Book review: Andrew Hoffmann, The Engaged Scholar – Expanding the Impact of Academic Research in Today’s World

Book Review: P.P. Tolochko. Ukraine between Russia and the West: Historical and Nonfiction Essays. Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2018. - 592 pp. ISBN 978-5-7621-0973-4This author discusses the problem of scientific objectivity and reviews a book written by the medievalist-historian P.P. Tolochko, full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), honorable director of the NASU Institute of Archaeology. The book was published by the Saint Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences in the autumn of 2018. The book presents a collection of articles and reports devoted to processes in Ukraine and, first of all, in Ukrainian historical science, which, at the moment, is experiencing an era of serious reformation of its interpretative models. The author of the book shows that these models are being reformed to suit the requirements of the new ideology, with an obvious disregard for the conduct of objective scientific research. In this regard, the problem of objectivity of scientific research becomes the subject of this review because the requirement of objectivity can be viewed not only as a methodological requirement but also as a moral and political position, opposing the rigor of scientific research to the impact of ideological, political and moral systems and judgments. It is concluded that in this sense the position of P.P. Tolochko can be considered as the act of profound ethical choice.

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The Impact of CSR on the Capital Structure of High-Tech Companies in Poland

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105467 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5467

Author(s):

Barbara Grabinska ◽

Dorota Kedzior ◽

Marcin Kedzior ◽

Konrad Grabinski

Keyword(s):

Capital Structure ◽

Financial Reporting ◽

Academic Research ◽

Debt Financing ◽

High Tech ◽

High Tech Industry ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Csr Reporting ◽

The Impact ◽

The Capital Structure

So far, CSR’s role in the high-tech industry is not fully explained by academic research, especially concerning the most burdensome obstacle to firms’ growth: acquiring debt financing. The paper aims to solve this puzzle and investigate whether young high-tech companies can attract more debt by engaging in CSR activity. To address the high-tech industry specificity, we divided CSR-reporting practice into three broad categories: employee, social, and environmental and analyzed their impact on the capital structure. Our sample consists of 92 firm-year observations covering the period 2014–2018. Using a regression method, we found out that only employee CSR plays a statistically significant role in shaping capital structure. We did not find evidence for the influence of the other types of CSR-reporting practices. The results suggest that employees are the key resource of high-tech companies, and, for this reason, they are at the management’s focus. This fact is visible at the financial reporting level and, as we interpret results, is also considered by credit providers. In a more general way, our results suggest that firms tend to choose CSR based on the importance of crucial resources.

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Sustainability of Food Placement in Retailing during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13115956 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 5956

Author(s):

Jelena Končar ◽

Radenko Marić ◽

Goran Vukmirović ◽

Sonja Vučenović

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Academic Research ◽

Food Prices ◽

Future Research ◽

Retail Sector ◽

Western Balkans ◽

Skilled Workers ◽

Empirical Survey ◽

Definition Of ◽

The Impact

This work aims to define the impact of different indicators on the sustainability of food placement in the retail sector, during periods of crisis and emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. An empirical survey conducted in the Western Balkans (WB) region showed that indicators such as developed infrastructure, consistency, and transparency of the supply chain, skilled workers, costs, food safety, food prices, energy consumption, and changes in consumer needs are statistically significant since they affect the sustainability of food placement in the retail sector. As food placement and the retail sector itself are inseparable from other participants in the food supply chain (FSC), an analysis was conducted at the level of all FSC sectors. The results showed some deviations viewed individually in the sectors of production, physical distribution, wholesale, and retail, and in selected Western Balkan countries. Based on the results obtained, the sustainability model of food placement in the retail sector has been defined. The model will serve as the basis for defining the set of measures and incentives that competent institutions and FSC management need to undertake, to minimize the impact of indicators that endanger sustainability. The originality of the study lies in the fact that it fills the research gap that exists in this subject matter in academic research and studies in the WB region. In addition, some indicators important for food placement have been precisely isolated, with the definition of the intensity of their impact, observed overall at the level of the entire FSC as well as by individual sectors. Guidelines and suggestions for future research are listed in the paper.

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‘I’m not being paid for this conversation’: Uncovering the challenges of artist–academic collaborations in the neoliberal institution

International Journal of Cultural Studies ◽

10.1177/1367877919885951 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 317-333

Author(s):

Alena Pfoser ◽

Sara de Jong

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Work ◽

Knowledge Exchange ◽

Academic Research ◽

The Political ◽

Institutional Pressures ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Collective Response ◽

And Shifts ◽

The Impact

Artist–academic collaborations are fuelled by increasing institutional pressures to show the impact of academic research. This article departs from the celebratory accounts of collaborative work and pragmatic toolkits for successful partnerships, which are dominant in existing scholarship, arguing for the need to critically interrogate the structural conditions under which collaborations take place. Based on a reflexive case study of a project developed in the context of Tate Exchange, one of the UK’s highest-profile platforms for knowledge exchange, we reveal three sets of (unequal) pressures, which mark artist–academic collaborations in the contemporary neoliberal academy: asymmetric funding and remuneration structures; uneven pressures of audit cultures; acceleration and temporal asymmetries. Innovations at the level of individual projects or partners can only mitigate the negative effects to a limited extent. Instead this article offers a systemic critique of the political economy of artist–academic collaborations and shifts the research agenda to developing a collective response.

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Book Reviews, The Common Law Tort of Defamation, and the Suppression of Scholarly Debate

German Law Journal ◽

10.1017/s2071832200018782 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 656-670

Author(s):

Kate Sutherland

Keyword(s):

Academic Freedom ◽

Common Law ◽

Scholarly Work ◽

Academic Journal ◽

Canadian Law ◽

The Common ◽

The Impact ◽

Defamation Law

Professor Joseph Weiler will soon stand trial for criminal libel in France for refusing to remove a book review from a website associated with an academic journal for which he serves as editor. His case has disturbing implications for all those who write, edit, and publish critical scholarly work. In this article, I explore those implications for Canadian scholars at home and as members of a global scholarly community. I assess the likelihood of success of a similar complaint under Canadian defamation law, and I consider the impact of libel chill and libel tourism. I conclude that although the defendant in such a case would have a good chance of prevailing under Canadian law through the defense of fair comment, a threat to academic freedom remains that requires action on the part of individuals and institutions committed to its preservation and enhancement.

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