The development of political science in Central and Eastern Europe : bibliometric perspective, 1996–2013

This research aims to develop a deeper insight into the development of political science from the bibliometric perspective by analysing peer-reviewed journal articles (n = 1117) indexed in the Scopus database and published by authors from fifteen Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the period 1996–2013. Results indicate that the majority of articles (84%) by CEE authors have been published in international journals and in the English language. The visibility of these articles in international journals, measured by the mean number of citations, is 5.2 per paper, while the same indicator for CEE journal articles amounts to 0.2. Authorship analysis indicates a gradual but continuous increase in co-authorships. Additionally, there are significant differences in citations between single-authored and co-authored articles, both in international and CEE journals. Co-authorship among CEE authors is present in only 1% of the analysed articles, confirming weak collaboration between political scientists in CEE countries

Maternal Psychosocial Stress during Pregnancy and Placenta Weight: Evidence from a National Cohort Study

To study in a large-scale cohort with prospective data the associations between psychosocial stress during pregnancy and placenta weight at birth. Animal data suggest that the placenta is involved in stress-related fetal programming.; We defined a priori two types of psychosocial stress during pregnancy, life stress (perceived burdens in major areas of life) and emotional symptoms (e.g. anxiety). We estimated the associations of maternal stress during pregnancy with placenta weight at birth, controlled for length of gestation, by predicting gestational age- and sex-specific z-scores of placenta weight through multiple regression analysis, adjusted for potential confounders (N?=?78,017 singleton pregnancies). Life stress (per increase in stress score by 1, range: 0-18) during pregnancy was associated with increased placenta weight at birth (z-score, reported in 10(-3); B, 14.33; CI, 10.12-18.54). In contrast, emotional symptoms during pregnancy were not associated with placenta weight at birth.; Maternal life stress but not emotional symptoms during pregnancy was associated with increased placenta weight at birth; yet, the association-estimate was rather small. Our results may contribute to a better understanding of the role of the placenta in the regulation of intrauterine processes in response to maternal stress

European development NGOs and the diversion of aid: Contestation, fence-sitting, or adaptation?

Motivation The article examines the advocacy strategies of European non‐government development organizations (NGDOs). The development aid literature has not put much emphasis on understanding NGDOs’ aid‐related advocacy strategies, and the literature on interest groups has so far neglected to explain why groups select different advocacy strategies within the same policy area. Purpose The article explains how NGDOs have selected advocacy strategies during the process of reformulating the European Consensus in 2016/17, in response to attempts by the European Union (EU) to divert aid from poverty reduction to three other goals: managing migration, funding climate change adaptation (CCA), and funding the private sector. Approach and methods The article develops a framework explaining NGDOs’ strategy selection, looking at the politicization of the policy change, its impact on NGDOs’ funding, and its relation to the groups’ normative positions. The article uses qualitative data from NGDO documents and interviews with senior staff of NGDO networks based in Brussels. Findings NGDOs used different strategies for the three cases of aid diversion: they contested aid diversion for managing migration; mainly choose fence‐sitting in case of CCA; and gradually became more adaptive towards diverting aid to fund the private sector. The three variables of politicization, impact on funding, and relation to normative positions explain the strategies selected by NGDOs in all three cases. Policy implications The findings can help NGDOs in selecting the most appropriate advocacy strategies for changes in aid policy, allowing them to become more effective in influencing the EU institutions and member state governments