A Method for Verifying Indicators of Journal Quality

A recent search of the UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory for active, digital, peer reviewed, scholarly journals shows that world’s academic articles are published in more than 58,500 journals. By one estimate the growth of new journal titles increases by 2.5% ever year (Ware & Mabe, 2015). At the same time, universities are adopting researcher information systems that provide administrators and other campus stakeholders with nearly complete bibliographic data for all articles published by their faculty authors. As campus leaders work to make sense of this data, they may turn to their library for help. Questions may include: Are all of these new or previously unencountered journal titles legitimate? Who are the main publishers of our articles? What are the emerging trends that promotion and tenure committees should consider? The most common way to address these questions involves significant shortcomings--proprietary subscription databases, like Scopus, Web of Science, and Academic Analytics, have limited coverage of the journal literature and, by design, are unlikely to include newer and lesser known journal titles. At the same time many universities publish thousands of articles per year, manually checking each article submitted to a faculty annual review database would prove to be a tedious and lengthy process. To reduce the labor involved in identifying indicators of journal quality, we have developed a method using open source software and open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In specific, our method reduces the labor in identifying the publishers for a long list of journals and in identifying the access model for these journals (subscription-only or open access). To do this we wrote an R script that uses the SHERPA RoMEO and the DOAJ APIs. Using this method permitted us to quickly identify the journals that needed closer inspection. This method will help others that are working to verify journal quality in large data sets without relying on problematic, journal blacklists

A quantitative perspective on ethics in large team science

The gradual crowding out of singleton and small team science by large team endeavors is challenging key features of research culture. It is therefore important for the future of scientific practice to reflect upon the individual scientist's ethical responsibilities within teams. To facilitate this reflection we show labor force trends in the US revealing a skewed growth in academic ranks and increased levels of competition for promotion within the system; we analyze teaming trends across disciplines and national borders demonstrating why it is becoming difficult to distribute credit and to avoid conflicts of interest; and we use more than a century of Nobel prize data to show how science is outgrowing its old institutions of singleton awards. Of particular concern within the large team environment is the weakening of the mentor-mentee relation, which undermines the cultivation of virtue ethics across scientific generations. These trends and emerging organizational complexities call for a universal set of behavioral norms that transcend team heterogeneity and hierarchy. To this end, our expository analysis provides a survey of ethical issues in team settings to inform science ethics education and science policy.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Keywords: team ethics; team management; team evaluation; science of scienc

The Long March or Bold Strokes : Comparing Strategies for Adopting EVS Learning Technology at a UK University

In recent years there has been much encouragement to investigate the use of classroom technologies to enhance the student learning experience especially in the STEM subjects but now extending across other subject areas as well. A typical classroom technology is electronic voting system (EVS) handsets which allow a lecturer to invite students to vote for their choice from a selection of given answers. Recently, a medium-size UK University has purchased over 9000 EVS handsets for use across the academic Schools as an innovative means for supporting formative and summative testing. Numerous training and support sessions have been provided to staff with the intention of supporting new and experienced users and increasing the take up by academics. As noted in earlier research reported at ECEL 2013, the student feedback was very positive for the use of EVS for formative activities, and less so, for its use in summative assessment. A recent review of the trends of EVS adoption at the University has been undertaken to inform decision-making and future use and support for the technology. One aspect of this review has considered the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by different academic Schools. EVS adoption and use across the University has been compared and placed within Rogers’ theory of the diffusion of innovation. This paper further considers a set of six different strategies adopted for EVS use by academic Schools. They have been categorised according to several variables, including their choice of speed of uptake and the number of handsets in use. The inherent strengths and possible weaknesses of the approaches adopted are considered. Among the questions raised were, does a strategy of large-scale technology adoption over a short time period indicate a greater likelihood of long term engagement and ultimate adoption of the technology? Or, does a longer elapsed time taken for a gradual purchase and adoption of EVS technology suggest a greater inclination for the embedding of technology for enhancing learning? What other success factors should be considered alongside the training and support provided for technology adoption to enhance the likelihood of long term adoption of classroom technologies? The discussion provides a comparison of six different strategies identified across the university and the rationale behind them and then proposes a set of strategy choices which can lead to a greater likelihood of successful adoption of classroom technology

Gender Equality in Agricultural Education

Women play an important role in Agriculture, especially in developing countries. Promoting gender equality is crucial for agricultural development and food security. Agricultural extension services have a long tradition of working predominantly with men and only 15 percent of the world’s extension agents are women. World Bank has suggested“Increased women’s enrollment in agricultural courses” as one among the strategies when addressing gender issues in the education and training components of agricultural development projects. In this context the study was carried out to ascertain the representation of women and their academic achievement in agricultural education. The study revealed that almost equal representation was found for women in agricultural course and they were also provided better quality education in their schooling, in the form of English medium education and education in private schools. Recent trends for the past four years showed a higher percentage of enrollments of women in agricultural course than men. The growth rate was also higher for the female students. Women also showed a significantly higher percentage of academic achievement than men. These positive indicators provide sufficient signals for equality of women in agricultural course and have positive implications for development of the agricultural sector in future

An Analysis of Logistics Pedagogical Literature: Past and Future Trends in Curriculum, Content, and Pedagogy

There presently is no comprehensive review which systematizes and summarizes the burgeoning body of logistics educational literature. The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide for both educators and practitioners to assess the history, current status, and future trends in logistics education in order to nurture advancement in logistics education. This paper draws its conclusions based upon a literature review and categorizes the evolution of logistics education into three areas: defining curriculum, developing content and skills taught, and refining teaching methods. Logistics education continues to benefit from strong ties to industry. Additionally, four principle macro-environmental factors were discovered that impact the current status of logistics education: an increase in the number of logistics educational programs, limited supply of logistics-trained faculty, changes to content requirements, and a changing teaching environment. Future research directions from the published literature are summarized. As current logistics programs continue to evolve and the number of logistics and supply chain management programs continue to increase in response to industry demand, this comprehensive review of the logistics literature may help serve as a benchmark for past and current practices in logistics education. The early partnership between industry and education set the stage to help guide educators to evolve logistics education to address practitioner needs. Increased interest in logistics education and changing environmental factors suggest the need for continued collaboration to further logistics education. The literature demonstrates successful dynamic behavior in response to dynamic industries. It highlights factors which may drive further evolution of logistics education and proposes areas impacted

Patterns and trends in entrepreneurial network literature: 1993-2003

This paper reflects the increasing interest in entrepreneurial networking. Indeed Monsted (1995) suggests that networking is now a vogue concept in the entrepreneurship field. The popularity of the network theme has resulted in an increasing number of publications. Our study is an attempt to first quantify the growth in network research, as indicated by published papers. It then attempts to provide a guide to developments in network publications

International student mobility literature review

To bring their understanding of patterns in students' study and work abroad up to date, HEFCE and the British Council, the UK National Agency for Erasmus, commissioned a review of international student mobility. Professor Russell King and Jill Ahrens of the University of Sussex, and Professor Allan Findlay of the University of Dundee undertook the review which includes new evidence from interviews with staff in higher education institutions (HEIs). A group of several UK stakeholders in international student mobility, including the organisations BUTEX (British Universities Transatlantic Exchange) and HEURO (the Association of UK Higher Education European Officers), and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) oversaw the work. The report brings together recent literature and data on student mobility. It looks at the trends in UK international students' mobility and compares these internationally. It also considers the causal factors for students' choice to spend time abroad, the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of mobile students, and the impact that time abroad has on their employability; and it highlights policy and practice in HEIs in respect of student mobility