A content analysis of referees' comments: how do comments on manuscripts rejected by a high-impact journal and later published in either a low- or high-impact journal differ?

Using the data of a comprehensive evaluation study on the peer review process of Angewandte Chemie International Edition (AC-IE), we examined in this study the way in which referees' comments differ on manuscripts rejected at AC-IE and later published in either a low-impact journal (Tetrahedron Letters, n=54) or a high-impact journal (Journal of the American Chemical Society, n=42). For this purpose, a content analysis was performed of comments which led to the rejection of the manuscripts at AC-IE. For the content analysis, a classification scheme with thematic areas developed by Bornmann et al. (2008) was used. As the results of the analysis demonstrate, a large number of negative comments from referees in the areas "Relevance of contribution” and "Design/Conception” are clear signs that a manuscript rejected at AC-IE will not be published later in a high-impact journal. The number of negative statements in the areas "Writing/Presentation,” "Discussion of results,” "Method/Statistics,” and "Reference to the literature and documentation,” on the other hand, had no statistically significant influence on the probability that a rejected manuscript would later be published in a low- or high-impact journal. The results of this study have various implications for authors, journal editors and referee

Avaliação de originais em revistas de comunicação

The study aimed to identify the reviewing process of manuscripts submitted to journalsin the area. It is based on a sample comprising 13 journals titles, asking editors aboutthe reviewing process applied, and examining the most recent numbers in order tocollect data about the existence and composition of an editorial advisory board andother indications about the reviewing process that the editorials or instructions toauthors could provide. It concludes that, in general, Communication journals followscientific procedures that guarantee credibility, such as: reviewing of all the manuscriptssubmitted, except for the invited contributions; reviewing of each manuscript by morethe one referee; choice of ad hoc consultants experts on the subject of the manuscript;blind reviewing; strict deadlines; communication of the result to authors, amongstothers. Problems encountered are specific to each journal, so it suggests that editorsrevise the reviewing procedures in order to continuously adapt them to standards ofvalidation in Science. The study should progress to include, in the next stage, authorsand referees views. Con ese estudio se buscó verificar cómo se da el proceso de evaluación de originalesen las revistas del área de Comunicación. Como corpus de investigación se utilizó unconjunto de 13 revistas periódicas, indagando a los editores acerca del proceso deevaluación utilizado y examinando los últimos fascículos para recoger informacionessobre la existencia y composición del consejo consultivo y otras indicaciones quepudieran presentar los editoriales y las instrucciones a los autores a respecto del procesode evaluación. Se llegó a la conclusión de que, en general, las revistas de Comunicaciónsiguen los procedimientos científicos que dan confiabilidad a las publicaciones, como: laevaluación de todos los trabajos sometidos, salvo en los casos de autores invitados; laevaluación del mismo trabajo por más de un evaluador; la elección de los evaluadoresfrente a los autores; el cumplimento de los plazos; la comunicación de los dictámenesa los autores, entre otros. Los problemas encontrados son puntuales, por lo cual sesugiere que los editores revisen los procedimientos de evaluación para adecuarlos cadavez más a los criterios de validación de la Ciencia. El estudio debe continuar paraincluir, en la próxima etapa, la visión de los autores y de los propios evaluadores sobreel proceso de evaluación;O estudo procurou verificar como ocorre o processo de avaliação de originais nasrevistas da área de comunicação. Utilizou como corpus de pesquisa um conjunto de 13periódicos, indagando os editores sobre o processo de avaliação utilizado e examinandoos últimos fascículos para coletar informações sobre a existência e composição doConselho Consultivo e outras indicações que os editoriais e as instruções aos autorespudessem apresentar sobre o processo avaliativo. Conclui-se que, em geral, as revistas decomunicação seguem os procedimentos científicos que dão confiabilidade às publicaçõescomo: a avaliação de todos os trabalhos submetidos, exceto dos autores convidados;a avaliação do mesmo trabalho por mais de um avaliador; a escolha dos pareceristasde acordo com a temática do trabalho; o anonimato dos avaliadores para os autores; aobservância dos prazos; a comunicação do resultado do parecer aos autores, entre outros.Os problemas encontrados são pontuais, e, por isso, sugere-se que os editores revisemos procedimentos de avaliação praticados para adequá-los cada vez mais aos critériosde validação da ciência. O estudo deve continuar para incluir, na próxima etapa, a visãodos autores e dos próprios avaliadores sobre o processo de avaliação

