PolyU publishing, academic journals, digital education and IT

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) comprehensive information database · 12 miscellaneous modules

This module gathers factual material on The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's (PolyU) publishing, academic journals, digital education and information technology. It also collects related content that does not fall under the dedicated modules on the library and continuing education (library holdings, the specific number of items in PIRA and the scale of electronic resources are covered in 〈Pao Yue-kong Library and On-Campus Collections, Exhibitions〉 and are not repeated here). PolyU is best known for its applied disciplines, and its publishing and journal-editing activity is concentrated in its areas of strength: hospitality and tourism, design, fashion and textiles, and engineering. In digital education, LEARN@PolyU (Blackboard) serves as the main learning management system, while IT services are coordinated by the Information Technology Services Office (ITS). This module is organised under the headings "Publishing → Academic Journals → Digital Education Platforms → Information Technology → Digital Transformation and Digital Humanities"; any item that could not be verified is explicitly flagged.

---

# I. Publishing Bodies

# 1.1 PolyU Press

According to the PolyU Press "About the Press" page^※, PolyU Press was established in 2022 as a unit of the University, with the aim of advancing the frontiers of knowledge and disseminating outstanding scholarship, chiefly through academic books. The page does not list any independent journal series or specific flagship titles, and this module accordingly says no more on that point rather than speculate about the catalogue.

On "previous publishing operations": the PolyU Press "About" page makes no mention of any prior publishing arm. Before PolyU Press existed, the University's publishing activity was dispersed across faculties, the library's institutional repository (see below) and external publications; there is therefore no verifiable official account of a "predecessor to PolyU Press".

Since its founding in 2022, PolyU Press has concentrated on academic monographs, with output tilted towards PolyU's strongest disciplines: engineering and applied science (structural engineering, materials science, precision engineering and the like), design and creative industries (design studies, fashion research, creative economy and the like), hospitality and tourism management (hospitality education, sustainable tourism and the like), health sciences (nursing, rehabilitation sciences and the like), and the humanities and social sciences (Hong Kong society, urban studies and the like). Unlike many university presses, PolyU Press publishes mostly in English to reach the international academic market, and offers both print and e-book editions through its online platform. Per the PolyU Press website^※, books can be bought directly from the site or through partner booksellers. The Pao Yue-kong Library normally holds print and electronic copies of PolyU Press titles, which staff and students may borrow free of charge.

# 1.2 Institutional Repository and Official Publications

• PolyU Institutional Research Archive (PIRA): PolyU's institutional research archive, which actively collects and disseminates the research and scholarly output of the PolyU community. The number of items held, search functions and open-access arrangements are covered in 〈Pao Yue-kong Library and On-Campus Collections, Exhibitions〉 and are not repeated here.
• University publications: PolyU maintains an official publications section (Publications^※) covering the university magazine, annual reports and other outward-facing publications, as well as campus publications such as Pulse@PolyU (per the PolyU publications page).

---

# II. Academic Journals and Editorial Involvement

PolyU faculty participate in the editorial work of international academic journals across several of the University's strongest disciplines. A distinction must be drawn between "PolyU scholars serving as editors" and "journals published by PolyU":

# 2.1 Hospitality and Tourism

Faculty of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) are deeply involved in editing the field's leading journals. According to the "Activities (Journal)" records on PolyU Scholars Hub, these include:

• International Journal of Hospitality Management (a PolyU faculty member serves as Coordinating Editor^※);
• International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (a PolyU faculty member serves as Coordinating Editor);
• Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights and others (PolyU faculty involvement in editorial roles, per PolyU Scholars Hub records).

Note: the journals above are mostly published by external publishers such as Elsevier, Emerald and SAGE. PolyU faculty serve in editorial roles; they are not published or owned by PolyU.

# 2.2 Editorial Involvement in Other Disciplines

PolyU scholars also hold editorial positions on journals in the following areas (per traceable PolyU Scholars Hub records):

• Fashion and textiles, design: Fashion and Textiles (faculty of PolyU's School of Fashion and Textiles have editorial involvement, per PolyU Scholars Hub records^※), Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, Fashion Practice and others;
• Engineering and the built environment: Composites Part B: Engineering (a top journal in composite materials), Engineering Structures, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management;
• Computer science and AI: IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology, Knowledge-Based Systems (published by Elsevier);
• Nursing and health: International Journal of Nursing Studies (a top journal in nursing), Journal of Advanced Nursing, Patient Education and Counseling.

---

# III. Digital Education Platforms

# 3.1 Learning Management System: LEARN@PolyU (Blackboard)

According to the ITS "Online Learning Platforms" page^※, LEARN@PolyU is PolyU's main learning management system, enabling teaching staff to create and manage interactive online learning content and integrating online teaching resources. Companion teaching tools include Zoom (supporting active learning, with audio and video, whiteboard, breakout rooms, text chat and interactive polling, plus screen sharing, student presentations and class recording) and Microsoft Teams (a chat-based collaboration space provided through Office 365 where staff and students can discuss, share documents and work together, with recording capability). Per an ITS notice of January 2026^※, PolyU periodically clears out (housekeeping) aged course material from LEARN@PolyU, MS Teams, Zoom channels and cloud recordings — confirming the in-use combination of LEARN@PolyU + MS Teams + Zoom. Whether other tools such as Panopto are in use is not listed on any public page: to be verified.

