Three options for citation tracking: Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science

BACKGROUND: Researchers turn to citation tracking to find the most influential articles for a particular topic and to see how often their own published papers are cited. For years researchers looking for this type of information had only one resource to consult: the Web of Science from Thomson Scientific. In 2004 two competitors emerged – Scopus from Elsevier and Google Scholar from Google. The research reported here uses citation analysis in an observational study examining these three databases; comparing citation counts for articles from two disciplines (oncology and condensed matter physics) and two years (1993 and 2003) to test the hypothesis that the different scholarly publication coverage provided by the three search tools will lead to different citation counts from each. METHODS: Eleven journal titles with varying impact factors were selected from each discipline (oncology and condensed matter physics) using the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). All articles published in the selected titles were retrieved for the years 1993 and 2003, and a stratified random sample of articles was chosen, resulting in four sets of articles. During the week of November 7–12, 2005, the citation counts for each research article were extracted from the three sources. The actual citing references for a subset of the articles published in 2003 were also gathered from each of the three sources. RESULTS: For oncology 1993 Web of Science returned the highest average number of citations, 45.3. Scopus returned the highest average number of citations (8.9) for oncology 2003. Web of Science returned the highest number of citations for condensed matter physics 1993 and 2003 (22.5 and 3.9 respectively). The data showed a significant difference in the mean citation rates between all pairs of resources except between Google Scholar and Scopus for condensed matter physics 2003. For articles published in 2003 Google Scholar returned the largest amount of unique citing material for oncology and Web of Science returned the most for condensed matter physics. CONCLUSION: This study did not identify any one of these three resources as the answer to all citation tracking needs. Scopus showed strength in providing citing literature for current (2003) oncology articles, while Web of Science produced more citing material for 2003 and 1993 condensed matter physics, and 1993 oncology articles. All three tools returned some unique material. Our data indicate that the question of which tool provides the most complete set of citing literature may depend on the subject and publication year of a given article

Australia\u27s health 2000 : the seventh biennial report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australia\u27s Health 2000 is the seventh biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It is the nation\u27s authoritative source of information on patterns of health and illness, determinants of health, the supply and use of health services, and health services costs and performance.This 2000 edition serves as a summary of Australia\u27s health record at the end of the twentieth century. In addition, a special chapter is presented on changes in Australia\u27s disease profile over the last 100 years.Australia\u27s Health 2000 is an essential reference and information source for all Australians with an interest in health

Audit within the corporate governance paradigm: a cornerstone built on shifting sand?:a cornerstone built on shifting sand?

This paper is a case study-based investigation of aspects of the current paradigmatic approach to ‘good’ corporate governance with its focus on the interlinked roles of internal control and risk management procedures, internal audit and external audit, overseen and co-ordinated by a formal structure of board committees, in particular the audit committee. The evidence that we adduce from the study of four high-profile cases of perceived accounting and governance failure provides limited assurance that this approach will in fact be cost-effective or efficient in preventing further such cases of accounting and governance failure. Specifically, issues as to remuneration and fee dependence; lack of relevant knowledge and expertise; and social and psychological dependence upon executive management appear to have significantly and negatively affected the quality of decision-making of governance gatekeepers. This suggests that further consideration of relevant economic, institutional and cognitive/behavioural factors beyond the rational choice model of traditional economics should underpin future developments in required modes and structures of governance

How African Americans With Severe Mental Illness and Trauma Experience Diet and Exercise

African Americans have a higher prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases than other racial/ethnic groups; among persons with serious mental illness (SMI), African Americans fare worse as well. This qualitative study focused on the perceptions of African Americans with SMI in regard to 1) their experiences with diet and exercise behaviors post trauma and 2) how diet and exercise programming can address trauma. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) team developed the interview guide, research protocols, and conducted three focus groups. The team used thematic analysis to analyze the data. Participant (*N* = 27) responses on the experience of trauma were coded into the following themes: 1) emotional eating, 2) appetite loss, 3) hesitancy to exercise due to community violence, 4) staying home due to mental health symptoms, and 5) substance use. Themes around how programming can address trauma included: 1) support, 2) communication, 3) strategies to avoid trauma, and 4) engagement in programming. Findings suggest the need for human service professionals to infuse trauma-informed communications and practices throughout programming, incorporate peer-led services and address concerns related to community violence

