Interdisciplinarity and research on local issues: evidence from a developing country

This paper explores the relationship between interdisciplinarity and research pertaining to local issues. Using Colombian publications from 1991 until 2011 in the Web of Science, we investigate the relationship between the degree of interdisciplinarity and the local orientation of the articles. We find that a higher degree of interdisciplinarity in a publication is associated with a greater emphasis on Colombian issues. In particular, our results suggest that research that combines cognitively disparate disciplines, what we refer to as distal interdisciplinarity, tends to be associated with more local focus of research. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of policies aiming to foster the local socio-economic impact of research in developing countries.Comment: 24 page

Interdisciplinarity and research on local issues: evidence from a developing country

This paper examines the role of interdisciplinarity on research pertaining to local issues. Using Colombian publications from 1991 until 2011 in the Web of Science, we investigate the relationship between the degree of interdisciplinarity and the local orientation of the articles. We find that a higher degree of interdisciplinarity in a publication is associated with a greater emphasis on local issues. In particular, our results support the view that research that combines cognitively disparate disciplines, what we refer to as distal interdisciplinarity, is associated with more local focus of research. We discuss the policy implications of these results in the context of national research assessments targeting excellence and socio-economic impact

A avaliação da pesquisa baseada em periódicos marginaliza regiões como a América Latina e seus problemas mais relevantes

Muitos sistemas de avaliação adotam uma abordagem limitada de excelência, ao julgar o valor de um trabalho pelo periódico em que é publicado. Pesquisas recentes de Diego Chavarro, Ismael Ràfols e outros colegas, mostram como esses sistemas subestimam e prejudicam a produção de importantes questões sociais, econômicas e ambientais. Esses sistemas também refletem os preconceitos das bases de dados de citações, que se concentram principalmente na pesquisa escrita em inglês, publicada em revistas nos Estados Unidos e no oeste e norte da Europa. Além disso, os tópicos abrangidos por esses bancos de dados muitas vezes respondem mais aos interesses dos setores industriais do que aos das comunidades locais. É necessária uma avaliação mais abrangente e inclusiva da pesquisa para superar a marginalização contínua dos povos, línguas e disciplinas e promover a inclusão, e não o elitismo

Research assessments based on journal rankings systematically marginalise knowledge from certain regions and subjects

Many research evaluation systems continue to take a narrow view of excellence, judging the value of work based on the journal in which it is published. Recent research by Diego Chavarro, Ismael Ràfols and colleagues shows how such systems underestimate and prove detrimental to the production of research relevant to important social, economic, and environmental issues. These systems also reflect the biases of journal citation databases which focus heavily on English-language research from the USA and north and western Europe. Moreover, topics covered by these databases often relate to the interests of industrial stakeholders rather than those of local communities. More inclusive research assessments are needed to overcome the ongoing marginalisation of some peoples, languages, and disciplines and promote engagement rather than elitism

Journal-based research assessments marginalise regions like Latin America and the issues most relevant to them

Many research evaluation systems continue to take a narrow view of excellence, judging the value of work based on the journal in which it is published. Recent research by Diego Chavarro, Ismael Ràfols, and colleagues shows how such systems underestimate and prove detrimental to the production of research on important social, economic, and environmental issues. These systems also reflect the biases of journal ..

La evaluación de la investigación basada en revistas margina a regiones como América Latina y sus temas más relevantes

Muchos sistemas de evaluación adoptan un enfoque limitado de excelencia, al juzgar el valor de un trabajo por la revista en que se publica. Una investigación reciente de Diego Chavarro, Ismael Ràfols y otros colegas muestra cómo tales sistemas subestiman y son perjudiciales en la producción de importantes temas sociales, económicos y ambientales. Estos sistemas también reflejan los sesgos de las bases de datos de citación, que se enfocan principalmente en investigaciones escritas en inglés publicadas en revistas de los Estados Unidos y el occidente y el norte de Europa. Además, los temas cubiertos por estas bases de datos responden con mucha frecuencia más a los intereses de sectores industriales que a los de las comunidades locales. Se requiere entonces una evaluación de la investigación más amplia e incluyente para superar la marginalización continua de pueblos, idiomas y disciplinas y para promover la inclusión y no el elitismo

Can automatic classification help to increase accuracy in data collection?

