scholarly journals Towards societal impact through open research

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timon Oefelein
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Academic Support ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Societal Impact ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Insight Into

The United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are now more relevant than ever because they express the relevancy of research to addressing urgent global needs. Thus we ask: How much scholarly content relates to these SDGs and what are the trends? How much of it successfully reaches its target audience, including policy makers and practitioners, and does Open Access (OA) publication make a difference? Finally, what best practices can be recommended to researchers to optimize the societal impact of their research? In order to find answers to these important and pressing questions, Springer Nature has partnered with The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) to form a unique interdisciplinary impact working group that draws on Open Science practices. This presentation introduces the project group, describing its aims, and key interim results. This includes a summary of how the team built one of the world’s first SDG content classifiers using both machine learning and extensive human input from a team of subject experts. The SDG classifier is freely available online. Further, we’ll share key results from two large global researcher surveys. The first set of results outlines researchers’ motivations towards SDG research and its impact as evidenced by responses from some 9000 participants across the world. The second set of survey data, featuring 5900 responses, provides insight into usage trends of both OA and non-OA content. Together, our results provide unique and evidence-based insight into the volume and nature of SDG content, the role of open access in maximising reach and dissemination, and finally, how libraries can help researchers optimize societal impact. The presentation will be of interest to a wide audience, including members of the research assessment community and research offices; funders of SDG content; and academic support libraries supporting researchers with publication and impact.

scholarly journals Learning from the Best: New Challenges and Trends in IR Reporters’ Disclosure and the Role of SDGs

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5545
Author(s):  
Maria Federica Izzo ◽  
Alberto Dello Strologo ◽  
Fabrizio Granà
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Evaluation Scores ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
International Integrated Reporting Council ◽  
Stakeholder Needs

A worldwide debate on the effectiveness of business reporting information has engaged organizations, policy makers, regulators, and members of the capital market. The documents through which organizations disclose their annual performance are being questioned and criticized, as they appear inadequate for responding to stakeholder needs. In 2013, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) launched a project with the aim of redesigning corporate reporting processes and outputs, introducing integrated reporting (IR). At the center of IR are the six capitals defined by the IIRC representing the basis for an innovative form of evaluating and presenting performance. New topics on the global sustainable development agenda are growing in importance, requiring companies to enrich their disclosure and connect business to environment. In this study, we examined how a group of leaders in IR, 134 European companies from the IIRC IR reporters list, are currently disclosing IR capital and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), developing three evaluation scores: Capital Disclosure Index, SDG Disclosure Index, and SDG Compliance Index.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
pp. 280-295
Author(s):  
Nur Farhah Mahadi ◽  
Nor Razinah Mohd. Zain ◽  
Shamsuddeen Muhammad Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of Islamic social finance towards realising financial inclusion in achieving nine of the seventeen goals of sustainable development goals (SDGs) which are SDG1, SDG2, SDG3, SDG4, SDG5, SDG8, SDG9, SDG10, and SDG17 in the 2030 agenda for SDGs, as propagated by United Nations Member States in 2015. Then, a critical analysis is made to explain the possible contribution of Islamic social finance in achieving financial inclusion which is aligned with SDGs that brings balanced to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual of the community in supporting overall economic growth which finally combats the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research and empirical studies can be conducted to explore the relationship between Islamic social finance, financial inclusion, and SDGs which in tandem with Maqᾱṣid al-Sharῑ῾ah to equip ourselves in unpredictable economic hiccups during COVID-19. The results may also motivate the financial industries to promote Islamic social finance products and corporate social responsibilities as well as enhance the development of Islamic social finance towards achieving financial inclusion in fulfilling SDGs which soon will provide significant social impacts as the results will enable new initiatives by industries and policy makers to develop Islamic social finance in attaining financial inclusion to achieve SDGs which is seen as being parallel with Maqᾱṣid al-Sharῑ῾ah especially in resolving economic issues of COVID-19.

scholarly journals EPS and Open Science: an update

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
C. Rossel ◽  
L. van Dyck
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Open Access Publishing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Way

