scholarly journals “Science Festival” may not mean what we think it means: an analysis of how researchers and practitioners use this term

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (07) ◽  
pp. A01
Author(s):  
J. Ross Ramsey ◽  
Todd Boyette

The modern science festival movement has grown significantly since the Edinburgh International Science Festival launched in 1989. Hundreds of science festivals now occur annually and vary widely. This article examines how the term “science festival” is used within research and practice. We find that most research articles fail to describe the science festivals they study. A subsequent analysis of festival websites and other publicly available information confirms the wide variability of science festival formats, which suggests the need for descriptive information about science festivals in scholarly work.

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga F. Voskuijl ◽  
Tjarda van Sliedregt

Summary: This paper presents a meta-analysis of published job analysis interrater reliability data in order to predict the expected levels of interrater reliability within specific combinations of moderators, such as rater source, experience of the rater, and type of job descriptive information. The overall mean interrater reliability of 91 reliability coefficients reported in the literature was .59. The results of experienced professionals (job analysts) showed the highest reliability coefficients (.76). The method of data collection (job contact versus job description) only affected the results of experienced job analysts. For this group higher interrater reliability coefficients were obtained for analyses based on job contact (.87) than for those based on job descriptions (.71). For other rater categories (e.g., students, organization members) neither the method of data collection nor training had a significant effect on the interrater reliability. Analyses based on scales with defined levels resulted in significantly higher interrater reliability coefficients than analyses based on scales with undefined levels. Behavior and job worth dimensions were rated more reliable (.62 and .60, respectively) than attributes and tasks (.49 and .29, respectively). Furthermore, the results indicated that if nonprofessional raters are used (e.g., incumbents or students), at least two to four raters are required to obtain a reliability coefficient of .80. These findings have implications for research and practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Paola Gnerre ◽  
Giorgio Vescovo ◽  
Paola Granata ◽  
Cecilia Politi ◽  
Andrea Fontanella ◽  
...  

Peer review is the process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field. The peer review of scientific manuscripts is a cornerstone of modern science and medicine. Some journals have difficulty in finding appropriate reviewers who are able to complete reviews on time avoiding publication delay. We discuss some of the main issues involved during the peer review process. The reviewer has a direct and important impact on the quality of a scientific medical Journal. Editors select reviewers on the basis of their expertise. Reviewers are more likely to accept to review a manuscript when it is relevant to their area of interest. They should respond to ethical principles, excluding any conflict of interest condition. The reviewer has to be professional, constructive, tactful, empathetic and respectful. Structured approaches, quality indicators and step-by-step process check list formats could be useful in obtaining a good review.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 63

NCTM's Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Awards for 2014–2015 are highlighted


In the article, the realization of verbal influence (also known as suggestion) phenomenon in political discourse is considered. This concept is defined as a whole combined image of the text itself and emotions of its recipient and addressee,including the peculiarities of perception, external and internal circumstances, its pragmatic and linguistic aspects, etc, and is aimed at a a political subject’s influencing a political object. Usually, political discourse and its immanent influential properties are researched from the standpoint of Psychology, Communicative Linguistics, Pragmalinguistics, Political Linguistics and other related sciences, but the author proposes to involve Neurolinguistic Programming as a modern science which deals with analyzing the peculiarities of perception, processing and generation of information and its transformations from deep thought structures to superficial speech; as well as Spin-Doctoring, an ultramodern complex discipline aimed at correcting the negative image of the event in the media after its has already happened or right before its manifestation, which is impossible without the involvement of language techniques to influence the recipient or a group of them. In order to fully research the political discourse, which in the network of this article is represented by the political speeches of the leaders of Ukraine, USA, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Germany, the author involves both the basic Spin Doctoring techniques of political discourse correction ( negative information delay, ambiguous informing, focus switch, interspersing the artificial situations with elements of naturalness, and the technique of controlled information leaks and preparation for events expectations); and the NLP paradigm meta- and Milton-model analysis text having been utilized in order to isolate the actual linguistic influential patterns (markers of language metamodel processes, simple, complex and indirect inductions). The analysis details the available information on the peculiarities of implementing and enhancing the linguistic influence within the political discourse, as well as outlines the crucial next steps in the further researches on this topic, especially ones in the field of Ukraine’s state information security, which is a particularly important aspect of the state’s modern information during hybrid wars.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 132-135
Author(s):  
Timothy Kaufman-Osborn