Indicadores bibliométricos e econométricos para a avaliação de instituições científicas

O artigo é dividido em duas partes. A primeira descreve a avaliação de uma pequena universidade, baseada em dados cienciométricos tendo por principal objetivo avaliar a pesquisa com visibilidade internacional. A segunda parte mostra como um método econométrico (DEA: data enveloping analysis) pode ser usado para incluir na avaliação o ensino e o levantamento de recursos, entre outros aspectos. As duas abordagens mostram como um corpo teórico combinando (bibliometria, cienciometria e econometria) pode ser aplicado a problemas concretos

Principales indicadores bibliométricos de la actividad científica chilena 2010. Informe 2012.

La ciencia chilena muestra buenos indicadores. El esfuerzo investigador, normalizado por número de habitantes, es el más alto de la región, el impacto normalizado de varias categorías temáticas se sitúa sobre la media del mundo, y una proporción relevante de trabajos que alcanzan la excelencia son generados por proyectos liderados en Chile. Es importante destacar que el país se encuentra realizado grandes esfuerzos en la formación de capital humano avanzado junto con diversificar los instrumentos de financiamiento de la ciencia. Aún así los recursos invertidos en investigación científica respecto del PIB del país y el número de científicos jornada completa sitúa a nuestro país en las últimas posiciones de los países integrantes de la OCDE. En un escenario de rápido crecimiento de la producción científica generada en el país, surge cierta preocupación respecto de la calidad de la misma. En particular, los paneles internacionales que verifican los avances de los proyectos asociativos han elogiado la alta productividad científica mostrada por el país, pero han recomendado avanzar a una nueva etapa, donde se aumente la proporción de artículos publicados en revistas de alto impacto dentro de cada disciplina, lo que como consecuencia debiera aumentar la visibilidad e impacto de la producción científica nacional. Conscientes que existen varias formas de evaluar la calidad de la producción científica, en particular en algunas áreas de las ciencias sociales y humanidades, en CONICYT decidimos solicitar un estudio bibliométrico a SCImago Research Group, reconocidos especialistas internacionales en la materia. De modo de asegurar la necesaria independencia entre fuente de datos (Scopus), responsable del análisis (SCImago) y grupos de interés. Este documento presenta el resultado de dicho estudio. Tiene un gran valor como fuente de información y constituye la línea base sobre la cual se pueden realizar futuras mediciones de la actividad científica nacional. Caracteriza además, el esfuerzo investigador que el país realiza a nivel de áreas y categorías temáticas, proporcionando un conjunto de datos e indicadores relevantes a la hora de diseñar políticas e instrumentos a nivel nacional e institucional. A juicio de los autores de este estudio, es evidente que debemos empezar a preocuparnos más por la calidad de la producción científica. El punto de partida ya está en sus manos.Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT). Programa de Información Científica.Peer reviewe

Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi novella “Profession” versus professionalism: Reflections on the (missing) scientific revolutions in the 21th century

This is a partly provocative essay edited as a humanitarian study in philosophy of science and social philosophy. The starting point is Isaac Asimov’s famous sci-fi novella “Profession” (1957) to be “back” extrapolated to today’s relation between Thomas Kuhn’s “normal science” and “scientific revolutions” (1962). The latter should be accomplished by Asimov’s main personage George Platen’s ilk (called “feeble minded” in the novella) versus the “burned minded” professionals able only to “normal science”. Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” in post-Hegelian manner is now interpreted to an analogically supposed “end of scientific history” without “scientific revolutions” any more. The relevant dystopia of the prolonged or even “eternal” period of normal science is justified to the contemporary institution of science due to mechanisms such as “peer-review”, “impact-factor rating”, the projects’ competition for funding, etc. Positive feedbacks forcing all scientists needing careers to be more and more orthodox are demonstrated therefore establishing for that dystopia to be the real state of contemporary science. Two counterfactual case studies based correspondingly on Feyerabend’s “Against method” (1975) if Galilei should make his discoveries today and Sokal’s hoax (1996) if he suggested a scientific masterpiece to be really rejected by journals are discussed. Still one case study considering the abundance of Kelvin’s “clouds” on the horizon of today’s physics (dark matter, dark energy, entanglement, quantum gravitation, phenomena refuting the Big Bang, etc.) serves to verify the aforementioned conjecture that science has already entered that dystopia of eternal normal science. The conception of “ontomathematics” implying “creation ex nihilo” being scandalous for the dominating paradigm is sketched as an eventual revolutionary way out. An imaginary and utopic “happy end” reinterpreting the analogical “happy end” of Asimov’s “Profession” finishes the essay “instead of conclusion” relying on the Internet and AI in an increasingly “fluid” and anti-hierarchical society

