Collaborative research: Accomplishments & potential

Although a substantial part of scientific research is collaborative and increasing globalization will probably lead to its increase, very few studies actually investigate the advantages, disadvantages, experiences and lessons learned from collaboration. In environmental epidemiology interdisciplinary collaboration is essential and the contrasting geographical patterns in exposure and disease make multi-location projects essential. This paper is based on a presentation given at the Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, Paris 2006, and is attempting to initiate a discussion on a framework for studying collaborative research. A review of the relevant literature showed that indeed collaborative research is rising, in some countries with impressive rates. However, there are substantial differences between countries in their outlook, need and respect for collaboration. In many situations collaborative publications receive more citations than those based on national authorship. The European Union is the most important host of collaborative research, mainly driven by the European Commission through the Framework Programmes. A critical assessment of the tools and trends of collaborative networks under FP6, showed that there was a need for a critical revision, which led to changes in FP7. In conclusion, it is useful to study the characteristics of collaborative research and set targets for the future. The added value for science and for the researchers involved may be assessed. The motivation for collaboration could be increased in the more developed countries. Particular ways to increase the efficiency and interaction in interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration may be developed. We can work towards "the principles of collaborative research" in Environmental Epidemiology

The Interdependence of Scientists in the Era of Team Science: An Exploratory Study Using Temporal Network Analysis

How is the rise in team science and the emergence of the research group as the fundamental unit of organization of science affecting scientists’ opportunities to collaborate? Are the majority of scientists becoming dependent on a select subset of their peers to organize the intergroup collaborations that are becoming the norm in science? This dissertation set out to explore the evolving nature of scientists’ interdependence in team-based research environments. The research was motivated by the desire to reconcile emerging views on the organization of scientific collaboration with the theoretical and methodological tendencies to think about and study scientists as autonomous actors who negotiate collaboration in a dyadic manner. Complex Adaptive Social Systems served as the framework for understanding the dynamics involved in the formation of collaborative relationships. Temporal network analysis at the mesoscopic level was used to study the collaboration dynamics of a specific research community, in this case the genomic research community emerging around GenBank, the international nucleotide sequence databank. The investigation into the dynamics of the mesoscopic layer of a scientific collaboration networked revealed the following—(1) there is a prominent half-life to collaborative relationships; (2) the half-life can be used to construct weighted decay networks for extracting the group structure influencing collaboration; (3) scientists across all levels of status are becoming increasingly interdependent, with the qualification that interdependence is highly asymmetrical, and (4) the group structure is increasingly influential on the collaborative interactions of scientists. The results from this study advance theoretical and empirical understanding of scientific collaboration in team-based research environments and methodological approaches to studying temporal networks at the mesoscopic level. The findings also have implications for policy researchers interested in the career cycles of scientists and the maintenance and building of scientific capacity in research areas of national interest

Pengaruh Pandemi Covid-19 Pada Niat Kolaborasi Horizontal Logistik Klaster UMKM Di Indonesia

In recent years, horizontal collaboration in logistics is believed to positively impact business performance by reducing cost and increasing fulfillment rates. However, the implementation of horizontal collaborative logistics in MSME clusters in Indonesia still scarce. This research aims to determine the factors that affect the acceptance of industrial clusters to determine the possibility of implementing the concept of collaborative logistics. By combining equality of benefits, competences equity, leadership, trust, competition, cluster’s roles, perceived benefits, and COVID-19 pandemic, a conceptual framework for studying the influencing factors of cooperation intentions is proposed. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) was conducted on 102 respondents (31 pilots and 71 full research) from business owners or operation managers of six MSME clusters. The results show that the role of trust and clusters has significantly promoted MSME's intention to carry out horizontal logistics collaboration. In addition, the changing business conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be one of the influencing factors. Keywords : Horizontal Collaboration, Logistic, MSME Cluster, Covid-1

Rethinking soft OR interventions: models as boundary objects

In this paper I draw on research on the role of objects in problem solving collaboration to make a case for the conceptualisation of models as potential boundary objects. Such conceptualisation highlights the possibility that the models used in Soft OR interventions perform three roles with specific effects: transfer to develop a shared language, translation to develop shared meanings, and transformation to develop common interests. If these roles are carried out effectively, models enable those involved to traverse the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic boundaries encountered when tackling a problem situation of mutual concern, and help create new knowledge that has consequences for action. I illustrate these roles and associated effects via two empirical case vignettes drawn from an ongoing action research programme studying the impact of Soft OR interventions. Building on the insights generated by the case vignettes, I develop an analytical framework that articulates the dynamics of knowledge creation within Soft OR interventions. The framework can shed new light on a core aspect of Soft OR practice, especially with regards to the impact of models on the possibilities for action they can afford to those involved. I conclude with a discussion of the prescriptive value of the framework for research into the evaluation of Soft OR interventions, and its implications for the conduct of Soft OR practice

Managing inter-organizational trust and risk perceptions in transboundary fisheries governance networks

Transboundary fishery management represents a significant governance challenge that requires ongoing inter-organizational communication, collaboration, and collective action to ensure sustainability. Previous research suggests that different dimensions of perceived risk, trust, and control interact in complex ways to affect inter-organizational collaborative performance, providing an administrative ‘architecture’ that enables partners to share resources, engage in teamwork, resolve conflict, and coordinate tasks and responsibilities while also allaying their concerns about the alliance. However, the extent to which different control mechanisms influence trust and mitigate the perceived risks of collaboration between the diverse organizations involved in transboundary fisheries management remains unclear. This paper presents the quantitative results of survey research conducted in the Salish Sea of North America, an ecosystem spanning the Canada-US border between British Columbia and Washington State. The survey instrument operationalizes a multi-dimensional trust-control-risk framework considered suitable for studying inter-organizational natural resource management (NRM) networks. The findings support descriptions of the Salish Sea as having fewer nation-to-nation governing bodies resulting in a lack of effective formal controls, high perceived regulatory risk, and low procedural trust attributes that can negatively affect the collaborative performance of the fishery management network. This study represents the first quantitative analysis of the complex relationships between different inter-organizational management strategies, trust dimensions, and perceived risks in transboundary fisheries governance, and offers new directions for future research on NRM collaboration

