University Library

The University Library exists to support the University’s mission to create and apply knowledge for the benefit of individuals, communities, and the economy. As an integral part of Northumbria’s research environment the Library ensures the academic community is supported with access to scholarly collections, learning spaces, and skills support at every stage of the research cycle and across all disciplines.

Open Research

Northumbria’s Open Research Statement was agreed at the meeting of our Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee in March 2021 as a declaration of intent; a background against which to review our policies, and an indication of the commitment we are making to encourage a flourishing open research culture.

Northumbria is also a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and a member of the UK Reproducibility Network.

Discovery and Access to Scholarly Knowledge

Our digital services, including Library Search, provide access to our comprehensive and multidisciplinary print and online Library Collection including around 450,000 print books, over 936,000 ebooks, more than 82,000 print and ejournals, including major publications such as Nature and Science, 170 subscribed scholarly resources including databases and primary digital archives and wider resources available on demand through cooperative international library sharing.

Library Learning and Research Spaces

We design and manage the University’s library spaces as unique scholarly environments to meet the needs of students and Faculty. Your three campus libraries, along with University Library Digital Commons, provide places to read, think, write, reflect, focus, collaborate, including dedicated spaces for Faculty, postgraduate research students and postgraduate taught students with our Research Commons and Masters Reading Room. City Campus Library and University Library Digital Commons are open 24/7 in term time, and Coach Lane Library and Law Practice Library offer generous opening hours.

Open Scholarship and Research Insight

The Library can support you to achieve Open Access (OA) for your research through the institutional repository (Northumbria Research Link), we manage Northumbria’s OA fund including publisher agreements, and can offer guidance on complying with funder and REF policies toward OA. Additionally, the Library can offer assistance to assess journal quality, prepare a manuscript and effectively share your research, and help you to register for and make use of an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID).

The Library also offers guidance on the management of your research data. This includes advice on meeting funders' expectations, sharing your research data and completing data management plans.

Our expertise in bibliometrics is delivering new research insights for Faculty and decision makers across the University.

Skills Development for Researchers

Our Northumbria Skills Programme is mapped closely to the UK Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) and run in coordination with the University’s Research and Innovation Services. It includes tailored support for early career to post-doctoral researchers to help them develop the knowledge, core competencies and transferable skills identified in RDF with a focus on literature searching, open access publishing, copyright for research, maximising research profiles, keeping up-to-date and collaboration using web tools.