PolyU Publishing, Academic Journals, and Digital Education & IT

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) Comprehensive Information Database · Module 12 Miscellaneous

This page brings together factual information on publishing, academic journals, digital education, and information technology at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU / the University). It houses content that does not belong in dedicated sections on the library or continuing education (for library holdings, PIRA article counts, and e‑resource scale, see Pao Yue‑kong Library, Campus Collections and Exhibitions; figures are not repeated here). PolyU is known for its applied disciplines, and its publishing and journal editorial participation are concentrated in areas of strength such as hospitality and tourism, design, fashion and textiles, and engineering. Digital education is anchored by LEARN@PolyU (Blackboard) as its principal learning management system, while IT services are coordinated by the Information Technology Services Office (ITS). The page is organised as follows: Publishing → Academic Journals → Digital Education Platforms → Information Technology → Digital Transformation & Digital Humanities. Where information is “not found / to be confirmed”, this is explicitly stated.

---

# 1. Publishing Bodies

# 1.1 PolyU Press

According to PolyU Press’s “About the Press” page^※, PolyU Press was founded in 2022 as a unit of PolyU. Its mission is to advance the frontiers of knowledge and disseminate outstanding scholarship, chiefly through academic books. The page does not list any stand-alone journal series or flagship titles; this account follows the available facts and does not speculate on a book list.

On “predecessor publishing activities”: The PolyU Press “About” page makes no mention of predecessor publishing operations. Earlier PolyU publishing was dispersed across faculties, the library’s institutional archive (see below), and outward‑facing periodicals. There is therefore no verifiable official narrative regarding a pre‑2022 publishing body.

Since its launch in 2022, PolyU Press has concentrated on academic monographs, with content reflecting PolyU’s disciplinary strengths: engineering and applied sciences (structural engineering, materials science, precision engineering, etc.), design and creative industries (design studies, fashion research, creative economy, etc.), hospitality and tourism management (hospitality pedagogy, sustainable tourism, etc.), health sciences (nursing, rehabilitation sciences, etc.), as well as the humanities and social sciences (Hong Kong society, urban studies, etc.). Unlike many university presses, PolyU Press publications are mostly in English, aimed at the international academic market, and are available in both print and e‑book editions through an online platform. According to the PolyU Press website^※, purchase channels include direct sales through the website and partner booksellers; the Pao Yue‑kong Library typically holds both physical and electronic copies of PolyU Press titles for borrowing by students and staff.

# 1.2 Institutional Repository and Official Publications

• PolyU Institutional Research Archive (PIRA): PolyU’s institutional research archive, which proactively collects and disseminates the research and scholarly output of the PolyU community. For the number of records, search functionality, and open‑access arrangements, see the library page; figures are not repeated here.
• University publications: PolyU maintains an official publications section (Publications^※), containing outward‑facing materials such as the university magazine and annual reports, as well as campus periodicals like Pulse@PolyU (per the publications page).

---

# 2. Academic Journals and Editorial Participation

PolyU contributes to the editorial work of international academic journals in several of its areas of strength. A distinction must be drawn between “PolyU academics as editors” and “journals published by PolyU”:

# 2.1 Hospitality and Tourism

Faculty from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) are deeply involved in editing leading journals in the field. According to the “Activities (Journal)” records on PolyU Scholars Hub, relevant titles include:

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

Note: The above journals are published by external publishers such as Elsevier, Emerald, and SAGE; PolyU academics serve as editors, and the journals are not published by PolyU.

# 2.2 Editorial Participation in Other Disciplines

PolyU academics also hold editorial posts in journals across the following categories (sourced from traceable records on PolyU Scholars Hub):

• Fashion & Textiles, Design: Fashion and Textiles (faculty from the School of Fashion and Textiles are involved editorially, per PolyU Scholars Hub records^※); Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology; International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education; Fashion Practice, etc.;
• Engineering and the Built Environment: Composites Part B: Engineering (a top‑tier composites journal), 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 nursing journal), Journal of Advanced Nursing, Patient Education and Counseling.

---

# 3. Digital Education Platforms

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

According to the ITS “Online Learning Platforms” page^※, LEARN@PolyU is PolyU’s primary LMS, allowing teaching staff to create and manage interactive online content and integrate teaching resources. Complementary teaching tools include Zoom (supporting active learning with video, audio, whiteboard, breakout rooms, text chat, interactive polling, screen sharing, student presentations, and class recording) and Microsoft Teams (a chat‑based collaborative space provided through Office 365, where staff and students can discuss, share documents, and collaborate, with recording support). As per an ITS notice from January 2026^※, PolyU carries out regular housekeeping of old course materials on LEARN@PolyU, MS Teams, Zoom channels, and cloud recordings, confirming that the active platform suite is LEARN@PolyU + MS Teams + Zoom. Whether tools such as Panopto are in use is not clearly stated on public pages and remains to be confirmed.