Tight junction structure, function, and assessment in the critically ill: a systematic review

Abstract Background Epithelial and endothelial barrier integrity, essential for homeostasis, is maintained by cellular boarder structures known as tight junctions (TJs). In critical illness, TJs may become disrupted, resulting in barrier dysfunction manifesting as capillary leak, pulmonary edema, gut bacterial translocation, and multiple organ failure. We aim to provide a clinically focused overview of TJ structure and function and systematically review and analyze all studies assessing markers of endothelial and epithelial TJ breakdown correlated with clinical outcomes in critically ill humans. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed. Additional articles were identified by targeted searches. We included studies that looked at the relationship between biomarkers of endothelial or epithelial TJ structure or function and critical illness. Results were qualitatively analyzed due to sample size and heterogeneity. Results A total of 5297 abstracts met search criteria, of which 150 articles met requirements for full text review. Of these, 30 studies met inclusion criteria. Fifteen of the 30 reports investigated proteins of endothelial tight junctions and 15 investigated epithelial TJ markers, exclusively in the gastrointestinal epithelium. No studies investigated TJ-derived proteins in primary cardiac or pulmonary pathology. Conclusions TJ integrity is essential for homeostasis. We identified multiple studies that indicate TJs are disrupted by critical illness. These studies highlight the significance of barrier disruption across many critical disease states and correlate TJ-associated markers to clinically relevant outcomes. Further study on the role of multiple tissue-specific claudins, particularly in the setting of respiratory or cardiac failure, may lead to diagnostic and therapeutic advances. Systematic review registration This systematic review is registered in the PROSPERO database: CRD42017074546

Librarians as Methodological Peer Reviewers for Systematic Review Manuscript Submissions to Journals

This study investigates librarian involvement in the peer review process of biomedical journals, specifically how frequently librarians are asked to review the methodologies of systematic review manuscripts and what traits are associated with those who are invited to review

Parental, Community, and Familial Support Interventions to Improve Children's Literacy in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

