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There is a growing impetus, from university students and administrations, to decolonise the curriculum and develop diverse reading lists. Yet, there is limited theoretical or empirical analysis of the authorship of current reading lists to justify this imperative. The present study developed and applied a method for auditing the authorship on reading lists of two modules, one from science and one from social science, in a research-intensive British university. The paper explores whether these reading lists can be considered descriptively representative of the student body or scholarly community. The analysis of reading lists found empirical basis for concerns that university curricula are dominated by white, male and Eurocentric authors, with some exceptions. The reading lists did not represent the diverse local student body but came closer to representing the demographic profile of academic staff. To interpret these findings, the paper argues that reading lists have a role to play in decolonising our universities, and offer opportunities to critique and deconstruct disciplinary boundaries. Further research is required to explore student and staff views of reading lists and the meaning of diversity, to evaluate existing tools, and address barriers to decolonising our curricula on a global scale.

There is a growing impetus, from university students and administrations, to decolonise the curriculum and develop diverse reading lists. Yet, there is limited theoretical or empirical analysis of the authorship of current reading lists to justify this imperative. The present study developed and applied a method for auditing the authorship on reading lists of two modules, one from science and one from social science, in a research-intensive British university. The paper explores whether these reading lists can be considered descriptively representative of the student body or scholarly community. The analysis of reading lists found empirical basis for concerns that university curricula are dominated by white, male and Eurocentric authors, with some exceptions. The reading lists did not represent the diverse local student body but came closer to representing the demographic profile of academic staff. To interpret these findings, the paper argues that reading lists have a role to play in decolonising our universities, and offer opportunities to critique and deconstruct disciplinary boundaries. Further research is required to explore student and staff views of reading lists and the meaning of diversity, to evaluate existing tools, and address barriers to decolonising our curricula on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cause admission to hospital in adults and children. A recent adult study showed that ADRs are an important and frequent cause of hospital admission. The objective of this study is to develop methodology to ascertain the current burden of ADRs through a prospective analysis of all unplanned admissions to a paediatric hospital. Prospective observational study over a 2-week period. There were 19 admissions to the main hospital wards related to an ADR, giving an estimated incidence of 4%, with the ADR directly leading to the admission in 71% of cases. There were no deaths attributable to ADR. 33% of the reactions were possibly avoidable. The drugs most commonly implicated in causing admissions were anti-neoplastic agents. The most common reactions were neutropenia, vomiting and diarrhoea. The health burden of ADRs in the paediatric population is likely to be significant. This pilot study will be used to inform a much larger prospective study providing more detailed evidence of the burden of ill-health from ADRs in children. This larger study will add to a body of research aiming to identify drug-related problems within children to aid paediatric pharmacovigilance. This study provides knowledge regarding the methodology to be used for a larger study investigating ADRs in children. The study will allow authors who wish to replicate the study in their own populations (internationally) to avoid some of the pitfalls in planning a large epidemiological study of paediatric ADRs. The study also provides an estimate of the incidence and problem of admissions caused by ADRs in a UK paediatric population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]