PolyU has an Educational Development Centre (EDC), which runs a “Learn@PolyU” topic page offering pedagogical and tool support (per the EDC “Learn@PolyU” page^※); there is also a Teacher Blackboard User Guide^※. In recent years, EDC has worked with ITS to advance hybrid‑learning infrastructure, including dual‑screen enabled classrooms, synchronous lecture‑capture rooms, and AI‑assisted translation and captioning services for multilingual teaching.

MOOC platforms: Whether PolyU systematically offers courses on international MOOC platforms such as edX, and if so, a specific course list, is not directly verifiable from open searches; this remains to be confirmed. This account does not speculate on MOOC scale.

# 3.2 AI in Teaching and Learning

Since the rise of generative AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) in 2023–2024, PolyU’s teaching committees have issued guidelines: the reasonable use of AI‑assisted tools is permitted provided academic integrity is not compromised; course instructors are required to state clearly in their syllabi the policy on AI tool usage; assessment methods are shifting towards in‑person oral exams, portfolios, and process‑based assessment, reducing the weighting of text‑only written assignments. The specific AI usage policy is found on the PolyU academic integrity webpage and in individual course syllabi (per the EDC page^※).

---

# 4. Information Technology Services Office (ITS)

# 4.1 Overview

According to ITS materials, PolyU NetID is the universal credential for accessing University IT facilities and services, used to log into LEARN@PolyU, email, the network, and more. In terms of online services and systems, alongside LEARN@PolyU, MS Teams / Zoom, and NetID, there is also eStudent (the student information system^※, for course enrolment, grades, registration, etc.).

eduroam: Hong Kong higher‑education institutions generally participate in the eduroam international WiFi roaming service; whether PolyU offers eduroam has not been directly confirmed through open searches and is to be confirmed. This page does not assert its availability. For details of other IT services such as campus network and email, refer to the latest announcements on the ITS website^※.

# 4.2 Network Infrastructure and Security

• Campus‑wide WiFi: The main Hung Hom campus, Homantin and Hung Hom student residences, West Kowloon, and other satellite sites all have wireless network coverage (whether this uses the eduroam roaming standard is covered by the “to be confirmed” note above);
• High‑performance computing (HPC): PolyU operates high‑performance computing clusters for research teams needing large‑scale simulation, such as engineering simulation and machine learning training;
• VPN service: Authorised access from off‑campus to restricted resources (databases, intranet systems) is provided via VPN;
• Cybersecurity: Two‑factor authentication (2FA) is in place for critical systems (email, eStudent), regular phishing drills are conducted, and handling of student and staff data complies with Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance;
• IT Helpdesk: Provides support for students and staff on matters such as accounts, network, hardware, and software, operating a ticketing system.

---

# 5. Open Access (OA) Publishing Policy

PolyU supports open‑access publishing through a policy framework at several levels:

• RGC OA policy: Research outputs funded by the Research Grants Council (RGC) must, within a specified period after acceptance for publication (typically 6–12 months), be deposited in an institutional repository or made available via a Gold OA route (per the RGC OA policy page^※);
• PolyU PIRA self‑archiving policy: Authors are permitted to deposit the “accepted manuscript” version of their work in PIRA to meet the OA requirements of the RGC and other funders (for PIRA’s holdings, see the library section);
• PolyU Press OA exploration: PolyU Press is exploring OA models for its books (per the PolyU Press “About” page^※); specific OA titles are to be confirmed.

Two OA paths run in parallel: Gold OA (authors publish directly in OA journals or via the OA option in hybrid journals, usually incurring an article processing charge [APC] – the RGC has a funding mechanism to cover part of the APC) and Green OA (authors deposit their manuscripts in PIRA or other institutional / subject repositories such as arXiv or PubMed Central – a zero‑cost public access channel).

---

# 6. PolyU’s Digital Transformation Strategy

The PolyU 2025 strategic plan lists Digital Transformation as a core priority. According to the PolyU strategy website^※, strategic goals include: a Smart Campus (upgrading campus digital infrastructure, integrating IoT and data sensing); a Digital Teaching Experience (building on LEARN@PolyU plus hybrid learning models to advance student‑centred personalised learning); Digital Research Infrastructure (high‑performance computing, a research data management platform, and open data interfaces); and Administrative Digitalisation (system upgrades and integration of core administrative systems for HR, finance, and student management).

