The influence of the applicants' gender on the modeling of a peer review process by using latent Markov models

In the grant peer review process we can distinguish various evaluation stages in which assessors judge applications on a rating scale. Bornmann & al. [2008] show that latent Markov models offer a fundamentally good opportunity to model statistically peer review processes. The main objective of this short communication is to test the influence of the applicants' gender on the modeling of a peer review process by using latent Markov models. We found differences in transition probabilities from one stage to the other for applications for a doctoral fellowship submitted by male and female applicant

Cross-disciplinary research: What configurations of fields of science are found in grant proposals today?

Considering the complexity of the world problems, it seems evident that they do not fit straightforwardly into a disciplinary framework. In this context, the question arises as to whether and how frequently several disciplines cooperate on research projects. Cross-disciplinary cooperation in research might be difficult for two reasons. On one hand, many researchers feel that efforts to achieve methodological rigour, exactness, and control are only possible in the circumscribed area of a discipline. On the other hand, it is claimed that funding organizations, with their rigid disciplinary classification systems, impede cross-disciplinary research in the context of their selection and evaluation procedures. For a total of N = 8,496 grant proposals submitted to the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) from 1999 to 2009, detailed codings of the subdisciplines involved were available for the statistical analysis. Latent class analysis produced 12 latent classes or configurations of fields of science. Mono-disciplinary projects are very well represented in physics/astronomy/mechanics, geosciences, and clinical medicine. Cross-disciplinarity is found particularly in research project proposals of fields of science with clearly overlapping content (e.g. preclinical and clinical medicine) and mainly in research proposals submitted by fields of science within the humanities and social science

Types of research output profiles: A multilevel latent class analysis of the Austrian Science Fund's final project report data

Starting out from a broad concept of research output, this article looks at the question as to what research outputs can typically be expected from certain disciplines. Based on a secondary analysis of data from final project reports (ex post research evaluation) at the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Austria's central funding organization for basic research, the goals are (1) to find, across all scientific disciplines, types of funded research projects with similar research output profiles; and (2) to classify the scientific disciplines in homogeneous segments bottom-up according to the frequency distribution of these research output profiles. The data comprised 1,742 completed, FWF-funded research projects across 22 scientific disciplines. The multilevel latent class (LC) analysis produced four LCs or types of research output profiles: ‘Not Book', ‘Book and Non-Reviewed Journal Article', ‘Multiple Outputs', and ‘Journal Article, Conference Contribution, and Career Development'. The class membership can be predicted by three covariates: project duration, requested grant sum, and project head's age. In addition, five segments of disciplines can be distinguished: ‘Life Sciences and Medicine', ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities', ‘Formal Sciences', ‘Technical Sciences', and ‘Physical Sciences'. In ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities' almost all projects are of the type ‘Book and Non-Reviewed Journal Article', but, vice versa, not all projects of the ‘Book and Non-reviewed Journal Article' type are in the ‘Social Sciences/Arts and Humanities' segment. The research projects differ not only qualitatively in their output profile; they also differ quantitatively, so that projects can be ranked according to amount of outpu

Are there any frontiers of research performance? Efficiency measurement of funded research projects with the Bayesian stochastic frontier analysis for count data

In recent years, scientometrics has devoted increasing attention to the question of measurement of productivity and efficiency in research. In econometrics, the question is usually examined using data envelopment analysis. Alternatively, in this paper we propose using a statistical approach, Bayesian stochastic frontier analysis (B-SFA), that explicitly considers the stochastic nature of (count) data. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) made data available to us from their peer review process (ex-ante peer evaluation of proposals, final research product reports) and bibliometric data. The data analysis was done for a subsample of N = 1,046 FWF-funded projects (in Life Science and Medicine, Formal and Physical Sciences). For two outcome variables, a general latent research product dimension (CFACTOR) and the total number of publications (P), technical efficiency values (TE) were estimated for each project using the SFA production functions. The TE values for CFACTOR and P were on average 0.86 and 0.27, as compared with a maximum TE value of 1.0. With regard to CFACTOR, female PIs, younger PIs, and projects with longer durations have slightly higher TE than male PIs, older PIs, and projects with shorter durations. A simulation study showed the statistical behavior of the procedure under different sampling conditions

Late Cenozoic submarine slope failures in the southern North Sea - Evolution and controlling factors