As noted in the introduction to this issue of Politics & Gender, for this Special Issue on Gender and Conservatism, we have coordinated the book review section with the thematics of the volume's four research articles. This lends the volume an intellectual cohesion that we hope will prove engaging, as it also expands the purview of topics that come into play where the intersections of conservatism and feminism are concerned. The books reviewed here suggest the rich diversity of the scholarly work that is now being generated on this question.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Ferraro ◽  
Andrea Panzeri ◽  
Federica Braga ◽  
Mauro Panteghini

AbstractBackgroundMeasurement of α-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations in the serum of infants is useful for the management of testicular germ cell tumors, hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, we provide a critical review of the available information about pediatric reference intervals (RI), focusing on their utility in interpreting AFP as an aid for cancer diagnosis.ContentEvidence sources in the available literature were critically appraised. Out of 3873 retrieved papers, 24 were finally selected and carefully inspected, and six of them overcame exclusion criteria (i.e. methodological limitations in the study design, statistical gaps, drawbacks in traceability of the AFP assay to higher order materials and/or biased reporting of AFP results). Preterm and term infants up to the 3rd month of life exhibited the highest average AFP concentrations, but the attempt of defining RI by data pooling and partitioning for age intervals was impeded by the wide variability of data. The inability of defining robust RI in the first months of life made difficult, if not impossible, using upper reference limits for ruling out malignancies with a single AFP result. Evaluating the behavior of AFP concentrations 5 days from the baseline result, if this exceeds risk thresholds partitioned for age, according to the formula Xt=X0*2−t/HL(where: t=days elapsed for AFP retest; HL=AFP half-life according to age; X0=AFP baseline concentration, and Xt=predicted AFP concentration at day 5), could give a better information.SummaryNovel studies defining AFP RI in infants based on robust methodology are warranted to improve the interpretation of AFP results in pediatric oncology. In the meantime, algorithms based on both serum AFP absolute concentrations and HL may aid in cancer diagnosis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 1550008 ◽  
Author(s):  
LONE KØRNØV

There is a growing interest in the use of theory in order to move the field of impact assessment forward, hereunder to advance our understanding of effectiveness and make impact assessment influence decision-making. However, the extent of use of theory is uncertain. This article examines the use of explicit theory from other fields in impact assessment literature and analyse how research uses theory along a continuum from use of non-attached theory to theory building. A sample of research articles (n = 177) published in the Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management from 1999–2014 was reviewed to determine whether, how and which theories was used. Of the articles 32% incorporated theory, of which 28% only mention theories in the introduction or literature review, but without explicit evidence that the theory is used to any other purposes than to establish legitimacy or support the author's ideas of "non-attached theory" and 40% in which theories are used to inform and focus the design of the study. The results show no significant changes in the use of theory in the period 1999–2014. The most often used theories were political and learning theory. The article concludes that there is a broad scope for future use of theories from other fields to mature research and practice of impact assessment. There is no lack of relevant theories, so the underlying reasons for the found results shall be found elsewhere.


Leonardo ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 458-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Walker

This article addresses certain enduring interests that the British artist Helen Chadwick (1953–1996) pursued over the course of her career. While she produced a diverse range of work using a wide range of media, the article will focus on her theoretical considerations of the conjunction of self and world, emphasizing her interest in, and the importance she attached to, the understanding of nature and our place “within” it. She was dissatisfied with received explanations of this relationship, which in her view remained more or less within a Newtonian, mechanical framework. Her research and practice signaled an alternate approach, a “viral technique,” informed by and accommodating her interest in modern biology and physics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 61

NCTM's Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Awards for 2013–2014 are highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leho Tedersoo ◽  
Rainer Küngas ◽  
Ester Oras ◽  
Kajar Köster ◽  
Helen Eenmaa ◽  
...  

AbstractData sharing is one of the cornerstones of modern science that enables large-scale analyses and reproducibility. We evaluated data availability in research articles across nine disciplines in Nature and Science magazines and recorded corresponding authors’ concerns, requests and reasons for declining data sharing. Although data sharing has improved in the last decade and particularly in recent years, data availability and willingness to share data still differ greatly among disciplines. We observed that statements of data availability upon (reasonable) request are inefficient and should not be allowed by journals. To improve data sharing at the time of manuscript acceptance, researchers should be better motivated to release their data with real benefits such as recognition, or bonus points in grant and job applications. We recommend that data management costs should be covered by funding agencies; publicly available research data ought to be included in the evaluation of applications; and surveillance of data sharing should be enforced by both academic publishers and funders. These cross-discipline survey data are available from the plutoF repository.


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