Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?

We examine how the premature death of eminent life scientists alters the vitality of their fields. While the flow of articles by collaborators into affected fields decreases after the death of a star scientist, the flow of articles by non-collaborators increases markedly. This surge in contributions from outsiders draws upon a different scientific corpus and is disproportionately likely to be highly cited. While outsiders appear reluctant to challenge leadership within a field when the star is alive, the loss of a luminary provides an opportunity for fields to evolve in new directions that advance the frontier of knowledge. (JEL I23, O31, O33)

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Charlotte Brontë’s Gothic Fragment: ‘The Story of Willie Ellin’

Victoriographies ◽

10.3366/vic.2021.0407 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 20-37

Author(s):

Deborah Wynne

Keyword(s):

Physical Abuse ◽

Premature Death ◽

Jane Eyre ◽

New Directions ◽

Unique Aspect ◽

Working Practices ◽

Generic Instability ◽

Narrative Voices

Charlotte Brontë’s eighteen-page fragment, ‘The Story of Willie Ellin’, written shortly after the publication of Villette in 1853, combines the gothic and realism and uses multiple narrators to tell a disturbing story of cruelty towards a child. The generic instability and disordered temporal framework of this fragment make it unlike anything Brontë had previously written, yet it has attracted the attention of few scholars. Those who have discussed it have condemned it as a failure; the later fragment ‘Emma’, also left incomplete by the author's premature death, has been seen as the more likely beginning of a successor to Villette. ‘The Story of Willie Ellin’ reveals Brontë at her most experimental as she explores the use of different narrative voices, including that of an unnamed genderless ‘ghost’, to tell a story from different perspectives. It also shows Brontë representing a child's experience of extreme physical abuse which goes far beyond the depictions of chastisement in Jane Eyre (1847). This essay argues that ‘The Story of Willie Ellin’ affords rich insights into Brontë’s ideas and working practices in her final years, suggesting that it should be more widely acknowledged as a unique aspect of Brontë’s oeuvre, revealing the new directions she may have taken had she lived to complete another novel.

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Measuring an individual researcher’s impact: new directions and challenges

Evidence-Based Mental Health ◽

10.1136/ebmental-2019-300122 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 47-51

Author(s):

Morwenna Senior ◽

Seena Fazel

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Research ◽

Mental Health Research ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Recent Proposal ◽

New Directions ◽

The Impact ◽

Journal Impact ◽

Highly Cited

Metrics which quantify the impact of a scientist are increasingly incorporated into decisions about how to rate and fund individuals and institutions. Several commonly used metrics, based on journal impact factors and citation counts, have been criticised as they do not reliably predict real-world impact, are highly variable between fields and are vulnerable to gaming. Bibliometrics have been incorporated into systems of research assessment but these may create flawed incentives, failing to reward research that is validated, reproducible and with wider impacts. A recent proposal for a new standardised citation metric based on a composite indicator of 6 measures has led to an online database of 100 000 of the most highly cited scientists in all fields. In this perspective article, we provide an overview and evaluation of this new citation metric as it applies to mental health research. We provide a summary of its findings for psychiatry and psychology, including clustering in certain countries and institutions, and outline some implications for mental health research. We discuss strengths and limitations of this new metric, and how further refinements could align impact metrics more closely with wider goals of scientific research.

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Sociocultural memory development research drives new directions in gadgetry science

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000979 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Penny Van Bergen ◽

John Sutton

Keyword(s):

Episodic Memory ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Developmental Psychology ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Memory Development ◽

Development Research ◽

Cultural Research ◽

New Directions ◽

Cross Cultural Research

Abstract Sociocultural developmental psychology can drive new directions in gadgetry science. We use autobiographical memory, a compound capacity incorporating episodic memory, as a case study. Autobiographical memory emerges late in development, supported by interactions with parents. Intervention research highlights the causal influence of these interactions, whereas cross-cultural research demonstrates culturally determined diversity. Different patterns of inheritance are discussed.

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Behavioural alcohol research: new directions or more of the same?

Addiction ◽

10.1046/j.1360-0443.1997.921114112.x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 92 (11) ◽

pp. 1411-1422 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anthony P. Shakeshaft ◽

Jenny A. Bowman ◽

Rob W. Sanson-Fisher

Keyword(s):

New Directions

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New Directions in International Advertising Research

10.1016/s1474-7979(2002)12 ◽

2002 ◽

Keyword(s):

Advertising Research ◽

International Advertising ◽

New Directions

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New Directions in India's Foreign Policy

10.1017/9781108562850 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

New Directions

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Inequalities and Impact of Socioeconomic-Cultural Factors in Suicide Rates Across Italy

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000084 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 178-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Maurizio Pompili ◽

Marco Innamorati ◽

Monica Vichi ◽

Maria Masocco ◽

Nicola Vanacore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Suicide Rate ◽

Age Groups ◽

Premature Death ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Mortality Data ◽

Italian Population ◽

Comprehensive Overview ◽

Suicide Rates ◽

Younger Age ◽

Age And Sex

Background: Suicide is a major cause of premature death in Italy and occurs at different rates in the various regions. Aims: The aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive overview of suicide in the Italian population aged 15 years and older for the years 1980–2006. Methods: Mortality data were extracted from the Italian Mortality Database. Results: Mortality rates for suicide in Italy reached a peak in 1985 and declined thereafter. The different patterns observed by age and sex indicated that the decrease in the suicide rate in Italy was initially the result of declining rates in those aged 45+ while, from 1997 on, the decrease was attributable principally to a reduction in suicide rates among the younger age groups. It was found that socioeconomic factors underlined major differences in the suicide rate across regions. Conclusions: The present study confirmed that suicide is a multifaceted phenomenon that may be determined by an array of factors. Suicide prevention should, therefore, be targeted to identifiable high-risk sociocultural groups in each country.

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