During the Late Miocene to early Pleistocene sedimentation in the southern North Sea Basin was dominated by a westward prograding depositional system. Progradation is evidenced by a series of large-scale, westward dipping clinoforms with amplitudes of up to 400 m. The clinoforms are related to a shelf-slope-basin physiography during deposition and their development and growth reflects the basinward migration of the Late Cenozoic shelf margin through time. Numerous submarine slope failures occurred on the shelf margin during this time, recognized as kilometer-scale mass-transport deposits (MTDs). Comparatively little is known about the earliest slope failures on this prograding shelf margin, yet their role is important in developing a coherent understanding of the origins of the instability of the margin as a whole. In this study we present detailed analyses of the first MTDs occurring on this Late Cenozoic shelf margin. Based on interpretation of 2D seismic reflection profiles, borehole data and integration of new chronostratigraphic datings the development and causes of slope instabilities are reconstructed. Three MTDs are distinguished within the German part of the southern North Sea, one (MTD1) that has been displaced in the Late Tortonian and two (MTD 2/3) in the Piacenzian. MTD 1 was triggered by salt-induced seismicity, as evident from salt-related faulting of the Late Cenozoic succession in its headwall domain. Pore pressure build up due to fluid migration from deeper levels in combination with loading imposed to the basin by the prograding shelf prism are the main factors controlling the initiation of MTDs 2 and 3.Subsequent slope failures occurring during shelf progradation within the Dutch North Sea are much more frequent compared to the earliest slope failures. The development from a relatively stable shelf margin towards a margin affected by repeated slope failures coincides approximately with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciations during Pleistocene times. The development and deposition of the MTDs in the Dutch North Sea is clearly linked to climate-driven environmental changes, whereas prior to the Pleistocene failure mechanisms are preferably limited to those independent of glaciations and associated sea level changes and therefore fewer failures have occurred

In Vitro Synthesis of Chlorophyll A in the Dark Triggers Accumulation of Chlorophyll A Apoproteins in Barley Etioplasts”

An in vitro translation system using lysed etioplasts was developed to test if the accumulation of plastid-encoded chlorophyll a apoproteins is dependent on the de novo synthesis of chlorophyll a. The P700 apoproteins, CP47 and CP43, were not radiolabeled in pulsechase translation assays employing lysed etioplasts in the absence of added chlorophyll precursors. When chlorophyllide a plus phytylpyrophosphate were added to lysed etioplast translation assays in the dark, chlorophyll a was synthesized and radiolabeled P700 apoproteins, CP47 and CP43, and a protein which comigrates with D1 accumulated. Chlorophyllide a or phytylpyrophosphate added separately to the translation assay in darkness did not induce chlorophyll a formation or chlorophyll a apoprotein accumulation. Chlorophyll a formation and chlorophyll a apoprotein accumulation were also induced in the lysed etioplast translation system by the photoreduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide a in the presence of exogenous phytylpyrophosphate. Accumulation of radiolabeled CP47 was detectable when very low levels of chlorophyll a were synthesized de novo (less than 0.01 nmol/10(7) plastids), and radiolabel increased linearly with increasing de novo chlorophyll a formation. Higher levels of de novo synthesized chlorophyll a were required prior to detection of radiolabel incorporation into the P700 apoproteins and CP43 (greater than 0.01 nmol/10(7) plastids). Radiolabel incorporation into the P700 apoproteins, CP47 and CP43, saturated at a chlorophyll a concentration which corresponds to 50% of the etioplast protochlorophyllide content (0.06 nmol of chlorophyll a/10(7) plastids)

Identifying single influential publications in a research field: New analysis opportunities of the CRExplorer

Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) has been developed for identifying the cited references (CRs) with the greatest influence in a given paper set (mostly sets of papers on certain topics or fields). The program CRExplorer (see www.crexplorer.net) was specifically developed by Thor, Marx, Leydesdorff, and Bornmann (2016a, 2016b) for applying RPYS to publication sets downloaded from Scopus or Web of Science. In this study, we present some advanced methods which have been newly developed for CRExplorer. These methods are able to identify and characterize the CRs which have been influential across a longer period (many citing years). The new methods are demonstrated in this study using all the papers published in Scientometrics between 1978 and 2016. The indicators N_TOP50, N_TOP25, and N_TOP10 can be used to identify those CRs which belong to the 50%, 25%, or 10% most frequently cited publications (CRs) over many citing publication years. In the Scientometrics dataset, for example, Lotka's (1926) paper on the distribution of scientific productivity belongs to the top 10% publications (CRs) in 36 citing years. Furthermore, the new version of CRExplorer analyzes the impact sequence of CRs across citing years. CRs can have below average (-), average (0), or above average (+) impact in citing years (whereby average is meant in the sense of expected values). The sequence (e.g. 00++---0--00) is used by the program to identify papers with typical impact distributions. For example, CRs can have early, but not late impact ("hot papers", e.g. +++---) or vice versa ("sleeping beauties", e.g. ---0000---++)