scholarly journals An Informetric Analysis of Relationship between Open Access Presence and Ranking of African Universities

Webology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ifeanyi J. Ezema ◽  
Richard N.C Ugwuanyi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
Moderate Correlation ◽  
Ranking Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
University Ranking ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between open access presence and ranking of African universities. It adopted descriptive informetric to examine open access presence of African countries using Directory of Open Access Repositories (DOAR) and Research Gate scores (RGs) of the universities. Data was also extracted from the Journal Consortium (an African university ranking organisation) for metrics on African university ranking. Data on African open access presence was correlated with university rankings. Findings reveal that only twenty-four countries in Africa have records in DOAR and Research gate. Four of the countries (South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria) contribute more over 85% of open access records in Africa and the same produced 68% of the top 100 universities in Africa. The study found a highly significant positive but moderate correlation between open access presence and ranking of African universities. It concludes that African universities need to review their science policy in line with open access initiative to enhance the visibility and ranking of the university globally.

scholarly journals Religion and violence in a globalised world

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Huber
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Memorial Lecture ◽  
The Third ◽  
Religious Extremism ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Preferential Option ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

Violent religious extremism is seen as one of the mega-problems of the 21st century. This article � based on a key lecture at the conference on �Violence in a democratic South Africa� at the University of Pretoria and the David de Villiers memorial lecture at the University of Stellenbosch, both held during August 2010 � critically discussed the interaction between religion and violence in our present-day, globalised world. Three different propositions on the relationship between religion and violence were scrutinised. In countering the proposition that religion, or more specifically monotheism, necessarily leads to violence, it was argued that violence is not an inherent, but rather an acquired or even an ascribed quality of religion. The second proposition that religion leads to non-violence was affirmed to the extent that religions do provide a strong impulse to overcome violence. However, they also tend to accept violence as an inevitable part of reality and even justify the use of violence on religious grounds. The third proposition was regarded as the most convincing, for it argues that the link between religion and violence is contingent. Some situations do seem to make the use of violence inevitable; however, religions should refrain from justifying the use of violence and maintain a preferential option for nonviolence.

scholarly journals Africa and the Commonwealth: What Relationship Since 1994?

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Modupeolu Faseke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Multilateral Organizations ◽  
The Relationship

The Commonwealth is a global organisation with some unique and important characteristics that complement other global multilateral organizations. Its peculiarities, most especially its networking and informal qualities, have endeared the organization until recently to her members.  In this age of internet in which smartness and alertness are highly valued, some of its traits are now becoming a thing of an anathema, regarded as a cog in the wheel of progress. African continent alone has over thirty percent of Commonwealth membership.  This paper examines Commonwealth relations with Africa since 1994 when apartheid ended in South Africa and Africans had a renewed relationship with the organization after both parties had endured a tenuous relationship in the preceding years. The study has the objective of assessing the economic and political gains Africa has derived from membership of the Commonwealth as well as to ascertain whether or not the relationship is mutually beneficial. The essay is qualitative and adopts the historical research methodology, detailing the evolution and progression in Commonwealth’s relationship with Africa during the period of study. The essay complements the use of secondary sources with primary sources. Data was therefore composed of official documents from the |Commonwealth Secretariat as well as documents from some African countries. The study concludes that Africa has benefitted immensely from the Commonwealth since 1994, despite some aspects of its relationship needing improvements. It recommends, therefore, that both parties will have to work towards a symbiotic relationship in order to enjoy a more robust partnership that is effective and impactful in the interest of all.

Does sustainability reporting promote university ranking? Australian and New Zealand evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan George Shan ◽  
Junru Zhang ◽  
Manzurul Alam ◽  
Phil Hancock
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
University Ranking ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University ◽  
Reporting Channels

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between university rankings and sustainability reporting among Australia and New Zealand universities. Even though sustainability reporting is an established area of investigation, prior research has paid inadequate attention to the nexus of university ranking and sustainability reporting. Design/methodology/approach This study covers 46 Australian and New Zealand universities and uses a data set, which includes sustainability reports and disclosures from four reporting channels including university websites, and university archives, between 2005 and 2018. Ordinary least squares regression was used with Pearson and Spearman’s rank correlations to investigate the likelihood of multi-collinearity and the paper also calculated the variance inflation factor values. Finally, this study uses the generalized method of moments approach to test for endogeneity. Findings The findings suggest that sustainability reporting is significantly and positively associated with university ranking and confirm that the four reporting channels play a vital role when communicating with university stakeholders. Further, this paper documents that sustainability reporting through websites, in addition to the annual report and a separate environment report have a positive impact on the university ranking systems. Originality/value This paper contributes to extant knowledge on the link between university rankings and university sustainability reporting which is considered a vital communication vehicle to meet the expectation of the stakeholder in relevance with the university rankings.

