Fields: Journal of Huddersfield Student Research Editorial

Welcome to Fields, the University of Huddersfield's online student research journal. I am pleased to announce that I have taken over as editor and it has been an exciting year where I have been involved in the process of selecting and developing the eleven papers that feature in volume 2. I have been impressed with the diversity of research topics and fascinated by fields of research I had not previously encountered in my own experience as a Health professional. Fields was developed to disseminate the very best of undergraduate and taught postgraduate research; volume 2 presents student research from across the disciplines of social science, arts & humanities and science, & engineering and technology We know students undertaking research as part of their educational experience can develop their skills in, for example, project management, data analysis, presentation and independent working and these skills are important for their working life beyond graduation. Sometimes the value placed on these transferable skills can overshadow the research itself. The pleasure of sustained, high level immersion in a subject, the honing of critical faculties and the satisfaction of both process and outcome are, it may be argued, the most valuable of graduate attainments. At Huddersfield we recognise the immense value to the student in promoting their work and learning to express their findings publicly as well as the benefit of sharing new knowledge that could otherwise be lost. This forms the basis for continually developing the Fields journal as part of an environment supportive of academic exploration. Despite this, dissemination of undergraduate research papers is rare. Whilst there have been around 26 student research journals started in the UK over recent years analysis by Stone, Jensen & Beech (2016) shows that these are very varied and only a handful represent the peer reviewed, online, high calibre production that we have developed with Fields. We hope that through its production we can not only share the research widely but demonstrate that such a journal can be of a high standard, sustainable and effective. Early evidence to support this claim can be seen in the interest generated by the first edition. Since publication in January 2015, volume 1 has had over 1,700 downloads across the range of papers with an average of 130 downloads per paper. Even allowing for interest within the university and from family and friends the spread of interest at a national and international …

Fields was developed to disseminate the very best of undergraduate and taught postgraduate research; volume 2 presents student research from across the disciplines of social science, arts & humanities and science, & engineering and technology We know students undertaking research as part of their educational experience can develop their skills in, for example, project management, data analysis, presentation and independent working and these skills are important for their working life beyond graduation.Sometimes the value placed on these transferable skills can overshadow the research itself.The pleasure of sustained, high level immersion in a subject, the honing of critical faculties and the satisfaction of both process and outcome are, it may be argued, the most valuable of graduate attainments.
At Huddersfield we recognise the immense value to the student in promoting their work and learning to express their findings publicly as well as the benefit of sharing new knowledge that could otherwise be lost.This forms the basis for continually developing the Fields journal as part of an environment supportive of academic exploration.
Despite this, dissemination of undergraduate research papers is rare.Whilst there have been around 26 student research journals started in the UK over recent years analysis by Stone, Jensen & Beech (2016) shows that these are very varied and only a handful represent the peer reviewed, online, high calibre production that we have developed with Fields.We hope that through its production we can not only share the research widely but demonstrate that such a journal can be of a high standard, sustainable and effective.
Early evidence to support this claim can be seen in the interest generated by the first edition.Since publication in January 2015, volume 1 has had over 1,700 downloads across the range of papers with an average of 130 downloads per paper.Even allowing for interest within the university and from family and friends the spread of interest at a national and international level is very positive.In addition two papers from volume 1 were presented last year at the British Conference of Undergraduate Research and four from volume 2 will be presented in 2016.Finally, several of the students have been instrumental in developing the profile of their achievements on their personal webpages and blogs.
A three-stage editorial process starts with nominations of excellent research assignments which are reviewed in each academic school to identify those with the potential for conversion to a journal paper.Following feedback and redrafting eighteen papers were submitted to the Fields editorial panel for academic peer review of which eleven are published here.
From the social sciences, law student Adam Luke Alexander analyses the current legislation within the UK and Europe with respect to trade mark law, expertly exploring the ways in which the law is changing in particular to accommodate the unconventional trademarks associated with new technology.In a further paper for law, Naomi Cubillo-Barsi offers a detailed, fascinating critical overview of the development of the legal definition of 'charity' and the 'public benefit' in the context of the growing number of charities and increased revenue in the sector.Caesarean section is frequently an option where problems in childbirth are encountered but is not without controversy.In this qualitative study, Laura Hughes from midwifery explores the decisions women made in relation to mode of birth following a previous emergency lower segment caesarean section, offering new insights into factors to be considered in risk assessment.Psychology student Beth O'Donnell explores gender representation in the media by using two case studies, one male and one female, to deconstruct the reporting of male and female murderers in broadsheet and tabloid newspapers.Jennifer Scott from education presents an action research study exploring the relatively under researched area of younger (year 5) children's online experiences, alongside their understandings of risk, in order to inform a personalised and relevant internet safety curriculum.
From the arts and humanities, music student John Aulich examines three disparate works from Western art music in order to discuss the important political and ethical dimensions of composer-performer relationships and the impact this has on the creative possibilities available to anyone engaged in this practice.In another paper from music, James Fox draws together his understanding of the power of musical soundtracks, video game development and audio-visual theory to skilfully critique the ways in which technological limitations are overcome to deliver classical cinematic devices in early Nintendo's Super Mario titles.
From science, engineering and technology, computing and engineering student Matt Firth presents his findings from experiments with the hardware and software involved in developing optimal algorithms for estimating pitch in vocals.In the light of the current international crisis regarding Antibiotic misuse, a highly topical joint paper from pharmacy, by Laura Hancock and Callan Mellor, investigates antimicrobial stewardship by gathering information from community pharmacists and members of the public: Findings and recommendations will be of interest to the general public and those involved in medicines management.The main goal of Ryan Phelan's research was to reproduce the function of the Phillips Machine, an early analogue computer designed for economic forecasting, as a piece of valuable educational software with as many of the original features as possible.Finally, returning to biological science Lenka Stejskal investigates Lyme disease, an infection that can be transmitted to humans from ticks.The research, which is part of a larger study, contributes to the search for a vaccine and drug development having identified and begun to understand three of the proteins within the outer membrane of the bacterium.
I hope you find this second edition enjoyable and discover something of interest to you in the range of excellent research being undertaken by students on taught courses at the University of Huddersfield.

Prof Janet Hargreaves
Editor in chief, Fields: journal of Huddersfield student research