66,120 research outputs found
The relationship between ILL/document supply and journal subscriptions
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the relationship between ILL/ document supply and journal subscriptions and to assess recent trends in the ILL service.
Design/methodology/Approach: This survey is based on data from the ILL service conducted over the five year period 2005-2009 through the Italian NILDE (Network for Inter-Library Document Exchange) network.
Findings: This article bears out important previous findings that ILL is not used as a surrogate for journal subscriptions. This is supported by the analysis of a broad number of titles and over a wide time-range. On the contrary, analysis of data transactions, particularly of the most requested journals, can bring about positive effects on new title acquisitions and negotiations with publishers. This paper also shows, at least for Italy, an overall growth and vitality of ILL, in spite of the widespread availability of e-journals acquired through consortia purchasing.
Originality/Value: An insight into the relationship between ILL and journal subscriptions in Italy, a country where few studies have been carried out, and none at all for such a large number of libraries and transactions
Hermeneutic single case efficacy design: A systematic review of published research and current standards
open4siThis article systematically reviews the methodological characteristics of Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy
Design (HSCED) studies published in peer-reviewed journals. HSCED provides researchers with a
flexible and viable alternative to both between-groups and within-subject experimental designs. This article
includes a description of the evolution of the methodology distinctive to HSCED; a discussion of results
of HSCED studies considered within a framework of contemporary standards and guidelines for systematic
case study research; a presentation of recommendations for key characteristics (e.g., diagnosis,
hermeneutic analysis, adjudication procedure). Overall, the aim is provide researchers and reviewers with
a resource for conducting and evaluating HSCED research. The results of a systematic review of 13 studies
suggests that published HSCED research meets contemporary criteria for systematic case study research.
Hermeneutic analysis and adjudication emerged as areas of HSCED practice characterized by a
diversity of procedures. Although consensus exists along key dimensions of HSCED, there remains a need
for further evaluation of adjudication procedures and reporting standards.openBenelli, Enrico; De Carlo, Alessandro; Biffi, Diana; Mcleod, JohnBenelli, Enrico; De Carlo, Alessandro; Biffi, Diana; Mcleod, Joh
Proposal to the Council of the British Psychological Society for the formation of a new Section of the Society on âQualitative Methods in Psychologyâ
[FIRST PARAGRAPH] In this proposal we argue that qualitative psychology is growing in popularity and that there is a need to support this development within the framework of the British Psychological Society as qualitative psychologists have a set of unique, identifiable, and specific needs. We envisage this support in the form of a Section on Qualitative Methods in Psychology that will provide a focus for researchers interested in qualitative approaches
A Content and Methodological Review of Articles Concerning Multiracial Issues in Six Major Counseling Journals
This study describes a comprehensive content and methodological review of articles about multiracial issues in 6 journals related to counseling up to the year 2006. The authors summarize findings about the 18 articles that emerged from this review of the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Counseling & Development, The Counseling Psychologist, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, and Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. The authors specifically note trends in content and methodology as well as future directions for research
Qualitative Environmental Health Research: An Analysis of the Literature, 1991-2008
BACKGROUND. Recent articles have advocated for the use of qualitative methods in environmental health research. Qualitative research uses nonnumeric data to understand people's opinions, motives, understanding, and beliefs about events or phenomena. OBJECTIVE. In this analysis of the literature, I report the use of qualitative methods and data in the study of the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. DATA SOURCES. A primary search on ISI Web of Knowledge/Web of Science for peer-reviewed journal articles dated from 1991 through 2008 included the following three terms: qualitative, environ*, and health. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are described. DATA EXTRACTION. Searches resulted in 3,155 records. Data were extracted and findings of articles analyzed to determine where and by whom qualitative environmental health research is conducted and published, the types of methods and analyses used in qualitative studies of environmental health, and the types of information qualitative data contribute to environmental health. DATA SYNTHESIS. Ninety-one articles met inclusion criteria. These articles were published in 58 different journals, with a maximum of eight for a single journal. The results highlight a diversity of disciplines and techniques among researchers who used qualitative methods to study environmental health, with most studies relying on one-on-one interviews. Details of the analyses were absent from a large number of studies. Nearly all of the studies identified increased scientific understanding of lay perceptions of environmental health exposures. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Qualitative data are published in traditionally quantitative environmental health studies to a limited extent. However, this analysis demonstrates the potential of qualitative data to improve understanding of complex exposure pathways, including the influence of social factors on environmental health, and health outcomes.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R25 ES012084, P42ES007381
Career development tips for today's nursing academic: bibliometrics, altmetrics and social media
Š 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aims: A discussion of bibliometrics, altmetrics and social media for the contemporary nursing scholar and academic researcher. Background: Today's nursing academic faces myriad challenges in balancing their daily life and, in recent years, academic survival has been increasingly challenged by the various research assessment exercises that evaluate the performance of knowledge institutions. As such, it is essential that today's nursing academic keep up to date with the core competencies needed for survival in a modern research career, particularly the intersecting triad of bibliometrics, altmetrics and social media. Design: Discussion paper. Data sources: Published literature and relevant websites. Implications for nursing: The rise of social media and altmetrics has important implications for contemporary nursing scholars who publish their research. Some fundamental questions when choosing a journal might be âdoes it have a Twitter and/or Facebook site, or a blog (or all three)â; and âdoes it have any other presence on social media, such as LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, ResearchGate and so on?â Another consequence of embracing social media is that individual academics should also develop their own strategies for promoting and disseminating their work as widely as possible. Conclusion: The rising importance of social media and altmetrics can no longer be ignored, and today's nursing academic now has another facet to consider in their scholarly activities. Despite the changing nature of research dissemination, however, it is still important to recognize the undoubted value of established knowledge dissemination routes (that being the peer-reviewed publication)
Randomised controlled trials of complex interventions and large-scale transformation of services
Complex interventions and large-scale transformations of services are necessary to meet the health-care challenges of the 21st century. However, the evaluation of these types of interventions is challenging and requires methodological development.
