Improving the quality of toxicology and environmental health systematic reviews:What journal editors can do

Systematic reviews are fast increasing in prevalence in the toxicology and environmental health literature. However, how well these complex research projects are being conducted and reported is unclear. Since editors have an essential role in ensuring the scientific quality of manuscripts being published in their journals, a workshop was convened where editors, systematic review practitioners, and research quality control experts could discuss what editors can do to ensure the systematic reviews they publish are of sufficient scientific quality. Interventions were explored along four themes: setting standards; reviewing protocols; optimizing editorial workflows; and measuring the effectiveness of editorial interventions. In total, 58 editorial interventions were proposed. Of these, 26 were shortlisted for being potentially effective, and 5 were prioritized as short-term actions that editors could relatively easily take to improve the quality of published systematic reviews. Recent progress in improving systematic reviews is summarized, and outstanding challenges to further progress are highlighted

Humans and Technology: Forms of Conjoined Agency in Organizations

Organizations are increasingly deploying technologies that have the ability to parse through large amounts of data, acquire skills and knowledge, and operate autonomously. These technologies diverge from prior technologies in their capacity to exercise intentionality over protocol development or action selection in the practice of organizational routines, thereby affecting organizations in new and distinct ways. In this article, we categorize four forms of conjoined agency between humans and technologies: (1) conjoined agency with assisting technologies, (2) conjoined agency with arresting technologies, (3) conjoined agency with augmenting technologies, and (4) conjoined agency with automating technologies. We then theorize on the different ways in which these forms of conjoined agency impact a routine’s change at a particular moment in time as well as a routine’s responsiveness to feedback over time. In doing so, we elaborate on how organizations may evolve in varied and diverse ways based on the form(s) of conjoined agency they deploy in their organizational design choices

Case Study: IQRA faculty for computer studies

المستودعات المؤسسية هي بنية تحتية بحثية أساسية لمخرجات العلمية للجامعات .تمتلك المستودعات المؤسسية ذو الأبعاد المناسبة القدرة على زيادة تأثير البحوث وتعزيز صورة وتاثير المؤسسة من خلال عرض وفتح مخرجاتها الاكادمية لجمهور أوسع. في البداية ، تم تطوير أنظمة المستودعات كحل مستضاف عبر الإنترنت لجمع وحفظ ونشر المخرجات العلمية للجامعات والكليات والمؤسسات البحثية الأخرى. في الآونة الأخيرة ، تم تطوير البرامج وتطورت المستودعات إلى منصات نشر للمؤسسات لعرض مخرجاتهم العلمية بما في ذلك المقالات والكتب والأطروحات والمجلات. كان الهدف من هذا الدراسة تصميم وتطوير مستودع رقمي على شبكة الإنترنت لتخزين ونشر المواد العلمية – أطروحات, أوراق علمية - لكلية دراسات الكمبيوتر في International University of Africa ، مما يوفر حل دائم للحاجة إلى نظام فعال وموثوق ويمكن الوصول إليه بسهولة لتخزين واسترجاع هذه المواد العلمية مما يجعل الدراسة والبحث أقل تعقيدًا وأقل إجهادًا للموظفين الأكاديميين والطلاب ، وبالتالي تمكينهم من تنفيذ أعمالهم والأنشطة اليومية بسهولة ، لا سيما فيما يتعلق بالحصول على المعلومات العلمية ذات الصلة بسرعة. ومن النتائج التي تم تحقيقها; الرقمنة الكاملة للأطروحات والرسائل الجامعية وفتحها أمام جمهور أوسع للاستفادة منها مع زيادة تأثير تلك الأعمال الأكاديمية في نفس الوقت; تزويد منتسبي الكلية- أعضاء هيئة التدريس والطلاب- القدرة على أرشفة أعمالهم عبر الإنترنت باستخدام حساباتهم التي أنشأها مسؤول النظام لهم. في النهاية ، حقق النظام المطور الأهداف الرئيسية للدراسة ولكن أيضًا التحسينات والتطويرات المستقبلية يمكن اضافتها بسهولة في النظام الحالي

Predatory Publishing: What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

Predatory publishers recruit faculty and graduate students to publish in their seemingly high quality journals that frequently lack peer review, charge fees, and have poor reputations. Tenure-track nursing faculty with publishing expectations may be especially vulnerable to the inviting emails received from predatory publishers. Nurse educators should collaborate with their health sciences librarians to identify and implement strategies to combat predatory publishers in nursing education and research

Perceptions of Open Access Publishing among Academic Journal Editors in China

Open access publishing is examined from the perspective of academic journal editors in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In addition to providing background information on academic publishing in China, the author incorporates interviews with two editors from open access and four from traditional subscription-based journals in the region. The editors share their general views on Chinese academic publishing and reflect on how open access has or could affect their publications. The editors comment on such issues as the economic viability of open access publishing in China and the potential benefits and challenges faced by Chinese academic journal editors who pursue open access

Evaluating IMF intervention ten years after the Russian crisis: modelling the impact of macroeconomic fundamentals and economic policy