This Campbell systematic review assesses the effectiveness of parental, familial, and community support for children's literacy development in developing countries. The review summarises findings from 13 studies, of which 10 were used for meta‐analysis. Many models are widely used in low‐ and middle‐income countries. These include the provision of libraries (standing or mobile) in many countries including Zimbabwe, Kenya, India and Venezuela; local‐language publishing in, for example, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Zambia; literacy instruction outside schools including the teaching of literacy through religious instruction; the distribution e‐readers in countries such as Ghana and Uganda; educational TV and radio; and supporting community members to educate children. There is no rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of most of the models being used by governments and NGOs around the world. The exceptions are educational TV and radio, and supporting community members to educate children. Overall, interventions for parent training and of child‐to‐child tutoring are not effective. Eight out of nine reported outcomes show no significant effects. However, there is considerable variation in the findings, so some approaches may be effective in some contexts. Educational television appears to improve literacy with frequent viewing, i.e. three to five times a week, over several months. Abstract BACKGROUND For a majority of the world's children, despite substantial increases in primary school enrollment, academic learning is neither occurring at expected rates nor supplying the basic foundational skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The significant lag in academic achievement tells us that simply making formal education available does not fully meet children's needs for literacy development. Globally, many interventions are used to support children's literacy development through channels outside of the formal education system, in children's homes or communities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the effectiveness of these interventions. OBJECTIVES The objective of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of parental, familial, and community support for children's literacy development in developing countries. This review provides information about the contextual influences of parental, familial, and community support on children's literacy development skills through the use of interventions that target those influences. We explored the following questions: What models of reading and literacy learning programs have been implemented in homes and communities in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs)? What models of reading and literacy learning programs implemented in homes and communities in LMICs have empirical evidence regarding their level of effectiveness? How effective are these models in improving children's literacy outcomes? SEARCH METHODS Searches for academic literature were conducted in 15 online databases from across the disciplines of anthropology, economics, education, international relations, political science, psychology, and sociology. To capture gray literature, we searched the websites of United Nations agencies, multinational organizations that provide relevant programming, and governmental agencies. For example, we searched the websites of UNICEF, UNESCO, 3ie, J‐PAL, USAID and others. Project staff and advisory panel members identified literature from their own organizations, and reached out to their contacts to ask for grey literature. The search was conducted from May to July, 2013. SELECTION CRITERIA To be included in this review, studies had to have been published in 2003 or later and include a test of an intervention involving parents, families, or community members with the goal of improving children's literacy development; children ages 3 to 12 years (or “preprimary” or “primary school” age); a comparison group; and they had to take place in an LMIC (according to 2012 World Bank classification). Studies that addressed educational radio were eliminated from consideration because a systematic review of the impact of educational radio already exists (Ho & Thukral, 2009). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Mendeley software was used to manage citations, abstracts, and documents. Abstracts from each database were initially screened by a single reviewer, but in fact many studies were cited in multiple databases and in turn were screened by two or more reviewers. For the studies that passed the screening, two researchers then independently reviewed each to ensure that it met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Thirteen studies were identified for this review. Information was extracted regarding the study setting, process used to form the control or comparison group, independence of the evaluation, outcome measures, attrition, baseline equivalence on child pre‐literacy or literacy learning, descriptions of the treatment and comparison conditions, characteristics of participants and implementers, and statistics required for meta‐analysis where available. Ten studies were included in meta‐analyses. Eight of the studies were cluster randomized or quasi‐experimental trials, where the level of assignment was at the school or district level. For these studies, effect sizes were computed using Hedges' (2007) dT2 effect size assuming equal cluster sample sizes. RESULTS The initial search of both the academic and gray literature yielded 10,430 study abstracts. Title and abstract screening resulted in the elimination of 10,357 studies, and 21 duplicate citations were removed. Of the remaining 52 studies, 3 were eliminated for addressing the topic of educational radio, and 36 for failure to meet our inclusion criteria. This left the 13 studies that were included in this review. These studies fell into three topic areas: educational television, interventions that help parents learn how to support their children's school readiness, and tutoring interventions delivered by peers or other community members. Most of these studies involved interventions to improve school readiness. The three areas of intervention were examined separately, and studies were combined for meta‐analysis in cases where they used the same intervention approach, and had the required statistical information available. Five studies provided effect size estimates for interventions that help parents support their children learning. Three of the five studies reported significant differences in baseline literacy scores. For overall literacy immediately after the intervention, the effect sizes from five studies including a total of 864 children were heterogeneous, with a mean effect of 0.35 and a 95 percent confidence interval that included o [‐0.07, 0.77]. Four studies including a total of 786 children provided information about overall literacy at one‐year follow‐up. These effect sizes were also heterogeneous, with a mean effect of 0.48 and a 95 percent confidence interval that included o [‐0.35, 1.30]. Five studies of child‐to‐child tutoring were included in the meta‐analysis. These studies all reported difficulties in data collection, raising questions about the quality of data included in the evaluation. For the total reading post‐test, the effect sizes from four studies including a total of 1,779 children were heterogeneous, with a mean of 0.15, and a 95 percent confidence interval that included o [‐0.27, 0.58]. For the beginning reading sub‐test, four studies including 1,767 children