In recent years PolyU has also rolled out the “WELL Campus” initiative, integrating digital tools into campus health and wellbeing management: the PolyU Health @ Work app allows staff to track health indicators and book wellness services, and an external platform partnership provides 24/7 online mental health counselling bookings (per the Student Development Office’s page).

PolyU disseminates its brand and research outcomes through multiple channels: the WeChat official account “香港理工大學 PolyU” targets mainland Chinese students and returning overseas graduates with admissions, research, and event updates; LinkedIn / X (Twitter) carry international academic and industry news; the “PolyU Official Channel” on YouTube hosts lecture recordings, vice‑chancellor speeches, and anniversary events. The most authoritative official outlet remains the Media Releases section on the PolyU website, from which many of the PolyU news releases cited in this database are drawn.

---

# 7. Digital Humanities Practice

PolyU has several noteworthy practices and directions at the intersection of digital humanities. According to the PolyU academic structure page^※, the Faculty of Humanities houses a Division of Artificial Intelligence and the Humanities — a relatively rare institutional establishment among Hong Kong universities, formally integrating the humanities with AI tools into teaching and research. This covers computational linguistics and corpus research in the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies; natural language processing (NLP) applied to historical documents and literary analysis; and, in the Department of Chinese History and Culture, historical map and document digitisation combining digital archives with geographic information system (GIS) tools.

The Jockey Club Innovation Tower, home to the School of Design, is equipped with facilities for digital fabrication, 3D printing, CNC machining, etc., making it one of the most comprehensive design digital workshops in Hong Kong (for the building, see the Innovation Tower campus entry). The School also maintains a digital archive of graduation show works from past years, publicly displayed through official PolyU channels, while Interaction Design research focuses on human‑computer interfaces, user experience, game design, and immersive media. In addition, the Department of Applied Social Sciences (FHSS) has Hong Kong‑focused projects that promote the digital collection and analysis of social‑history and urban‑development data; the Library supports Hong Kong historical‑document digitisation with digital imaging and metadata tagging services.

---

# 8. Summary (Quick‑Reference Table)

---

# 9. Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

Q1: Does PolyU run its own academic journals (as opposed to its academics serving as editors)?

Based on currently available public information, the picture of journals formally published by PolyU as a publishing entity is incomplete and to be confirmed. PolyU academics participate extensively in external academic journals (published by Elsevier, Emerald, Springer, etc.) as editorial board members or editors‑in‑chief. PolyU Press, founded in 2022, has focused on academic book publishing, and no official statement has been seen declaring a separate journal series. This site does not equate “faculty editorship” with “PolyU‑published journal” (per the PolyU Press website^※).

Q2: Is LEARN@PolyU equivalent to Moodle or Canvas used by other universities? Are there functional differences?

LEARN@PolyU runs on the Blackboard platform. It is similar in function to Moodle (as used by HKU) or Canvas (used by some European and American institutions), serving as a learning management system (LMS) for course content delivery, assignment submission, discussion boards, and online quizzes. The main differences lie in the interface design and plugin ecosystems of the vendor, not in functional coverage. Blackboard has a relatively high adoption rate among Hong Kong universities (per PolyU ITS online learning platforms page^※).

Q3: Is PolyU’s research data freely available to the public?

PolyU provides a green open‑access channel through PIRA (the institutional research archive); RGC‑funded papers must be made openly available within a stipulated period. However, owing to copyright and publisher agreements, the proportion of fully open‑access material varies by discipline and funding source. Readers can search PIRA for archived manuscripts by PolyU scholars.

Q4: Does PolyU offer a dedicated Digital Humanities degree programme?

According to currently public information, PolyU does not yet have a standalone “Bachelor’s/Master’s in Digital Humanities” (to be confirmed). Digital‑humanities‑related content is dispersed: in the Faculty of Humanities (language technology, the AI and Humanities division) and in the School of Design (Interaction Design). Students interested in the area usually pursue it through a major‑plus‑minor interdisciplinary route or as a research topic at postgraduate level (subject to the latest PolyU programme directory).

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

According to the Educational Development Centre (EDC) and the academic integrity policy, PolyU has since 2023–2024 introduced a framework for AI use: course instructors must state clearly in their syllabi the policy on AI tool usage; assessment methods that are less susceptible to AI substitution, such as process‑based assessment, oral exams, and portfolios, are encouraged; and the existing academic‑honesty declaration system remains in place. The specific AI usage policy is set out on the PolyU academic integrity webpage and in individual course syllabi (per the EDC page^※).

---