PolyU maintains an Educational Development Centre (EDC) whose "Learn@PolyU" section offers pedagogy and tool support (per the EDC "Learn@PolyU" page^※); there is also a teacher's Blackboard guide (Teacher Blackboard User Guide^※). In recent years the EDC has worked with ITS to roll out "hybrid learning" infrastructure, including dual-screen enabled classrooms, lecture capture with synchronised recording, and AI-assisted translation and captioning services (for multilingual teaching support).

MOOC platforms: whether PolyU runs a systematic presence on international MOOC platforms such as edX, and the specific course list, could not be directly confirmed from public searches: to be verified. This module does not speculate about the scale of PolyU's MOOC offering.

# 3.2 AI in Teaching: Exploratory Use

Since generative AI tools (ChatGPT and the like) became widespread in 2023–2024, PolyU's teaching committees have issued related guidance: the reasonable use of AI-assisted tools is permitted provided academic integrity is not compromised; course instructors are required to state their AI-tool policy explicitly in their course syllabi; and assessment has shifted towards "in-person oral examinations", "portfolios" and "process-based assessment", reducing the weight of purely text-based assignments. The specific AI usage policy is governed by PolyU's academic integrity homepage and individual course syllabi (per the EDC page^※).

---

# IV. Information Technology Services Office (ITS)

# 4.1 Overview

According to ITS materials, PolyU NetID is the unified credential for accessing the University's IT facilities and services, and is used to log in to LEARN@PolyU, email, the network and other services. Beyond LEARN@PolyU, MS Teams/Zoom and NetID, the online services and systems include eStudent (the student information system^※, used for course enrolment, results, registration and the like).

eduroam: universities in Hong Kong are generally connected to the eduroam international roaming Wi-Fi service. Whether PolyU offers eduroam could not be directly confirmed from public searches: to be verified. This module makes no categorical statement either way. Other IT service details — campus network, email and so on — are as per the latest announcements on the ITS website^※.

# 4.2 Network Infrastructure and Security

• Campus-wide Wi-Fi coverage: wireless network coverage is available across the Hung Hom main campus, the Homantin/Hung Hom halls of residence, West Kowloon and other precincts (whether this uses the eduroam roaming standard is covered by the "to be verified" note above);
• High-performance computing (HPC): PolyU operates an HPC cluster for research teams requiring large-scale simulation, such as engineering modelling and machine-learning training;
• VPN service: access from off campus to restricted resources (databases, internal systems) is authorised via VPN;
• Cybersecurity: two-factor authentication (2FA) is enforced on critical systems (email, eStudent), phishing drills are held regularly, and the handling of student and staff data complies with Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance;
• IT Helpdesk: offers support to students and staff on accounts, network, hardware, software and related matters, with a ticket-reporting system.

---

# V. Open Access Publishing Policy

PolyU supports open-access publishing under a policy framework with the following tiers:

• RGC open access policy: per the researcher's commitment clause in the RGC General Research Fund application form (GRF1)^※, once a paper is accepted, the researcher must first confirm whether the publisher permits full open access to the published version, or allows the paper to be deposited openly in the University's repository. If neither is permitted, the researcher must press the publisher for restricted deposit; where the publisher imposes an embargo, it may be up to twelve months. In all cases the paper must be deposited in the University repository no later than six months after publication (or after the embargo expires). The RGC has also issued an Open Access Plan (2021)^※ that phases in open access across the sector;
• PolyU PIRA self-archiving policy: authors may deposit the "accepted manuscript" version in PIRA, satisfying the OA requirements of the RGC and other funders (for the scale of PIRA holdings, see 〈Library Module〉);
• PolyU Press and OA: PolyU Press is exploring open-access models for the books it publishes (per the PolyU Press "About" page^※); the specific OA titles are to be verified.

Two open-access routes run in parallel: Gold OA (authors publish directly in an OA journal or via the OA channel of a hybrid journal, usually paying an article processing charge (APC); the RGC has a funding mechanism covering part of the APC) and Green OA (authors deposit the manuscript in PIRA or another institutional/subject repository, such as arXiv or PubMed Central, at zero cost).

---

# VI. PolyU's Digital Transformation Strategy

PolyU's current Strategic Plan 2025/26–2030/31 builds the technological dimension of the campus into its strategic goals. Per the Strategic Plan 2025/26–2030/31 PDF^※, one strategic goal is to build "a smart campus that is connected and inspires creativity", supporting evolving teaching models, promoting the application of research outcomes, enhancing operational efficiency and strengthening exchange and collaboration across the University community. Supporting strategic actions include creating "future classroom" and workspace prototypes to suit a range of teaching and interdisciplinary needs, and making good use of emerging technology and innovative solutions to raise operational efficiency and the overall user experience. In the teaching-and-learning section, the plan also sets out raising the technological awareness of students and staff, and promoting the use of generative AI and other forward-looking technologies to improve learning outcomes. Whether the plan further establishes "digital transformation" as a standalone initiative, and the specific deployment of digital research infrastructure and administrative system digitisation, is not stated in the text: to be verified.

