Tracing scientific influence

Scientometrics is the field of quantitative studies of scholarly activity. It has been used for systematic studies of the fundamentals of scholarly practice as well as for evaluation purposes. Although advocated from the very beginning the use of scientometrics as an additional method for science history is still under explored. In this paper we show how a scientometric analysis can be used to shed light on the reception history of certain outstanding scholars. As a case, we look into citation patterns of a specific paper by the American sociologist Robert K. Merton.Comment: 25 pages LaTe

Citations: Indicators of Quality? The Impact Fallacy

We argue that citation is a composed indicator: short-term citations can be considered as currency at the research front, whereas long-term citations can contribute to the codification of knowledge claims into concept symbols. Knowledge claims at the research front are more likely to be transitory and are therefore problematic as indicators of quality. Citation impact studies focus on short-term citation, and therefore tend to measure not epistemic quality, but involvement in current discourses in which contributions are positioned by referencing. We explore this argument using three case studies: (1) citations of the journal Soziale Welt as an example of a venue that tends not to publish papers at a research front, unlike, for example, JACS; (2) Robert Merton as a concept symbol across theories of citation; and (3) the Multi-RPYS ("Multi-Referenced Publication Year Spectroscopy") of the journals Scientometrics, Gene, and Soziale Welt. We show empirically that the measurement of "quality" in terms of citations can further be qualified: short-term citation currency at the research front can be distinguished from longer-term processes of incorporation and codification of knowledge claims into bodies of knowledge. The recently introduced Multi-RPYS can be used to distinguish between short-term and long-term impacts.Comment: accepted for publication in Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analysis; doi: 10.3389/frma.2016.0000

Making visible the invisible through the analysis of acknowledgements in the humanities

Purpose: Science is subject to a normative structure that includes how the contributions and interactions between scientists are rewarded. Authorship and citations have been the key elements within the reward system of science, whereas acknowledgements, despite being a well-established element in scholarly communication, have not received the same attention. This paper aims to put forward the bearing of acknowledgements in the humanities to bring to the foreground contributions and interactions that, otherwise, would remain invisible through traditional indicators of research performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a comprehensive framework to understanding acknowledgements as part of the reward system with a special focus on its value in the humanities as a reflection of intellectual indebtedness. The distinctive features of research in the humanities are outlined and the role of acknowledgements as a source of contributorship information is reviewed to support these assumptions. Findings: Peer interactive communication is the prevailing support thanked in the acknowledgements of humanities, so the notion of acknowledgements as super-citations can make special sense in this area. Since single-authored papers still predominate as publishing pattern in this domain, the study of acknowledgements might help to understand social interactions and intellectual influences that lie behind a piece of research and are not visible through authorship. Originality/value: Previous works have proposed and explored the prevailing acknowledgement types by domain. This paper focuses on the humanities to show the role of acknowledgements within the reward system and highlight publication patterns and inherent research features which make acknowledgements particularly interesting in the area as reflection of the socio-cognitive structure of research.Comment: 14 page

Social Dangers of European Integration

Integracja europejska jako proces społeczny pozostaje pod wpływem licznych zagrożeń, które w różnym zakresie mogą na nią oddziaływać. Przynajmniej częściowo występują one na płaszczyźnie politycznej - stając się konsekwencją zachodzących procesów ekonomicznych czy psychologicznych. Ewolucja postaw społecznych jednostek może mieć negatywne znaczenie dla europejskich społeczeństw. W niniejszym artykule szczególną uwagę autorzy poświęcają zagrożeniom płynącym z atomizacji, anomii oraz społecznej alienacji. Odniesieniem dla ich oddziaływania jest sfera społeczno-polityczna. Atomizacja może wpływać na poziom uczestnictwa politycznego i doprowadzić do upadku moralnych i społecznych zasad demokracji. Anomia wiąże się z reakcjami adaptacyjnymi, które mogą powodować wycofanie się z istniejących norm i wartości społecznych. Dodatkowo anomia i atomizacja mogą oddziaływać w ramach megatrendów sprawiając, że trudniej adaptować procesy demokratyzacyjne. Mając na uwadze znaczenie aspektu psychologicznego funkcjonowania jednostki w środowisku społecznym, analizie został poddany także problem alienacji społecznej, który w określonych wymiarach może stanowić istotne zagrożenie dla procesów integracji europejskiej.European integration as a social process is endangered by phenomena which can reduce, stop and downgrade this process. They occur, at least partly, out of political intentions. They become a conseąuence of existing processes in the political, industrial and psychosocial spheres. The evolution of social attitudes of an individual can take the wrong direction, and this can result in a negative influence on social systems. In this paper, special attention is placed on a few of them: atomisation, anomie and social alienation, linked to political and social problems. Atomisation can effect political participation and can lead to morał decay of the social rules of democracy. Anomie leads to adaptation reactions, which can cause withdrawal from existing values and social norms. Additionally, stratification of anomie and atomisation in terms of megatrends makes it harder to counteract their results, because the character of these phenomena leads to an indirect relationship with integration. Bearing in mind the importance of psychological functioning of individuals in a changing social environment, the issue of social alienation that at certain levels of intensity can pose a threat to European integration was also analysed

