scholarly journals Research articles promoted in embargo e-mails receive higher citations and altmetrics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Lemke ◽  
Max Brede ◽  
Sophie Rotgeri ◽  
Isabella Peters

AbstractIn order to be able to provide thorough and timely coverage on the most recent scientific research, science journalists frequently rely on embargoed information sent to them by publishers of scientific journals. In such embargo e-mails, publishers purposefully bring selected upcoming releases to the journalists’ attention a few days in advance of their publication. Little is known on how this early highlighting of certain research articles affects their later citations or altmetrics. We present an exploratory case study with the aim of assessing the effects of such promotion activities on scientific articles’ bibliometric and altmetric indicators. In a treatment–control design, we analyze citation counts and eight types of altmetrics of 715 articles published between 2016 and 2017 whose DOIs have been mentioned in embargo e-mails and compare these to articles from the same journal issues that have not been highlighted in embargo e-mails. Descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney-U tests reveal significant advantages for promoted articles across all regarded metrics three to four years after their publication. Particularly large differences can be seen regarding numbers of mentions in mainstream media, in blogs, on Twitter, and on Facebook. Our findings suggest that scholarly publishers exert significant influence over which research articles will receive attention and visibility in various (social) media. Also, regarding utilizations of metrics for evaluative purposes, the observed effects of promotional activities on indicators might constitute a factor of undesirable influence that currently does not receive the amount of consideration in scientometric assessments that it should receive.

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-108
Author(s):  
Tony Johnston

During the COVID-19 pandemic the international outbound travel market from Ireland collapsed, declining at one point by 94%. This case study paper explores the environment which framed the collapse in travel, positioning it as one of conflict and chaos. The main objective is to document and analyse the legal, industry and societal factors which may have contributed to the collapse, identifying the key regulations, decisions, metrics, and societal responses, and exploring their intersection with outbound tourism. Three areas of inquiry are explored, namely: 1) the legal instruments used by government to restrict travel, 2) operational decisions made by industry, and 3) societal and media response to the pandemic. Three findings are presented from the desk research. First, it is suggested that the conflicting agendas of government and public health, the mainstream media and the travel industry would be more effectively dealt with in private as opposed to via news articles, social media arguments, and openly published letters. Second, clarity of communication from all three bodies needs improvement due to its impact on consumer confidence. Finally, the article proposes lessons for government in relation to future crisis management situations regarding outbound travel.


Author(s):  
Kenneth C. C. Yang ◽  
Yowei Kang

On March 18, 2014, a group of student protestors raided and occupied the Legislative Yuan and later the Executive Yuan in Taiwan. The student-led movement lasted for about 3 weeks after Taiwan's President made significant concessions to change his non-transparent practices when signing the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) with People's Republic of China. Mostly labelled as a movement of civil disobedience against government's dealings with China, the 318 Sunflower Student Movement is viewed as an important step toward the deepening of Taiwan's democratization process. Its repercussions were felt in Hong-Kong and Macao where similar civil disobedience movements had emerged. On the basis of the resource mobilization theory (RMT), the authors used a combination of case study and thematic analysis methods to examine the role of social media in political mobilization in Taiwan. This chapter identified two major recurrent themes as follows: challenging mainstream media and mobilizing multi-movement resources.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha M. Rodrigues ◽  
Michael Niemann

Abstract Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) is one of the world's most followed political leaders on Twitter. During the 2014 and 2019 election campaigns, he and his party used various social media networking and the Internet services to engage with young, educated, middle-class voters in India. Since his first sweeping win in the 2014 elections, Modi's political communication strategy has been to neglect the mainstream news media, and instead use social media and government websites to keep followers informed of his day-to-day engagements and government policies. This strategy of direct communication was followed even during a critical policy change, when in a politically risky move half-way through his five-year prime ministership, Modi's government scrapped more than 85 per cent of Indian currency notes in November 2016. He continued to largely shun the mainstream media and use his social media accounts and public rallies to communicate with the nation. As a case study of this direct communication strategy, this article presents the results of a study of Modi's Twitter articulations during the three months following the demonetization announcement. We use mediatization of politics discourse to consider the implications of this shift from mass communication via the mainstream news media, to the Indian prime minister's reliance on direct communication on social media platforms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lewandowsky ◽  
Michael Jetter ◽  
Ullrich K. H. Ecker

