Special Collections and Galleries have been working to increase LGBTQ+ representation, and we have also been working with refugee communities through the Galleries community engagement work which is a continuing focus of attention. We are also working to diversify audiences through participatory research projects, again working in partnership with LAHRI. The specific focus recently has been engagement with Chinese and Persian content and communities, which may lead into further work in the next few years.For further information on the above areas please contact the Library Research Support Team.  

ii. The Doctoral College and the PGR Diversity Team in Educational Engagement will, for example: 

  • Hold decolonising events with PGRs. The PGR Diversity Team will work with the Decolonising Framework lead or Curriculum Redefined lead from all Schools as well as their PGR Reps to organise events and provide discursive spaces, soliciting PGRs’ views and suggestions on decolonising efforts within their Schools;
  • Facilitate the exchange of views with PGRs on relevant areas, for example on ethics processes which need to accommodate cultural differences and expectations; 
  • Develop relevant training and support for PGRs and their supervisors to inform and guide their research.  

iii. The Public Engagement Team offers bespoke professional advice, assistance, support, and resources for academics, researchers, and PGRs on engaging the public with research. Relevant to decolonising research, the team will:

  • Encourage careful and inclusive consideration of demographics, and an ethically conscious approach for engagement activities; 
  • Uphold the consideration of the rights, safety, dignity, and wellbeing of participating demographics as paramount; 
  • Facilitate engagement activities to be accessible, inclusive, and to ensure that participating demographics can express their views without fear of judgement; 
  • Encourage researchers to have a wider and inclusive understanding of demographics and build fair and ethical relationships wherever they are; 
  • Learn more about the Public Engagement team here: https://ris.leeds.ac.uk/impact/public-engagement/

iv. Organisational Development and Professional Learning (OD&PL)

In anticipation of increased demand from the research community, OD&PL is developing decolonising resources and training to inform and guide researchers, for example: 

  • Pilot workshops to be delivered by decolonising leads. These will be initially trialed in two Faculties and will include researchers and DoRIs; 
  • Online information on decolonising research to guide researchers will be developed; 
  • Decolonising approaches to integrate research and teaching will be developed.