Pension schemes versus real estate

The demographic, economic and social changes that have characterized the last decades, and the dramatic financial crisis that has taken place since 2008, have led to a demand for structural changes in the pension sector and a growing interest in individual pension products. Hence the need, for most elderly people, to liquidate their fixed assets, which are usually the homes in which they live. This highlights products such as reverse mortgages and domestic reversibility plans. Within this context, we propose a contractual scheme where an immediate life annuity is obtained by paying a single-premium in the form of real estate rights (RERs), for example by transferring to an insurer the property title of a house or a similar realty, while keeping its usufruct or a restricted bundle of rights. The level of the installments depends on the fair value of the transferred RER at the contract’s issue, the life expectancy of the insured and the expected growth rate of the real estate market value. The contract design is developed by considering the control of the financial risk inherent in the contract itself, because of the prospective changes in the value of the RERs, and the level of the insurer’s leverage. Finally, we provide some numerical evidence of the proposed contractual structure, in order to compare the level of the installments according to the house return forecasts in different European countries

A tale of two anomies: some observations on the contribution of (sociological) criminological theory to explaining hate crime motivation

This paper argues that hate crime is simply an inherent and normal component of contemporary society. Regardless of a concerted intervention – legislative, situational and social crime prevention – against this significant social problem in the USA and Europe in recent years, there remains a ubiquitous, albeit often latent, continued existence of hate motivation throughout society which remains at a considerable and increasing risk of actualisation as individuals come into contact with other likeminded individuals. This is particularly an issue in the information age which has greatly enhanced the spatial proximity of these hate-minded people to each other. It is shown that an established body of sociologically informed criminological theory – in particular that founded on the European and US anomie traditions – can be adapted to explain and understand the existence and persistence of hate motivation at all levels of the social world. This provides the basis for an extensive educative - and thus preventive - programme to tackle pervasive cultures of hate

The relationship between evolutionary biology and religion

Belief in creationism and intelligent design is widespread and gaining in significance in a number of countries. This article examines the characteristics of science and of religions and the possible relationship between science and religion. I argue that creationism is sometimes best seen not as a misconception but as a worldview. In such instances, the most to which a science educator (whether in school, college or university) can normally aspire is to ensure that students with creationist beliefs understand the scientific position. In the short term, the scientific worldview is unlikely to supplant a creationist one for students who are firm creationists. We can help students to find their evolutionary biology courses interesting and intellectually challenging without their being threatening. Effective teaching in this area can not only help students learn about the theory of evolution but better to appreciate the way science is done, the procedures by which scientific knowledge accumulates, the limitations of science and the ways in which scientific knowledge differs from other forms of knowledge

The Excellency of Theology: A Critique of Robert K. Merton\'s \"Puritan Thesis,\" with Reference to the Works of Robert Boyle

Robert K. Merton's "Puritan Thesis" asserts a direct correlation between Puritan theological beliefs and participation in natural philosophy (what today would be known as science). This essay corrects the misleading assumptions and conclusions brought about by Merton's argument, by using the writings of Robert Boyle. Boyle, whom Merton designated a "Puritan scientist," wrote extensively on the connection between natural philosophy and theology; and his writings demonstrate that the relationship between the two was far more complex than the simplicity of Merton's thesis suggests