Abstract Social media has arguably shifted political agenda-setting power away from mainstream media onto politicians. Current U.S. President Trump’s reliance on Twitter is unprecedented, but the underlying implications for agenda setting are poorly understood. Using the president as a case study, we present evidence suggesting that President Trump’s use of Twitter diverts crucial media (The New York Times and ABC News) from topics that are potentially harmful to him. We find that increased media coverage of the Mueller investigation is immediately followed by Trump tweeting increasingly about unrelated issues. This increased activity, in turn, is followed by a reduction in coverage of the Mueller investigation—a finding that is consistent with the hypothesis that President Trump’s tweets may also successfully divert the media from topics that he considers threatening. The pattern is absent in placebo analyses involving Brexit coverage and several other topics that do not present a political risk to the president. Our results are robust to the inclusion of numerous control variables and examination of several alternative explanations, although the generality of the successful diversion must be established by further investigation.


Author(s):  
Mohd Sahid Khan ◽  

Facebook, the most popular social media (SM) platform has penetrated every nook and corner of the world. SM is now treated as the ‘fifth Estate’, other than legislative, executive, judiciary, and mainstream media. The power of SM as a critique is widely acknowledged. Establishments are finding it difficult to deal with it at times. Due to its ease of usage and relative anonymity, the general public finds it very convenient to put across their viewpoints, even if it’s against the establishment. Some establishments at times are at loggerheads with champions of freedom of speech including civil rights activists. SM has been used for propaganda, marketing, and awareness campaigns. In this paper, we are proposing to use this powerful tool towards social change. Through a case study, a detailed process is being proposed for using social media particularly Facebook as an an-ti-stereotyping tool. The response to an online survey, the outcome of opinion min-ing, and the enthusiastic response to our case study by the targeted audience validate our hypothesis that Facebook can be effectively utilized as an anti-stereotyping tool.


First Monday ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Švelch ◽  
Václav Štětka

This paper develops the idea that recent “networked” social movements are driven by emotions and provides an analysis of the role of emotions in movement mobilization. The case study focuses on the 2013 protests against a “coup” within the Czech Social Democratic Party. The protests had an immediate impact, resulting in a series of demonstrations, mainstream media attention and a successful overturning of the “coup”. The movement’s Facebook page served as an important catalyst for the protest. We argue that the movement’s success can be explained by its emphasis on perceived issues of morality. As people tend to gather on Facebook to express their feelings, social media become a primary conduit for emotional protest, which can be subsequently taken to the streets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-135
Author(s):  
Washington Machokoto ◽  
Munyaradzi. A. Dzvimbo

This exploratory study aimed to investigate the Employee Voice Behaviours (EVB) in the African context, and Zimbabwe was chosen as a case study. A sample of 30 volunteers was used in this study and data was collected via WhatsApp social media. The structured interviews were employed to collect data. Thus, the data was collected and placed into categories as a framework. The data analysis included descriptive statistics, multiple regression, correlation and framework. The results indicated that the majority of employees in Zimbabwe present constructive voices than destructive behaviours. The findings also established that Zimbabwean workforce remains disciplined in their organisations. The study again found that the majority of people working in organisations in Zimbabwe is neither married nor have children. Also, the majority go to church and do not consume alcohol/smoke. However, besides a small sample that could have affected the outcome, this study concludes that understanding of EVB remains elusive; therefore, more studies are required in this field. Future researchers should consider qualitative methods with larger samples to establish these variations. Besides, the current research presents significant findings that could inform policy-makers in Zimbabwean organisations.   


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