An update on peer review and research data

Key points

• Technological advances in the amounts of data that researchers generate and use are causing problems for the scholarly communication system.
• How, when and by whom should quality checks and assurance be integrated into this – already overloaded – ecosystem?
• This paper outlines the challenges, illustrates some current initiatives and posits possible directions for the future.

     

Stamina, speed and adventure: Australian women and competitive cycling in the 1890s

The scholarship surrounding women's cycling in Australia during the 1890s is slim. However, a focus on female competitive cycling, just one of many diverse cycling activities that women pursued in this era, reveals a rich seam of information. Accordingly, this paper surveys endurance riding, adventure touring and racing, introducing new historical and biographical detail and highlighting the significance of competitive cycling for women in the late nineteenth century. The discussion shows that women's competitive cycling constituted a significant component of Australian cycling history, and helped to re-define women's identity in an era when feminine roles were in flux and the traditional gender order was being contested.     

Brand personality in higher education: anthropomorphized university marketing communications

While the university prospectus is recognized as an important marketing communication tool for higher education recruitment strategies, it has become overlooked as many researchers have focused on other communication channels, such as social media and websites. Although focus has been placed upon Higher Education Institution (HEI) brand differentiation, little is known about the similarities and differences between institutional marketing communications utilized to build their brands. This research seeks to explore and analyze the prospectuses of the top 10 HEIs in the UK and to draw comparison between their relative positions using a brand personality lens. While the brand personality trait of sincerity was common for all of the HEIs, there was clear differentiation on the basis of other traits, demonstrating that brand personality deepens our understanding of HEI positioning. Two main brand personality groupings were evident among the top 10 institutions: excitement and competence.