Lessons from the Development of an Anomaly Detection Interface on the Mars Perseverance Rover using the ISHMAP Framework

While anomaly detection stands among the most important and valuable problems across many scientific domains, anomaly detection research often focuses on AI methods that can lack the nuance and interpretability so critical to conducting scientific inquiry. In this application paper we present the results of utilizing an alternative approach that situates the mathematical framing of machine learning based anomaly detection within a participatory design framework. In a collaboration with NASA scientists working with the PIXL instrument studying Martian planetary geochemistry as a part of the search for extra-terrestrial life; we report on over 18 months of in-context user research and co-design to define the key problems NASA scientists face when looking to detect and interpret spectral anomalies. We address these problems and develop a novel spectral anomaly detection toolkit for PIXL scientists that is highly accurate while maintaining strong transparency to scientific interpretation. We also describe outcomes from a yearlong field deployment of the algorithm and associated interface. Finally we introduce a new design framework which we developed through the course of this collaboration for co-creating anomaly detection algorithms: Iterative Semantic Heuristic Modeling of Anomalous Phenomena (ISHMAP), which provides a process for scientists and researchers to produce natively interpretable anomaly detection models. This work showcases an example of successfully bridging methodologies from AI and HCI within a scientific domain, and provides a resource in ISHMAP which may be used by other researchers and practitioners looking to partner with other scientific teams to achieve better science through more effective and interpretable anomaly detection tools

Trend and Knowledge Structure of Cryptocurrency Reserch in the Scopus Database

Purpose: This study aims to utilize the bibliometric method to investigate the most important characteristics and key research topics in the literature on cryptocurrency research.   Theoretical framework: This study used a text mining framework based on domain-level and knowledge structure analysis.   Design/methodology/approach: Based on domain-level and knowledge structure analysis, this study used data from the Scopus database, which included 1,685 published articles from 2018 to 2023 on cryptocurrency research. Data analytics and visualization may be accomplished with the bibliometrix package in R software.   Findings: The result found that, there has been a fifty percent annual growth in cryptocurrency research since 2018. Studying the most frequently used terms and phrases in the research makes it possible to see which research areas have the greatest impact. According to the results, (1) cryptocurrency market, (2) market efficiency, (3) herding behavior, (4) COVID pandemic, (5) safe haven, (6) stock markets, (7) financial markets, and (8) volatility spillovers should be the emphasis of future research.   Research, Practical & Social implications: This article will be useful to scholars and practitioners looking for research directions. Based on the trending topics and knowledge structure of cryptocurrency research, this research also suggests potential new study topics for the future.   Originality/value: The value of these findings revealed an increase and a new aspect of cryptocurrency research in the business field related to the continued expansion of empirical research documents, researchers/authors, global collaboration, and co-citations

An investigation into the management of knowledge in a historic building conservation organisation in Tripoli, Libya

PhD ThesisIn recent years, knowledge has been recognised as a core organisational resource. Scholars and charters in the field of historic buildings conservation stress the development of the knowledge of staff and organisations in this field. Because of the value of HBs, their conservation work should use all the knowledge available and this work should only be undertaken by those with the appropriate knowledge and skills. This research is concerned with studying the management of knowledge in historic building (HB) conservation organisations. The research aimed to investigate the concept of knowledge management (KM), and to develop a theoretical framework for studying and understanding KM in HB conservation organisations. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were pursued: (a) investigate the concept of KM in organisations; (b) study HBs and identify the key issues involved in their conservation; (c) investigate the extent of knowledge importance and availability in the HB organisations such as Management of Historic Cities Bureau (MHCB); (d) study the factors that affect managing knowledge in the MHCB; (e) analyse the current conditions for dealing with knowledge in the MHCB; (f) draw out key findings and identify the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats in managing the MHCB’s knowledge and, finally, develop a framework for studying KM in HB conservation organisations and suggest recommendations for effective KM in the MHCB and similar organisations. A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative research for collecting and analysing data and information was adopted. Multi-methods were used for collecting data: literature reviews, interviews, questionnaires, observation and analysing organisational documents. Validation was undertaken by cross-checking the fieldwork findings against the wider literature. The findings demonstrated that the factors affected KM in organisations include: organisational structure, ICT, the culture of collaboration, regulations and policies, changes in the organisation’s accountability which lead to a change in its role and the need for different knowledge, and cultural/religious reasons regarding the separation of genders in the work place, which affects informal knowledge sharing activities. However, the main factors which differentiate KM in HB conservation organisations from other organisations are: type of knowledge, which includes the cultural value of HBs; dealing with external experts and organisations for acquiring and exchanging knowledge regarding HBs and their conservation, and the role of the proximity of the organisation’s headquarters to HBs in acquiring knowledge through monitoring HBs. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the balance between people-based and explicit knowledge-based KM approaches is required to effectively manage knowledge in organisations. This research presents a framework for studying and understanding KM in organisations when used in HBs conservation organisations. It considered both approaches and demonstrated several factors that influence the management of knowledge in the MHCB context. Finally, the research provides a base reference for studying and understanding KM in organisations and provides recommendations to enable decision makers in the MHCB and similar institutions to apply effective KM to improve their organisations’ performance