PolyU has also been advancing a "WELL Campus" initiative that integrates digital tools into campus health and wellbeing management: the PolyU Health @ Work app lets staff track health indicators and book health services, and partnerships with external platforms offer 24/7 online booking for mental-health counselling (per the PolyU Student Affairs Office pages).

PolyU communicates its brand and research through multiple channels: the WeChat public account "香港理工大学 PolyU" targets students in mainland China and returning Hong Kong graduates with news on admissions, research and events; LinkedIn and X (Twitter) carry international academic and industry news; the official YouTube channel "PolyU" hosts lecture recordings, messages from the President and anniversary events; and the "Media Releases" section of the PolyU website is the most authoritative outward-facing channel — much of the press material cited in this database comes from it.

---

# VII. Digital Humanities Practice

PolyU's work at the intersection of digital humanities is worth noting in a few respects. Per the PolyU academic structure page^※, the Faculty of Humanities houses a "Division of Artificial Intelligence and the Humanities" — a comparatively rare institutional arrangement among Hong Kong universities, which formally brings the application of AI tools into the teaching and research framework of the humanities. It covers computational linguistics and corpus research in the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, the use of natural language processing (NLP) in historical documents and literary analysis, and the digitisation of historical maps and documents through the Department of Chinese History and Culture's combination of digital archives and geographic information system (GIS) tools.

The School of Design's Jockey Club Innovation Tower is equipped with digital fabrication, 3D printing and CNC machining facilities, making it one of the most complete digital design workshops in Hong Kong (for the building, see 〈05-campus · Jockey Club Innovation Tower〉). The School also keeps a digital archive of past graduate exhibition work, displayed publicly through official PolyU channels, and its interaction design research focuses on human–computer interfaces, user experience, game design and immersive media. Elsewhere, projects under the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Hong Kong studies programmes advance the digitised collection and analysis of Hong Kong social history and urban development data, while the Library supports Hong Kong historical document digitisation projects with digital reproduction and metadata annotation services.

---

# VIII. Summary (Quick Reference Table)

---

# IX. Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

Q1: Does PolyU publish its own academic journals (as opposed to its scholars merely serving on editorial boards)?

On the available public information, PolyU's formally issued academic journals with the University as "publishing body" are incompletely documented — to be verified. PolyU scholars serve on external academic journals (published by Elsevier, Emerald, Springer and others) in significant numbers, as editorial board members or editors-in-chief. PolyU Press, since its founding in 2022, has concentrated on academic book publishing; no official statement of an independent journal series has been seen. This site does not equate externally published journals with PolyU editors with "PolyU-published journals" (per the PolyU Press website^※).

Q2: Is LEARN@PolyU the same as Moodle or Canvas at other universities? What are the functional differences?

LEARN@PolyU runs on Blackboard as its underlying platform and is similar in functional positioning to the Moodle used primarily at HKU or the Canvas used at some Western institutions — course content delivery, assignment submission, discussion boards and online quizzes — that is, it is a learning management system (LMS). The main differences lie in the vendor's interface design and plugin ecosystem rather than in functional coverage. Blackboard holds a significant share of the Hong Kong market (per the PolyU ITS online learning platforms page^※).

Q3: Can PolyU's research data be accessed openly and freely?

PolyU offers a green open-access route through PIRA (the institutional research archive), which satisfies the requirement that RGC-funded papers be made openly available within a set period. However, owing to copyright and publisher-agreement restrictions, the proportion of fully open-access content in practice varies by discipline and funding source. Readers can search PIRA for archived manuscripts by PolyU scholars.

Q4: Does PolyU offer a dedicated degree programme in digital humanities?

On the current public information, PolyU does not yet offer a standalone bachelor's or master's degree in digital humanities (to be verified). Digital humanities content is dispersed across the Faculty of Humanities' language technology and AI-and-humanities division, and the School of Design's interaction design streams. Students interested in digital humanities-related study typically pursue it through major plus minor interdisciplinary combinations, or at postgraduate level through research topics (subject to PolyU's latest course catalogue).

Q5: How does PolyU handle the impact of AI-generated content on academic integrity?

According to the PolyU Educational Development Centre (EDC) and academic integrity policy, PolyU has since 2023–2024 introduced an AI usage guidance framework: course instructors must state their AI-tool policy in the course syllabus; assessment methods that are harder for AI to substitute — "process-based assessment", "oral examinations", "portfolios" — are encouraged; and the existing academic integrity declaration system remains in place. The specific AI policy is governed by PolyU's academic integrity homepage and individual course syllabi (per the EDC page^※).

---