Encoding models for scholarly literature

We examine the issue of digital formats for document encoding, archiving and publishing, through the specific example of "born-digital" scholarly journal articles. We will begin by looking at the traditional workflow of journal editing and publication, and how these practices have made the transition into the online domain. We will examine the range of different file formats in which electronic articles are currently stored and published. We will argue strongly that, despite the prevalence of binary and proprietary formats such as PDF and MS Word, XML is a far superior encoding choice for journal articles. Next, we look at the range of XML document structures (DTDs, Schemas) which are in common use for encoding journal articles, and consider some of their strengths and weaknesses. We will suggest that, despite the existence of specialized schemas intended specifically for journal articles (such as NLM), and more broadly-used publication-oriented schemas such as DocBook, there are strong arguments in favour of developing a subset or customization of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) schema for the purpose of journal-article encoding; TEI is already in use in a number of journal publication projects, and the scale and precision of the TEI tagset makes it particularly appropriate for encoding scholarly articles. We will outline the document structure of a TEI-encoded journal article, and look in detail at suggested markup patterns for specific features of journal articles

Channels of published research communication used by Malaysian authors in computer science and information technology

Analyse 389 records retrieved from Inspec (1990-1999), Compendex (1987-1999) and IEL (IEE/IEEE Electronic library)(1987-1999). The records comprised 159 journal articles, 229 conference papers and 1 monograph chapter. The subject coverage was computer science and information technology. The yearly output of Malaysian publications indicated a gentle upward trend. The highest contributions was 87 published in 1997. The channels used to publish differ slightly from the norm for scientists. Conference papers were preferred to journal articles. The spread of conference papers used to publish indicate three zonal distributions; the nucleus, moderate and low productivity in the ratio of 19 : 41 : 88, leading to a clustering index of 2.15. This shows that Malaysian conference contributions were concentrated in a few proceedings. No clear core journals can be identified for the journal articles and contributions were distributed in a wide variety of journal titles. Malaysian Journal of Computer Science published the highest number of journal articles. More than 83 of the articles were published in journals from the UK, USA, the Netherlands and Malaysia

Book review: Publishing journal articles

In this accessible and informative book, Lucinda Becker and Pam Denicolo seek to introduce the best practical strategies available to help academics maximise the chance of success in getting work published. Offering advice on topics including coping with writer’s block and handling rejection, it will certainly be a useful introduction for some and an invaluable guide for many others, finds Johannes Wheeldon

Journal of Technology Education

The Journal of Technology Education provides a forum for scholarly discussion on topics relating to technology education. Manuscripts focus on technology education research, philosophy, and theory. In addition, the Journal publishes book reviews, editorials, guest articles, comprehensive literature reviews, and reactions to previously published articles. Users can access archived articles starting from 1989. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Within-Journal Demonstrations of the Open-Access Impact Advantage: PLoS, Pipe-Dreams and Peccadillos (LETTER)

Eysenbach's (2006) study in PloS Biology on 1492 articles published during one 6-month period in one journal (PNAS) found that the Open Access (OA) articles were more cited than the non-OA ones. The online bibliography on the OA citation advantage http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html records a number of prior within-journal comparisons that found exactly the same effect: freely available articles are read and cited more. Eysenbach’s further finding that the OA advantage (in this particular 6-month, 3-option, 1-journal PloS/PNAS study) is greater for articles that have paid for OA publication than for those that have merely been self-archived will require replication on much larger samples as most of the prior evidence for the OA advantage comes from self-archived articles and is based on sample sizes four orders of magnitude larger for both the number of articles and the number of journals tested

Publication of original research in urologic journals - a neglected orphan?

The pathophysiologic mechanisms behind urologic disease are increasingly being elucidated. The object of this investigation was to evaluate the publication policies of urologic journals during a period of progressively better understanding and management of urologic disease. Based on the ISI Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports and the PubMed database, the number and percentage of original experimental, original clinical, review or commentarial articles published between 2002–2010 in six leading urologic journals were analyzed. “British Journal of Urology International”, “European Urology”, “Urologic Oncology-Seminars and Original Investigations” (“Urologic Oncology”), “Urology”, “The Journal of Urology”, and “World Journal of Urology” were chosen, because these journals publish articles in all four categories. The publication policies of the six journals were very heterogeneous during the time period from 2002 to 2010. The percentage of original experimental and original clinical articles, related to all categories, remained the same in “British Journal of Urology International”, “Urologic Oncology”, “Urology” and “The Journal of Urology”. The percentage of experimental reports in “World Journal of Urology” between 2002–2010 significantly increased from 10 to 20%. A distinct elevation in the percentage of commentarial articles accompanied by a reduction of clinical articles became evident in “European Urology” which significantly correlated with a large increase in the journal’s impact factor. No clearly superior policy could be identified with regard to a general increase in the impact factors from all the journals. The publication policy of urologic journals does not expressly reflect the increase in scientific knowledge, which has occurred over the period 2002–2010. One way of increasing the exposure of urologists to research and expand the interface between experimental and clinical research, would be to enlarge the percentage of experimental articles published. There is no indication that such policy would be detrimental to a journal’s impact factor

