http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/409 Brunel Library and ASK Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:55:55 GMT 2026-04-05T12:55:55Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32544 Title: Current methods for the evaluation of chemical contamination risks from abandoned coal and lead-zinc mine lands: protocol for a systematic evidence map Authors: Ekhareafo, UR; Hoey, T; Kanda, R; McPhie, J; Martin, OV Abstract: Abandoned mine lands (AMLs) pose significant environmental risks by releasing contaminants that can adversely affect plants, animals, and human health, especially in highly contaminated areas. Guidance exists on conducting contaminated land risk assessments. Understanding and documenting changes in the methods used for AMLs risk assessments can help identify gaps and advances in practice, influencing future research, policy, and remediation efforts. The study aims to synthesise current methods for characterising the risks of chemical contamination associated with AMLs, with a focus on coal and lead-zinc mines due to their enduring toxic legacies. Searches will be conducted across six electronic databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Academic Search Complete, and Business Source Premier (via EbscoHost), as well as grey literature sources. Eligible studies must include primary research assessing chemical risks from abandoned coal and lead-zinc mines. They must have assessed or measured risks associated with chemicals on ecological or human receptors at the community, population, or individual level. Studies retrieved from literature searches will undergo title and abstract screening, followed by a full-text assessment for eligibility. Following pilot screening, a single reviewer will screen all articles independently, with a second reviewer verifying accuracy for 20% of the sources. Data on methods for exposure assessment, including exposure modelling where relevant, selected safety thresholds, risk characterisation will be extracted from all eligible studies. Accuracy of the extraction process will also be verified by a second reviewer for 20% of the eligible articles. Collated methods will be categorised to establish current practices and compared with existing guidance to assess alignment and deviations. Results will be summarised narratively and presented in interactive, publicly accessible visualisations. Description: Data availability statement Supplementary materials relating to this protocol can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14246187.; Supplemental material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2833373X.2025.2587417# . Thu, 04 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32544 2025-12-04T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32212 Title: State of the evidence on the impacts of fishing plastic waste to coastal communities: protocol for a Systematic Evidence Map Authors: Apete, L; Iacovidou, E; McPhie, J; Martin, OV Abstract: Background: Fishing plastic waste (FPW) is known to cause multidimensional impacts to coastal communities globally. Detailed information on the environmental, socioeconomic and technical dimensions of effects to coastal communities caused by FPW has yet to be collated and considered in one place. Methods: The main aim of this study is to identify, organise and group existing primary evidence of the environmental, social, economic, political, and technical impacts of FPW on coastal communities and identify gaps in our knowledge about which types of FPW are most problematic. Search Strategy: We will search several databases across four electronic academic indexes (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and EBSCOhost [Business Source Complete, CINAHL Plus, EconLit, GreenFile, and Humanities International Index]). Eligibility Criteria: Eligible studies must contain primary research investigating an environmental, social, economic, political, or technical impact of fragments of any size of plastic polymers (macro-, micro-, or nano-) originating from fishing equipment (i.e., capture and ancillary) that has been abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded in the marine environment, affecting any defined human or non-human (vertebrates, invertebrates, micro-organisms) individual, group or assemblage of individuals, relying on coastal and ocean resources. Environmental impacts include physical and physiological effects to biotic and abiotic elements of marine ecosystems. Social impacts include impacts to community health and wellbeing. Economic impacts include impacts to livelihood and trade. Political impacts include responses from local or regional governments to address FPW. Technical impacts include effects to techniques employed by fisherfolk or to the management of FPW at the local level. Screening & Extraction: Our search was optimised on Cadima. Articles will be screened at title and abstract, before a full-text review. All articles will be screened by a single reviewer, with two additional reviewers assessing articles for consistency. One out of ten articles will be screened by two additional reviewers in duplicate as a quality control. Data extraction will be performed on all articles included at full text, and articles that do not meet the eligibility criteria will be excluded. All articles excluded at full text will be confirmed by the two additional reviewers. Study Mapping & Reporting: Results will be published in a narrative summary and visualised in a publicly available, user-friendly, interactive and interrogable evidence map on Tableau. Description: Data sharing The interactive Tableau dashboards will be hosted on Tableau Public a free online platform to share interactive visualisations of public data. The underpinning database will also be made publicly available as supplementary material to an open access peer-reviewed scientific article as an Excel file.; Supplemental material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2833373X.2025.2554973# . Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32212 2025-09-12T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31580 Title: Dissertation Question Time: Supporting the Dissertation Project through Peer Advice Authors: Danvers, EC Abstract: Dissertation question time is a model for a workshop provided by the central academic skills department at Brunel and used to support dissertation writing. The analysis of the use of the model with students and their feedback raises interesting questions about peer learning and advice giving as a pedagogical method, especially when supporting researchers. The research focuses on the delivery of the dissertation question time workshop and the analysis of student feedback and follow up interviews. The positive impact of the workshop upon students' understanding of the research processes led to in becoming an important aspect of central support provision for dissertation writing and research. Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31580 2012-03-30T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31579 Title: Making the transition to master’s dissertation writing: evaluating the impact of a dissertation writing course on PGT students’ confidence Authors: Crisfield, MD Abstract: The transition from undergraduate to postgraduate taught (PGT) studies has received increasing focus over the past decade as universities and educators have recognised that master’s students do not necessarily begin their studies equipped with the academic skills necessary to succeed (O’Donnell et al., 2009; Bunney, 2017; McPherson et al., 2017). Research on postgraduate research (PGR) students demonstrates that thesis writing courses improve students’ confidence in their abilities (Larcombe et al., 2007; Fergie et al., 2011), but to date, the transition from writing for module assessments to master’s dissertation writing remains largely unstudied. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a short master’s dissertation writing course − delivered at a British university in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years − on improving students’ confidence in their writing abilities, as reported in pre-course and post-course writing self-evaluations. In both years that the course was offered, there was a significant increase in reported confidence between the first session and the final session, and thematic analysis of open-ended questions demonstrated that students enrolled on the course to improve their knowledge of and confidence in academic writing and left the course having met these goals. This paper confirms that dissertation writing support designed for PGT students can have a positive impact on students’ confidence in their writing abilities, and thus help support them in making the transition to dissertation writing. Thu, 28 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31579 2020-05-28T00:00:00Z