The organization of research activities in industry and academia : implications for the commercialization of university research

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2006."June 2006."Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation is composed of three essays. In the first essay, I build a model of the choice and timing of entry into commercial activities by an academic research team, and analyze the returns and costs of these activities. I compare the behavior and performance of the academic team to an industrial research team. The two teams are assumed to differ in their objectives, governance modes, and incentive systems. I show that, while in some cases academic scientists are more reluctant to commercialize research, in other cases they may commercialize faster than profit-seeking firms would - and perform less basic research. Academic and non-academic scientists also select different projects, and this may explain the good performance of 'academic entrepreneurs' found in several empirical studies. In the light of these results, I interpret the mixed evidence on the success of, and the arguments in favor and against, the involvement of universities into business-related research activities. In the second essay, I define a model of a firm's choice of whether to conduct research in-house or to outsource it to academic research teams.(cont.) I exploit the fact that companies and universities have different missions, and model the different authority structures implied by different organizational choices in the conduct of research. Outsourcing a project to a university allows a firm to commit not to terminate or alter a scientifically valuable project before completion. This commitment is potentially valuable for the firm in an environment where scientific value and economic value may not coincide, and scientific workers are responsive to the incentives defined by their community of peers. I then formulate some empirical predictions about the kind of research activities firms will outsource to universities, and activities on which they will exert stronger control. I confront these hypotheses with empirical evidence from a sample of industry-university research agreements, as well as from other analyses and case studies, and find patterns consistent with my model. In the third essay, I analyze the restrictions on publication and control over the research agenda for universities and other 'open-science' research organizations, in a sample of biotechnology research contracts where the sponsor party is a for-profit company.(cont.) I find that stronger publication restrictions appear to be more frequent in projects concerning earlier phase research and projects with longer duration. Research teams based in hospitals have significantly lower publication delays. Longer project duration is also strongly correlated with higher authority of the sponsoring firm over the direction of research. Teams in more prestigious research organizations tend to be subjected to lesser control by the sponsor company.by Nicola Lacetera.Ph.D

The effect of the crisis in scholarly communication on university libraries in South Africa.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.The study examined the effect the crisis in scholarly communication had on university libraries in South Africa. The crisis in scholarly communication or the 'serials' crisis as it is better known to librarians has affected many academic libraries worldwide. The monopoly commercial publishers have on the academic serial/journal market has resulted in high priced subscriptions and many libraries have simply cancelled subscriptions or limited the purchase of monographs (books) to pay for ongoing journal subscriptions. A study population consisting of 17 university libraries in South Africa was surveyed by means of an online questionnaire to establish how university libraries in South Africa were affected by the crisis in scholarly communication. The research questions underpinning the study examined the cause of the crisis together with its characteristics, the factors that influenced journal cancellations, the effects of open access on journal cancellations, institutional support for open access repositories and the funding of university library budgets. A total of 12 university libraries (representing 70.6%) responded. Telephonic interviews with the Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Directors or Deans of Research at selected universities were conducted to gather supplementary data as well as verifying some points that emanated from some of the responses to the questionnaire. Results were analysed in terms of frequency of responses and graphically displayed in the form of pie charts and tables. Interpretation of the results reveals South African university libraries, like most academic and research libraries world wide, have been adversely affected by the crisis in scholarly communication. On an annual basis university librarians are faced with hard choices in terms of deciding which journals to cancel. In terms of South Africa, open access initiatives are in the early stages of development and as university librarians have not embraced such initiatives, the benefits are not being realised. Thus university libraries in South Africa are dependent on paid-for journal subscriptions. Maintaining these subscriptions will be more and more difficult as a result of the high cost of such subscriptions and the fluctuating rand. To mitigate some of these difficulties experienced university librarians should make a concerted effort to facilitate access to local research by way of institutional repositories and free content available via open access initiatives. Recommendations for university libraries and librarians are made in light of the results of the survey and the literature review. These recommendations relate to the library budget, librarians knowledge of their library collections, librarians administering and maintaining institutional repositories and facilitating access to open access content