were also heterogeneous, with a mean of ‐0.107 and a 95 percent confidence interval that included 0 [‐0.40, 0.18]. For the letter identification posttest, effect sizes from five studies including 2,300 children were heterogeneous with a mean of 0.22, and a 95 percent confidence interval that included 0 [‐0.13, 0.57]. For the writing post‐test, five effect sizes including 1,993 children were heterogeneous, with a mean of 0.27 that was significantly different from 0 (95 percent confidence interval: [0.02, 0.51]). For the follow‐up test of reading achievement, effect sizes from three studies including 1,407 children were heterogeneous, with a mean effect size of 0.07 and a 95 percent confidence interval that included 0 [‐0.25, 0.39]. For the follow‐up test of writing achievement, effect sizes from three studies including 1395 students were homogeneous with a mean of 0.033 that was not significantly different from zero (95 percent confidence interval: [‐0.10, 0.17]. For the follow‐up test of overall literacy, effect sizes from three studies including 1,397 children were homogeneous with a mean effect size of 0.06 that was not statistically different from zero (95 percent confidence interval: [‐0.15, 0.26]. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS This review identified four areas where evidence was available regarding the effectiveness of an intervention approach: educational television, educational radio, interventions intended to support parents' ability to develop their children's school readiness, and tutoring (provided by older peers or community members). Educational radio has been addressed elsewhere (see Ho & Thukral, 2009), so it was not considered in this review. Educational television had a positive impact on young children's literacy development if the child viewed the programming three to five times per week (but not at a lower dosage). Interventions intended to support parents' ability to develop their child's school readiness were not found to be effective overall, although they did have some positive effects in some countries. Peer‐led tutoring was found to improve children's school readiness in writing, but not in other areas of literacy. However, this approach did have significant effects across multiple areas of literacy in some country contexts. A tutoring program led by community members resulted in increases in children's literacy. There were several limitations to this review based on the scarcity of empirical studies and their limited focus on just a few interventions. Numerous descriptions of interventions exist, but few contained a study of program effectiveness in reference to a comparison group. We found only one study that addressed an intervention for children ages 7 and older, and found no eligible studies from Latin America. Therefore, we are left with significant gaps in our understanding of what works in LMICs to improve children's literacy outcomes using interventions outside of the formal education system. Plain language summary The Campbell review in brief There is a wide range of models for out‐of‐school interventions to improve children's literacy. Most of these models have not been subject to rigorous evaluation. Support to parents and peers has been largely ineffective in improving literacy, though it has worked in some places. Educational TV has positive effects. What did the review study? For a majority of the world's children academic learning is neither occurring at expected rates nor supplying the basic foundational skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. This review examines the availability of evidence and its findings about the effectiveness of interventions to improve parental, familial, and community support for children's literacy development in developing countries. What is the aim of this review? This Campbell systematic review assesses the effectiveness of parental, familial, and community support for children's literacy development in developing countries. The review summarises findings from 13 studies, of which 10 were used for meta‐analysis. What studies are included in this review? Included studies were published since 2003 with a test of an intervention involving parents, families, or community members with the goal of improving the literacy of children aged 3 to 12 years. The study design had to have a comparison group, and report literacy‐related outcomes. Thirteen studies are included in the review, covering educational television, interventions that help parents learn how to support their children's school readiness, and tutoring interventions delivered by peers. What are the main results in this review? What models of reading and literacy learning programs have been implemented in homes and communities? Many models are widely used in low‐ and middle‐income countries. These include the provision of libraries (standing or mobile) in many countries including Zimbabwe, Kenya, India and Venezuela; local‐language publishing in, for example, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Zambia; literacy instruction outside schools including the teaching of literacy through religious instruction; the distribution e‐readers in countries such as Ghana and Uganda; educational TV and radio; and supporting community members to educate children. What models of reading and literacy learning programs implemented in homes and communities in LMICs have empirical evidence regarding their level of effectiveness? There is no rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of most of the models being used by governments and NGOs around the world. The exceptions are educational TV and radio, and supporting community members to educate children. How effective are these models in improving children's literacy outcomes? Overall, interventions for parent training and of child‐to‐child tutoring are not effective. Eight out of nine reported outcomes show no significant effects. However, there is considerable variation in the findings, so some approaches may be effective in some contexts. Educational television appears to improve literacy with frequent viewing, i.e. three to five times a week, over several months. What do the findings in this review mean? There are serious gaps in our knowledge. Programs that have worked in some settings should be replicated elsewhere so the contextual factors for success can be identified and understood. There is no evidence for most models used by governments and NGOs, none from one Latin America, and just one study presenting evidence of effects on children aged over seven. How up to date is this review? The review authors searched for studies published until July 2013. This Campbell Systematic Review was published in March 2016. What is the Campbell Collaboration? The Campbell Collaboration is an international, voluntary, non‐profit research network that publishes systematic reviews. We summarise and evaluate the quality of evidence about programs in social and behavioural sciences. Our aim is to help people make better choices and better policy decisions. About this summary This summary was prepared by Howard White (Campbell Collaboration) based on the Campbell Systematic Review 2016:4 ‘Parental, Community, and Familial Support Interventions to Improve Children's Literacy in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review’ by ET Spier, PR Britto, T Pigott, E Roehlkapartain, M McCarthy, Y Kidron, M Song, P Scales, D Wagner, J Lane and J Glover. Anne Mellbye (R‐BUP) designed the summary, which was edited and produced by Tanya Kristiansen (Campbell Collaboration)