scholarly journals Academic integration of libraries at Universities of Technology (UoTs) in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shirlene Neerputh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Academic Integration ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Process Learning ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The University

Academic libraries should lead in the instructional change process by being at the nexus of teaching, learning and research in the university. This study was set in the context of the current higher educational landscape of South Africa. In particular, it focused on the emerging role of the University of Technology (UoT) library to enhance academic success. This was an exploratory study juxtaposed with a literature review pertinent to national and international library integration programmes and practices. Justification for this study stemmed from the current local and international trend for academic libraries to become proactive partners in teaching and learning through academic integration and leadership in promoting the university’s mission and goals. Underpinned by the process learning theoretical framework, the aim of this study was to explore the extent to which academic integration has been adopted by UoT libraries in South Africa. Process learning was chosen by the researcher because it is considered a learner-centred teaching technique for student engagement and it is consistent with the constructivist theory postulated and applicable to UoT libraries. The specific objectives of the survey were to determine: what academic integration programmes are offered by UoT libraries to enhance teaching, learning and research in South Africa; existing information literacy programmes and assessment practices in UoT libraries; what postgraduate/research programmes are offered by the library to academics and students and how they are represented in strategy or policy documents; and the similarities and differences in academic integration programmes in all six UoTs in SA. A mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative methodologies) were used to collect data regarding programmes and practices prevalent in UoT libraries across all six UoTs in South Africa. An online questionnaire was administered using SurveyMonkey. Forty-two subject librarians participated in the survey, yielding a sixty- two percent response rate. The objectives of the study were achieved by the identification of the following key academic integration programmes: embedded information literacy programmes; resource collection and development; faculty collaboration and partnerships to promote academic success; research scholarship and open access initiatives; social media networking; and reading and writing programmes. This study found that while academic integration has gained momentum in UoTs in South Africa, greater effort should be made in collaboration with academics in: embedded information literacy and blended learning; open access and scholarship; reading and writing programmes; and collaboration in postgraduate interventions. The findings also revealed that while most libraries internationally have embraced reading and writing programmes, libraries offering reading and writing programmes to enhance academic success are relatively scarce in UoTs in South Africa. It is recommended that the subject librarians engage in academic integration practices by: supporting the curricula and research programmes; improving institutional outcomes; improving collaborations; building intellectual or knowledge centres and providing relevant information to students and staff within a knowledge society.

scholarly journals Análise do panorama das editoras universitárias brasileiras referente a política de acesso aberto

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Lilian Aguilar Teixeira ◽  
Rogério Ferreira Marques ◽  
Robson de Paula Araújo ◽  
Ana Cláudia Lopes de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Quality Information ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
University Ranking ◽  
Access Policy ◽  
The University ◽  
Access Policies

The study aims to identify open access policies and books made available by university publishers from the first ten Brazilian universities in the Folha de São Paulo University Ranking (RUF) in 2019. Through documentary and exploratory research with a qualitative approach, we sought to analyze how the university publishers make policies and books available in open access. The result presents an analysis of the information contained in the websites and of direct contacts with these publishers and shows that most of these provide works with open access and that only one has an open access policy in progress to be published. The conclusion is that university publishers seek to share publications with open access, carry out scientific dissemination, contribute with quality information for the cultural and scientific development of society, however, they do not have defined and published open access policies.

scholarly journals Using Google Health Trends to investigate COVID-19 incidence in Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Fulk ◽  
Daniel Romero-Alvarez ◽  
Qays Abu-Saymeh ◽  
Jarron M. Saint Onge ◽  
A. Townsend Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Multiple Linear Regressions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Derived Data ◽  
Linear Regressions

ABSTRACTObjectivesIn the present manuscript we used Internet-derived data to assess whether Google Health Trends (GHT) search counts are able to track COVID-19 incidences in Africa.MethodsWe collected COVID-19 case and death incidence for 54 African countries from February 2020 to January 2021. We used GHT to characterize COVID-19 incidence up to 24 January 2021, collecting the number of searches of four terms: ‘coronavirus’, ‘coronavirus symptoms’, ‘COVID19’, and ‘pandemic’. The terms were related to weekly COVID-19 case incidences for the study period via multiple linear regressions. We also collected 72 predictors assessing Internet accessibility, demographics, economics, etc., to explain the potential mechanisms linking the relationship between GHT searches and COVID-19.ResultsImportant increases for COVID-19 death incidence were observed for South Africa and Tunisia at the end of the study period. Our study demonstrated a lack of correlation between GHT and COVID-19 incidence for most African countries. The predictors analyzed were unhelpful in explaining the pattern of GHT statistics and their relationship to COVID-19, complicating interpretability of GHT.ConclusionsAccording to our results, GHT-based surveillance for an ongoing epidemic might be useful only in specific situations. Future studies might assess the algorithm in different epidemic contexts.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between University Rankings And Outcomes Measurement