The ongoing global financial crisis has become prominently visible since September 2008. This crisis affected the whole world and enhanced the importance of policy implementation to mitigate financial crises in future. Many academics blamed insufficient domestic regulation as the reason of crises, others pointed to the lack of overseas financial regulation and inappropriate actions by international organizations, such as the IMF and World Bank. This whole discussion encouraged a look back and analyzes of a previous crisis in a small country such as Russia. This paper evidently shows the inefficiency of IMF policy during the Russia Crisis in 1998 by implementing a new monetary balance- of-payment model in Russian data. This model identified the role of macroeconomic fundamentals and international economic policy implications on the likelihood and the timing of the currency crisis in Russia. For the period from December 1995 to December 1998 it was found that, the increase in domestic credit growth gradually undermined confidence in the fixed exchange rate regime. The most dangerous point was at the end of 1998, when the collapse probability was above 90 percent. This result called to doubt the IMF’s July packet 1998 and revealed the political aspects of this financial help

Should we protect people with ADHD from playing? A review on the association between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder.

Introdução: Desde a introdução da Perturbação do Jogo pela Internet (PJI) na 5ª edição do Manual de Diagnóstico e Estatística das Perturbações Mentais (DSM-5), tem-se assistido a um rápido desenvolvimento da literatura sobre este assunto. Vários estudos têm abordado as comorbilidades associadas ao jogo patológico, mas poucos se focam especificamente na Perturbação de Hiperatividade e Défice de Atenção (PHDA). Esta monografia tem como objetivo rever o conhecimento atual sobre a associação entre PHDA e jogo patológico, assim como as lacunas existentes. Métodos: Foi realizada uma pesquisa de artigos em inglês na Pubmed até à data de Setembro de 2019 sobre jogo patológico e PHDA. Literatura adicional sobre o uso excessivo da internet foi também incluída quando o conteúdo sobre jogo era relevante. Foram discutidas as variáveis que influenciam a associação, mecanismos subjacentes e consequências futuras. Resultados: Os estudos publicados desde a DSM-5 revelam que os doentes com PHDA têm um OR de jogo patológico entre 1.27 e 13.51. Na figura 1 encontram-se os fatores que parecem mediar esta associação: impulsividade, hostilidade, desatenção, défice de competências sociais e pobre controlo inibitório. A explicação neurobiológica baseia-se na falta de dopamina caraterística da PHDA e que é suprimida pelo jogo, quando este ativa o sistema de recompensa cerebral dopaminérgico. Como resultado da associação das duas patologias, surge um ciclo vicioso que pode afetar negativamente várias dimensões da vida do doente com PHDA, salientando a importância do controlo do tempo de jogo. Conclusão: A PHDA parece aumentar o risco de jogo patológico quando comparado com a população saudável, no entanto a direccionalidade da associação ainda não é clara devido a limitações metodológicas dos estudos.Introduction: Since Internet Gaming Disorder was included in the Fifth Edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there is a growing body of literature concerning this issue. Most studies have focused generally on the comorbidities linked to pathological gaming, while there have been a few focusing specifically on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This review aims to review the knowledge concerning the association between ADHD and pathological gaming and the existing gaps. Methods: Relevant literature on data included in this review were identified through a search of Pubmed in relation to pathological gaming and ADHD for articles in English until September 2019. Additional literature about internet addiction was included when gaming content was considered relevant. Variables influencing the association, underlying mechanisms and consequences in the future were also discussed. Results: Since DSM-5 included IGD, the OR for pathological gaming in ADHD ranged between 1.27 and 13.51. Figure 1 shows the possible factors mediating this association. The literature proposes impulsivity, hostility, inattention, social skills deficits and poor inhibitory control as mediators, based on ADHD lack of dopamine suppressed by gaming, when it activates brain's dopamine reward system. The association between ADHD symptoms and gaming disorder suggests a vicious cycle that can negatively affect varied life dimensions, raising the importance of controlling time playing of ADHD patients. Conclusions: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder seems to increase the risk of pathological gaming when compared to healthy population, but the directionality remains unclear because of methodological weaknesses in the studies

Copyright and endogenous market structure: a glimpse from the journal-publishing market

This article explores the journal publishing industry in order to shed light on the overall economic consequences of copyright in markets. Since the rationale for copyright is among others to promise some market power to the holder of the successful copyrighted item, it also provides incentives to preserve and extend market power. A regular trait of copyright industries is high concentration and the creation of large catalogues of copyrights in the hands of incumbents. This outcome can be observed as the aggregation of rights and is one of the pivotal strategies for obtaining or extending market power, consistently with findings in other cases. Journal publishing is no different in this respect from other copyright industries, and in the last decade has experienced a similar trajectory, leading to a highly concentrated industry in which a handful of large firms increasingly control a substantial part of the market. It also provides a clear example of the effect of copyright dynamics on market structure, suggesting that a different attitude should be taken in lawmaking and law enforcement.copyright and market power, endogenous market structure, journal-publishing industry