The movement towards an Open Science is well engaged and irreversible. It includes Open Access publishing, Open Data and Open Collaborations with several new orientations, among which citizen science. Indeed, in the digital era, the way research is performed, its output shared and published is changing significantly, as are the expectations of policy makers and society at large.

scholarly journals Mapping the Current Research Agenda on Scholarly Publishing: Scopus-Indexed Reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
Elena Tikhonova ◽  
Lilia Raitskaya
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Publishing Research ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Scholarly Publishing ◽  
Science System ◽  
Peer Reviews ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Editorial Review ◽  
The Impact

Nearly ten years ago, scholarly publishing came to the fore in research on scientific communication spurred by the evolving Open Science system, the reinvention of peer reviews, and new attitudes to scholarly publications in the ranking-based academic environment. Here, the JLE editors revisit the field of scholarly publishing and identify the most popular areas where potential JLE authors might have difficulty. In this editorial, Scopus-indexed reviews are analysed to map the prevailing trends. The editorial review shows that the trends include open access, peer review transparency, the changing role of libraries in scholarly publishing, CrossRef’s initiatives, outsourcing and skills lacking in publishing, the impact of universities’ prescribed lists for publishing research, open-access monographs, and the role of commercial publishers.

Open Access as a Platform for Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Priti Jain
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Open Access Publishing ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Efficient Access ◽  
The Status ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Access To Knowledge

Open access publishing is a cross-cutting issue that has the potential to contribute to most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are reliant on improved access to information and knowledge. Open access publishing makes scientific results available for everyone, and thus facilitates new discoveries and empowers researchers through rapid and efficient access to knowledge. Open access is a platform of knowledge management. There is a clear link between open access and access to information, and therefore between open access and sustainable development. International organizations such as WIPO and UNESCO have already recognized this connection and have changed their own internal policies and officially recognize open access as a driver for achievement of the SDGs and sustainable social, political, and economic development. In the above context, this chapter discusses how sustainable development can be realized through open access platforms. The chapter is based on in-depth literature review. The chapter commences with a brief review of the literature on the major concepts, which is followed by a description of the role of open access in attaining sustainable development. Thereafter, the status, prospects, and challenges of open access publishing in Africa are discussed. Finally, the chapter provides recommendations for attaining sustainable developments goals through open access publishing in Africa.

Current Trends and Future Tendencies: Developing Sustainable Assessment Cultures

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-373
Author(s):  
Stephen Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Insight Into

Schools and their development as sustainable assessment cultures requires insight into the interests and role of different stakeholders: school policy makers, teachers and their teaching teams, principals, parents, pupils and the local community. Researchers are not immediately included in this list, but as external advisers they can play a pivotal role as catalysts or as the advocate for the actions or informed reflections of stakeholders. A stakeholder approach can easily draw support from rational choice theory or the perhaps more fashionable systems approach. In the opening article to this special issue, the authors are less interested in adopting and defending a single theoretical perspective and seek, instead, to highlight and provide an overview of a number of debates and approaches that seek to understand the study and practice of developing sustainable assessment cultures in schools. In the course of this article, the contributions of this special issue will be positioned in what is, in many respects, a global dialogue, where different researchers are keen to draw upon the experience and conceptual resources of colleagues located around the world.

scholarly journals Analysis of Heteronormativity and Gender Roles in EFL Textbooks

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Raúl Ruiz-Cecilia ◽  
Juan Ramón Guijarro-Ojeda ◽  
Carmen Marín-Macías
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Right ◽  
Homophobic Harassment ◽  
Insight Into