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Chuanfu Ding ◽  
Terrance Jalbert ◽  
Steven P. Landry
Keyword(s):  
University Rankings ◽  
Outcomes Measurement ◽  
Outcome Measurements ◽  
Output Performance ◽  
World Report ◽  
Optimal World ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between university ranks and outcome measurements. Many students select the university that they will attend based on these rankings In this paper the rankings conducted by two studies are examined. U.S. News and World Report rankings are based upon measures of the quality of input, retention while in school and other measures. A new group of rankings are based on the output performance of universities. Jalbert, Rao and Jalbert (2002) rank schools based on the extent to which the school places its graduates in top CEO positions and the salary that they receive when in these positions. In an optimal world, input rankings should correspond with output rankings. This paper examines the extent to which these rankings track each other and the sensitivity of rankings to changes in methodology utilized.

Are rankings and accreditation related? Examining the dynamics of higher education in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Rybinski
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Assurance Agency ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the relationship between two measures of university quality, the outcome and other characteristics of a mandatory accreditation and the university position in the national ranking. Design/methodology/approach Natural language processing (NLP) models are used to calculate the sentiment indicators for 1,850 accreditation reports from the Polish Accreditation Agency. The sentiment indicators, accreditation frequency and outcomes for 203 HEIs are used in correlation analysis, automated linear regressions and quantile regressions with the university position in the Polish Perspektywy rankings as the outcome variable. Findings High/low frequency of accreditation visits, excellent/poor accreditation outcomes and low/high frequency of negative inclination words in the accreditation report are followed by high/low university rankings. Quantile regressions reveal that these relationships vary with the quality of the university. Practical implications Publishers of university rankings may consider adding the accreditation features to the set of indicators used in such rankings. The machine learning methodology presented allows cross-country inconsistencies to be identified in the approaches used by accreditation agencies in Europe. The authors of the accreditation reports should be aware they can be mined by machine learning models and this should be considered when the reports are drafted. Originality/value This is a novel application of NLP models for analysing the relationship between the accreditation and rankings of universities. In other research, the author has applied NLP models to test whether quality assurance agency (QAA) accreditation in the UK can predict how students rate their university on whatuni.com website.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Significance of the Rankings of Higher Education Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-100
Author(s):  
Evija Rūsīte ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Scientific Publication ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
University Ranking ◽  
Extensive Information ◽  
High Level ◽  
Research Function ◽  
The University

More and more attention is being paid to university rankings – for student and financing attraction, and for research and graduate employment of the respective university – the reputation of universities is becoming more and more important. However, it is important to underline, that only approximately 1–3% of the world universities (200–500 universities) are represented in the most popular international rankings. Previous studies confirm that most international rankings focus predominantly on indicators related to the research function of universities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to search for some possible solutions for more effective research work organisation at the universities and correct reflection of achieved results to raise their position in university rankings. The methods used in this study are scientific publication analysis, investigation of university ranking results with special attention to research organisation at the university and expert interviews and expert survey. Main findings: possible solutions for more effective research work organisation at the universities with aim to raise the position in different university ratings, are innovative encouragement and financial support of academic staff for active scientific publication creation, as well as practical and methodological support in the preparing of high level publication for young scientists. Also significant aspect is support of academic staff for international communication and extensive information on research results.

scholarly journals Christian Communication, Forms, Secularity, and Dimensions of Language in a Multifaceted Cultural Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
Rufus Adebayo ◽  
Sylvia Zulu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cultural Setting ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Religious Communication ◽  
Diverse Environment ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
The Relationship

Christian communication and the various dimensions of language are profoundly connected and interchangeably used in a multifaceted cultural setting. Christian churches in South Africa, similar to any other African countries, profess their philosophies, passions, and beliefs to multi-cultural congregations through the use of sacred languages and communication. This study posits that the uprising of Pentecostal churches has paved the way for nonspiritual dialectic languages and has also greatly lessened spiritual communication. As a result, the study highlights the relationship between language and religious communication among Pentecostal churches in a culturally diverse environment. This study employs a qualitative approach, through the gathering and categorisation of information between 20 churches located in Durban, South Africa to recognise Christian communication and the influence of secular linguistic features and their relationships with spirituality. This study has found that there are different forms and secular dimensions of language which differ from spiritual language and Christian communication. The study reveals that as modern Christian churches emerge, a revolutionised communication has evolved as compared to the language of orthodox churches. The study recommends that the use of language for religious communication and discourse should necessitate expounding spiritual values and courses of action.

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