Purpose: The authors aim at testing the performance of a set of machine learning algorithms that could improve the process of data cleaning when building datasets. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is centered on cleaning datasets gathered from publishers and online resources by the use of specific keywords. In this case, we analyzed data from the Web of Science. The accuracy of various forms of automatic classification was tested here in comparison with manual coding in order to determine their usefulness for data collection and cleaning. We assessed the performance of seven supervised classification algorithms (Support Vector Machine (SVM), Scaled Linear Discriminant Analysis, Lasso and elastic-net regularized generalized linear models, Maximum Entropy, Regression Tree, Boosting, and Random Forest) and analyzed two properties: accuracy and recall. We assessed not only each algorithm individually, but also their combinations through a voting scheme. We also tested the performance of these algorithms with different sizes of training data. When assessing the performance of different combinations, we used an indicator of coverage to account for the agreement and disagreement on classification between algorithms. Findings: We found that the performance of the algorithms used vary with the size of the sample for training. However, for the classification exercise in this paper the best performing algorithms were SVM and Boosting. The combination of these two algorithms achieved a high agreement on coverage and was highly accurate. This combination performs well with a small training dataset (10%), which may reduce the manual work needed for classification tasks. Research limitations: The dataset gathered has significantly more records related to the topic of interest compared to unrelated topics. This may affect the performance of some algorithms, especially in their identification of unrelated papers. Practical implications: Although the classification achieved by this means is not completely accurate, the amount of manual coding needed can be greatly reduced by using classification algorithms. This can be of great help when the dataset is big. With the help of accuracy, recall, and coverage measures, it is possible to have an estimation of the error involved in this classification, which could open the possibility of incorporating the use of these algorithms in software specifically designed for data cleaning and classification. Originality/value: We analyzed the performance of seven algorithms and whether combinations of these algorithms improve accuracy in data collection. Use of these algorithms could reduce time needed for manual data cleaning

Los impactos de la Inversión Extranjera en el sector minero y energético en Colombia de 1991 -2011

The present research work aims to discover the concept of foreign investment, implementation and current regulations applicable in Colombia, participation rates in the sectors of the economy with particular emphasis on mining and energy sector, to where they will to break down the potential environmental impact, infrastructure and human causes lack of control over the activities of foreign firms in the country.Con el presente trabajo de investigación se quiere dar a conocer el concepto de inversión extranjera, la aplicación y normatividad vigente aplicable en Colombia, los porcentajes de participación en los sectores de la economía haciendo especial énfasis en el sector minero- energético, de donde se van a desglosar los posibles efectos ambientales, de infraestructura y humanos que produce la falta de control en las actividades desarrolladas por las empresas extranjeras en el país

El legado de Jorge Charum en la Ciencia de Colombia

El científico colombiano Jorge Charum ejerció un rol fundamental en el desarrollo de las bases conceptuales del Sistema Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del país, e investigó sobre las formas para producir información de calidad para orientar a la política pública.Charum se interesó en la diáspora científica y se trazó como objetivo crear una red de investigadores colombianos en el exterior, para fortalecer la ciencia del país y aprovechar al máximo el capital humano, impulsando así los Grupos y Centros de Investigación

Caracterización de la colección de cuentas líticas que se posee en La Universidad Del Magdalena a través del análisis de los posibles contextos sociales en las que estas fueron usadas

El estudio de la caracterización de las cuentas líticas en la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, ayuda a comprender, una parte de las relaciones de la economía política en las sociedades Taironas, la cual se expresó, en la diferenciación social y política de estas comunidades. Las investigaciones arqueológicas han demostrado que los Taironas participaron en instituciones como el intercambio a larga, mediana y corta distancia; por medio del comercio de las cuentas líticas con otros grupos. Gracias al proceso de re-inventario y caracterización de la colección de cuentas que custodia la Universidad del Magdalena, y el trabajo que, el autor realizó durante 8 meses en el Laboratorio de Arqueología, se pudieron registrar un total de 2.789 cuentas; de esta cantidad se hizo una selección de elementos, que fueron caracterizados por materia prima, forma y tamaño. En total, se analizó una muestra representativa de 88 lotes registrados, con esto se pudo realizar un estudio cuantitativo exploratorio, de acuerdo a la forma y tamaño, teniendo en cuenta el estado de conservación, y por medio del índice de diversidad de Simpson, los resultados podrían sugerir que no hay estandarización, a lo mejor la producción de cuentas líticas se organizó a escala de unidades domésticas, y es probable que una gran parte de estos elementos arqueológicos, provengan del área Tairon