Innovations such as cluster randomised controlled trials, stepped-wedge designs, and non-randomised evaluations provide options to meet the needs of decision-makers. Adoption of theory and logic models can help clarify causal assumptions, and process evaluation can assist in understanding delivery in context. Issues of implementation must also be considered throughout intervention design and evaluation to ensure that results can be scaled for population benefit. Relevance requires evaluations conducted under real-world conditions, which in turn requires a pragmatic attitude to design. The increasing complexity of interventions and evaluations threatens the ability of researchers to meet the needs of decision-makers for rapid results. Improvements in efficiency are thus crucial, with electronic health records offering significant potential
The metric tide: report of the independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management
This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management. The review was chaired by Professor James Wilsdon, supported by an independent and multidisciplinary group of experts in scientometrics, research funding, research policy, publishing, university management and administration.
This review has gone beyond earlier studies to take a deeper look at potential uses and limitations of research metrics and indicators. It has explored the use of metrics across different disciplines, and assessed their potential contribution to the development of research excellence and impact. It has analysed their role in processes of research assessment, including the next cycle of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). It has considered the changing ways in which universities are using quantitative indicators in their management systems, and the growing power of league tables and rankings. And it has considered the negative or unintended effects of metrics on various aspects of research culture.
The report starts by tracing the history of metrics in research management and assessment, in the UK and internationally. It looks at the applicability of metrics within different research cultures, compares the peer review system with metric-based alternatives, and considers what balance might be struck between the two. It charts the development of research management systems within institutions, and examines the effects of the growing use of quantitative indicators on different aspects of research culture, including performance management, equality, diversity, interdisciplinarity, and the âgamingâ of assessment systems. The review looks at how different funders are using quantitative indicators, and considers their potential role in research and innovation policy. Finally, it examines the role that metrics played in REF2014, and outlines scenarios for their contribution to future exercises
Are methodological quality and completeness of reporting associated with citation-based measures of publication impact? A secondary analysis of a systematic review of dementia biomarker studies
Objective: To determine whether methodological and reporting quality are associated with surrogate measures of publication impact in the field of dementia biomarker studies.
Methods: We assessed dementia biomarker studies included in a previous systematic review in terms of methodological and reporting quality using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) and Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD), respectively. We extracted additional study and journal-related data from each publication to account for factors shown to be associated with impact in previous research. We explored associations between potential determinants and measures of publication impact in univariable and stepwise multivariable linear regression analyses.
Outcome measures: We aimed to collect data on four measures of publication impact: two traditional measuresâaverage number of citations per year and 5-year impact factor of the publishing journal and two alternative measuresâthe Altmetric Attention Score and counts of electronic downloads.
Results: The systematic review included 142 studies. Due to limited data, Altmetric Attention Scores and electronic downloads were excluded from the analysis, leaving traditional metrics as the only analysed outcome measures. We found no relationship between QUADAS and traditional metrics. Citation rates were independently associated with 5-year journal impact factor (β=0.42; p<0.001), journal subject area (β=0.39; p<0.001), number of years since publication (β=-0.29; p<0.001) and STARD (β=0.13; p<0.05). Independent determinants of 5-year journal impact factor were citation rates (β=0.45; p<0.001), statement on conflict of interest (β=0.22; p<0.01) and baseline sample size (β=0.15; p<0.05).
Conclusions: Citation rates and 5-year journal impact factor appear to measure different dimensions of impact. Citation rates were weakly associated with completeness of reporting, while neither traditional metric was related to methodological rigour. Our results suggest that high publication usage and journal outlet is not a guarantee of quality and readers should critically appraise all papers regardless of presumed impact
Rett Syndrome
Rett syndrome is a thief! It robs little girls of their projected life. It lulls their families into a false sense of security while their little girls develop normally for 6 to 18 months. Then it insidiously robs them of their skills and abilities until they are trapped in a body that won't respond. These little girls are called "silent angels" (Hunter, 2007).
Rett syndrome (RS) was originally identified in 1966 by the Austrian neurologist Andreas Rett, but his research and findings were written in an obscure form of the German language the medical world could not and did not translate. It wasn't until 1983, that Rett syndrome was re-identified and labeled as its own disorder (Hunter, 2007). The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (2006) summarizes the condition best with:
Rett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in females. Children with Rett syndrome appear to develop normally until 6 to 18 months of age when they enter a period of regression, losing speech and motor skills. Most develop repetitive hand movements, irregular breathing patterns, seizures and extreme motor control problems. Rett syndrome leaves its victims profoundly disabled, requiring maximum assistance with every aspect of daily living. There is no cure. (Retrieved October 14, 2008 from http://www.rsrf.org/about_rett_syndrome/)
Research is ever going to regards to Rett syndrome. What is known as of now is that Rett syndrome is caused by a mutation of the gene MECP2. It is not passed down in families and it knows no ethnic boundaries. The majority of Rett girls live to adulthood (RSRF, 2006). The male child doesn't usually survive birth with Rett syndrome
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