This paper examines the current representations of gender roles and heteronormativity in a corpus of textbooks used to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Spanish high schools. Several studies have documented the importance of recognizing problems of homophobic harassment and gender bias which may result in a significant number of students feeling excluded. It is notable that textbook publishers have failed to address this issue despite its relevance to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), raising the question of why this continues to go unnoticed by textbook publishers. The corpus selected comprises two sets of textbooks printed by leading publishers in the area of EFL. In order to gain insight into this issue, we have conducted a qualitative study analyzing the role of textbooks in perpetuating heteronormativity and stereotyped gender roles by exemplifying the naturalized heterosexual and male/female identities. Data were coded under two broad variables: heteronormativity and gender, which in turn were broken down into different units of analysis. The results suggested that heteronormativity still permeates the whole curriculum and that attempts to gender-balance need to be improved by reducing the number of male protagonists. Textbooks fell into some of the same clichés with regard to gender-related stereotypes, such as almost exclusively linking women with shopping and fashion. It is evidently clear from the findings that textbooks should be revised to ensure the right to quality education for all and to make students aware of SDGs, since 7 out of 17 are related to the target topics.

scholarly journals Towards wide-scale adoption of open science practices: The role of open science communities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristijan Armeni ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Rickard Carlsson ◽  
Anita Eerland ◽  
Rianne Fijten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Learning Groups ◽  
Change Behavior ◽  
The Status ◽  
Wide Scale

Open Science (OS) increases the quality, efficiency, and impact of science. This has been widely recognised by scholars, funders, and policy makers. However, despite the increasing availability of infrastructure supporting OS and the rise in policies and incentives to change behavior, OS practices are not yet the norm. While pioneering researchers are developing and embracing OS practices, the majority sticks to the status quo. To transition from pioneering to common practice, we need to engage a critical proportion of the academic community. In this transition, Open Science Communities (OSCs) play a key role. OSCs are bottom-up learning groups of scholars that discuss OS practices, within and across disciplines. They make OS knowledge and know-how more visible and accessible, and facilitate communication among scholars and policy makers. By the same token, community members shape the transition to OS such that it is most beneficial for researchers, science, and society. Over the past two years, eleven OSCs were founded at several Dutch university cities, with approximately 700 members in total (at the time of writing). In other countries, similar OSCs are starting up. In this paper, we discuss the pivotal role OSCs play in the large-scale transition to OS and provide practical information on how to start a local OSC. We emphasize that, despite the grassroot character of OSCs, support from universities is critical for OSCs to be viable, effective, and sustainable.

Teach Less and Learn More

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Ratneswary Rasiah ◽  
Sotheeswari Somasundram ◽  
Kelly Pei Leng Tee ◽  
Jason James Turner
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Technology ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Skills Gap ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

This study aims to investigate the impact of assessments and instructional technology on a students' learning experience and the development of their graduate capabilities. In a disruptive employment market where there appears to be a mis-match between employer expectations and the graduate skill-set, the onus has fallen upon education providers to better align the capabilities taught in school with employer and employment market expectations. Using a survey-based approach to collect 118 responses, this research revealed the positive and significant roles played by assessments and technology in enhancing students' learning development of graduate capabilities, with the use of technology identified as the stronger influencer on student learning. The findings of this study are beneficial to educators and policy makers, providing insight into the individual and collective role of assessment(s) and embedding technology into the curriculum as means to address the skills gap which should inform further research into the graduate skills conundrum.

Role of Macroeconomic Variables in Entrepreneurship Development: Evidence from Renewable Energy Sector of Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-83
Author(s):  
Maheshwar Prasad Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Market Size ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
Entrepreneurship Development ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

This study analyzes the impact of macroeconomic variables on entrepreneurship development in renewable energy sector of Nepal. This study examines the effect of GDP, market size in terms of population and number of households, and sales in terms of number of renewable energy systems installed on entrepreneurship development, i.e., number of renewable energy enterprises (REEs) using data from 1992/93 to 2016/17 by estimating various logarithmic models. The study concludes that the most important factor affecting entrepreneurship development is market size followed by GDP and sales in the context of renewable energy sector in Nepal. This study is considered to be useful for REEs, development actors, academia and policy makers creating employment by increasing production and providing energy in the country. The study can be further extended by incorporating the opinion and views of respondents from customers, regulating authorities and development actors in the sector to get greater insight into the results.

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