Profile of allergy-related articles in the primary academic publication for UK General Practitioners

Background: Concern is often expressed about primary health care professionals’ lack of knowledge about allergies, particularly diagnostic testing and the management of atopic disorders. Limited training opportunities in allergy have been documented in both undergraduate and postgraduate education. The British Journal of General Practice is the leading UK-based Family Practice journal, it has a strong clinical focus. The BJGP was established in 1953. It is a high quality journal and is the world’s 2nd most highly cited journal of general practice and primary care. Methods: Keyword search of bjgp.org. Terms used were ‘allergy’, ‘allergies’, ‘allergic’, ‘rhinitis’, ‘urticaria’, ‘eczema’, ‘angioedema’. All titles and articles from 1953 to 2013 were searched. Full copies of relevant publications were downloaded and variables extracted, including title, year of publication, type of article, clinical focus. As a comparator a similar search was conducted for articles about asthma using the search term ‘asthma’. Results: 41 allergy-related articles were identified in the 60 years since the journal was launched. In the same time period there were 147 articles about asthma. In 31 of the 60 years reviewed there were no articles at all about any allergy-related topic. The focus of the articles published were eczema (6), food allergy (6), rhinoconjunctivitis (5), anaphylaxis (4), urticaria (1). There were no articles on angioedema. Some articles addressed multiple atopic disorders, eg ‘Allergic diseases in the elderly’ (1968), ‘Allergic disorders amongst horticultural, agricultural and forestry workers’ [letter] (1965). Conclusions: Allergy has a low profile in the British Journal of General Practice. This low profile persists despite the increasing prevalence of atopic disorders and major national reports highlighting the need for better care of the allergic patient in primary care. Our exploratory study highlights a missed opportunity to educate and inform General Practitioners about allergy through this widely circulated journal. Further work is needed to understand better why so few articles on allergy are published in the BJGP. If the paucity of publications reflects the number of articles submitted then BSACI members interested in informing and improving allergy management in General Practice should include the BJGP on their list of target journals. Where next: To share these observations with the Editor of the BJGP to understand whether they reflect editorial policy or lack of submissions from clinicians and researchers with expertise in allergy. To work with the BJGP to identify collaborative initiatives to address the serious mismatch between the prevalence of allergy in the clinical consultation and the number of allergy- related articles in the literature for GPs

Does Criticism Overcome the Praises of Journal Impact Factor?

Journal impact factor (IF) as a gauge of influence and impact of a particular journal comparing with other journals in the same area of research, reports the mean number of citations to the published articles in particular journal. Although, IF attracts more attention and being used more frequently than other measures, it has been subjected to criticisms, which overcome the advantages of IF. Critically, extensive use of IF may result in destroying editorial and researchers’ behaviour, which could compromise the quality of scientific articles. Therefore, it is the time of the timeliness and importance of a new invention of journal ranking techniques beyond the journal impact factor

The Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design: a bibliometric note

Summarizes the articles in, and the citations to, volumes 2-24 of the Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. The citations to the journal come from almost 2000 different sources that span a very wide range of academic subjects, with the most heavily cited articles being descriptions of software systems and of computational methods

Implementation of a Virtual Journal Club in a Clinical Nursing Setting

Healthcare practice is increasingly focused on delivering care that is based on published research evidence. Staff development nurses can institute journal clubs to teach nursing staff critical appraisal of research articles and ways to translate research findings into clinical practice. Unfortunately, attending meetings regularly is often a challenge for nurses, and relatively few have the knowledge and expertise to adequately critique research articles. One way to bridge the limitations of accessibility and limited research expertise of journal club members is to establish a virtual journal club. This article describes one hospital\u27s experience with developing a virtual journal club