DNA replication licensing in stem cells: Gatekeeping the commitment to proliferation.

Carroll et al. (2018. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201708023) developed a method to assess DNA replication licensing in tissues. They show that intestinal stem cells within wild-type crypts, but not in crypts with cancer-causing mutations, are largely unlicensed, suggesting that licensing may represent a rate-limiting step in the commitment to proliferation

Astrobites as a Community-led Model for Education, Science Communication, and Accessibility in Astrophysics

Support for early career astronomers who are just beginning to explore astronomy research is imperative to increase retention of diverse practitioners in the field. Since 2010, Astrobites has played an instrumental role in engaging members of the community -- particularly undergraduate and graduate students -- in research. In this white paper, the Astrobites collaboration outlines our multi-faceted online education platform that both eases the transition into astronomy research and promotes inclusive professional development opportunities. We additionally offer recommendations for how the astronomy community can reduce barriers to entry to astronomy research in the coming decade

From Gatekeeping to Engagement: A Multicontextual, Mixed Method Study of Student Academic Engagement in Introductory STEM Courses.

The lack of academic engagement in introductory science courses is considered by some to be a primary reason why students switch out of science majors. This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed methods approach to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between student engagement and introductory science instruction. Quantitative survey data were drawn from 2,873 students within 73 introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses across 15 colleges and universities, and qualitative data were collected from 41 student focus groups at eight of these institutions. The findings indicate that students tended to be more engaged in courses where the instructor consistently signaled an openness to student questions and recognizes her/his role in helping students succeed. Likewise, students who reported feeling comfortable asking questions in class, seeking out tutoring, attending supplemental instruction sessions, and collaborating with other students in the course were also more likely to be engaged. Instructional implications for improving students' levels of academic engagement are discussed

Embracing the Non-Traditional: Incorporating Non-Traditional Elements into Library Identity

A shift in library and librarian identities occurs as libraries and library workers evolve and explore new practices. These changes prompt a discussion of what constitutes “traditional” and “non-traditional” practice in libraries. Identity and gatekeeper theories provide a lens through which the process of introducing and incorporating professional practices in libraries can be understood and offer insights into how ‘non-traditional’ ideas can be incorporated into the concepts of what constitute library collections and services for library workers and other stakeholders. Acceptance of non-traditional practice is aided by three factors. First, library organizational and professional identities must be sufficiently broad to incorporate non-traditional elements. Second, non-traditional elements must be successfully linked to stakeholders’ perspectives of libraries’ missions and mandates. Finally, institutional barriers to the introduction of non-traditional elements should be identified and addressed

The Dominance of Standard English and its Impact on Academia: The Investigation of EAL Researchers' Submission Experience to English Medium Journals

Research Articl

Peer review innovations in Humanities: how can scholars in A&H profit of the "wisdom of the crowds"?

Though supported by a large number of scholars in Scientific, Technical, and Medical (STM) disciplines traditional peer review does not live up to the needs of an efficient scholarly communication system and of quality research control. Therefore journals in STM are experimenting different forms of refereeing in combination with more traditional peer review system. Such is the case of PLoSONE, Biology Direct, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, and JIME. However in STM disciplines public peer review is not regarded an alternative to more traditional quality certification forms. It may be the case in the Arts & Humanities. In A&H publishing system peer review is by far a less common practice. Therefore the adoption of a social peer review process could be very useful to foster research in humanities. Scholars in A&H can profit of the interactive evaluation forms of the public peer-review to strengthen the scholarly debate, to foster active international and interdisciplinary discussions, to focus social attention on topics in Humanities, to broaden the borders of the cultural and intellectual discourse among non-scholars (public debate). This paper will provide some examples of how social peer review has been adopted by innovative communities of scholars in humanities to publish new experimental digital book models. In the digital environment the concepts of “document”, of “completeness of a document” and of “evaluation” is fast changing. In a close future in scholarly publishing it might become possible to overcome the rigid distinction between ex-ante and ex-post evaluation as the evaluation process might become an enduring part of the text itsel

Academic Knowledge Transfers and the Structure of International Research Networks

Az egyetemektõl az ipari innovációig áramló tudástranszfer földrajza napjaink közgazdasági szakirodalmának széles körben kutatott témájává vált. A vizsgálatok egyik meghatározó eredményeként említhetõ, hogy az egyetemek és az ipar közötti lokális tudás-áramlások hatékonyságát számos külsõ tényezõ – mint pl. az agglomeráció, a vállalkozói környezet vagy a helyi üzleti kultúra – is befolyásolja. Az egyetemek nemzetközi kutatói hálózatokba való beágyazottsága és az egyetemekrõl származó tudás szétterjedése közötti kapcsolat vizsgálata viszont igen friss fejlemény a közgazdasági szakirodalomban. A téma fontosságát egyrészt az indokolja, hogy a kutatói produktivitás és a tudományos hálózatokhoz való tartozás között szoros összefüggés fedezhetõ fel, másrészt pedig az, hogy az egyetemekhez köthetõ szabadalmak és a minõségi kutatási eredmények nem zárják ki szükségszerûen egymást. A hálózatok és a szabadalmak közötti kapcsolatok tehát ígéretes témát szolgáltatnak az elemzések számára. Tanulmányunk a nemzetközi publikációk szerzõit magában foglaló hálózatok szerkezetének (pl. koncentráció, méret, integráltság) az egyetemi szabadalmakra vonatkozó hatását vizsgálja a tudástermelési-függvény alkalmazásával a Pécsi Tudományegyetem különbözõ egységeirõl gyûjtött adatokra támaszkodva.University knowledge transfer, network analysis, knowledge production function

Interdisciplinarity in Technology Enhanced Learning: An Interview Study

This paper explores the influence of the concept of interdisciplinarity on the work of educational technologists and others involved in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) research. There is a growing recognition of the need for interdisciplinarity in solving complex research problems in many areas of science. Technology-enhanced learning is a relatively young area of research adopting a multidisciplinary approach to investigating the use of technologies for learning. This makes it a field that is worthy of exploration in terms of how the ways of working developed by its practitioners inform our understanding of the challenges of the field as well as its benefits. This paper reporting on work commissioned by the Joint Research Councils’ programme on Technology Enhanced Learning provides a discussion of the growing literature on this topic, and a study of the working practices of academics in TEL research. An interview study of 18 participants was conducted as part of the project. The paper reports on the key findings from the interviews and concludes with some practical suggestions to help participants deal with the challenges posed by interdisciplinary working in TEL research