Reference rot degrades information preservation and induces the loss of intellectual integrity

The age of open access has ushered in a greater desire to cross-cite information from a multitude of sources, some of which may have a determined fate and life cycle. Information insecurity caused by the loss or transposition of information also negatively impacts information integrity by reducing its use and usefulness. Reference rot refers to the phenomenon in which the link to a web resource or journal article URL no longer function, revealing instead a “404 not found” error message. Reference rot can reduce the reliability and usefulness of a manuscript because access to information supporting claims and/or positions within a paper ceases to exist. Academic papers carry a complex mixture of information that is derived from a multitude of sources. Collectively, they ensure a paper’s health and functionality, aspects that fade as access to supporting information becomes truncated, i.e., reference rot, ultimately reducing the usefulness of the academic paper, and making it, and its claims, unreliable. Although it is a cumbersome task, as the curators of academic and scientific information, extant journals and their editors should revisit URLs in the reference lists regularly to update any broken links or URLs, and correct reference lists accordingly. This laborious task should involve close coordination between editors and authors to ensure, as best as possible, the sustained integrity of citations and thus the information backbone of a manuscript. An academic paper with a strong, or fortified, citation base, has greater information integrity, reliability and use for science and society.

Information Integrity

The understanding and promotion of integrity in information security has traditionally been underemphasized or even ignored. From implantable medical devices and electronic voting to vehicle control, the critical importance of information integrity to our well-being has compelled review of its treatment in the literature. Through formal information flow models, the data modification view, and the relationship to data quality, information integrity will be surveyed. Illustrations are given for databases and information trustworthiness. Integrity protection is advancing but lacks standardization in terminology and application. Integrity must be better understood, and pursued, to achieve devices and systems that are beneficial and safe for the future.

STUDY OF METHODS FOR ENSURING INFORMATION INTEGRITY IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS WITH OPTICAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

The relevance of the work lies in the fact that the number of information systems with optical communication channels is increasing. However, for such systems, the optimal method for ensuring the integrity of information has not been identified. The purpose of the work is to identify the best method for ensuring the integrity of information in information systems with optical communication channels. This article discusses methods for ensuring the integrity of information at the stages of storage and transmission of information. The main method for ensuring the integrity of information at the storage stage is the data backup method. Parallel information transfer is the main method at the stage of information transfer. As a result of the study, the following conclusion was made: to ensure maximum security of information integrity, it is necessary to apply an integrated approach and use immediately both data backup and protection methods at the stage of information transfer.

BIM for lean building surveying services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) concepts of the various processes involved in building surveying practice can lead to a reduction in waste. In turn leading to a synergy between BIM functionalities and lean production concepts. Design/methodology/approach To verify and validate the existence of this synergy between the two methods in building surveying, evidences were gathered from previous literature that supports these interactions. Next, a questionnaire was conducted for the purpose of identifying new interactions and providing further evidence to support existing interactions. Finally, based on the findings from previous literature and the results of the questionnaire, an interaction matrix was constructed linking the two concepts with the relevant evidence found. Findings The results of the questionnaire show that the BIM functionality with the highest interactions, maintenance of information integrity, had a high correlation with the reduction of variability, cycle time, batch size and promoting standardization of value flow. 4 D model-based scheduling, the second highest functionality, showed a high correlation with the reduction of variability, cycle time, batch size and an increase in the use of visual management. Finally, the results of the interaction matrix between the two concepts showed that the BIM functionalities with the most interactions were maintenance of information integrity, visualization of form and the automated generation of models and documents. The lean principles with the most interactions were reducing variability, cycle time, batch size as well as “enables visual management”. While most of these interactions were positive, negative interactions were also observed. These negative interactions were due to the fact that the level of competency and knowledge in BIM for building surveyors is at reduced levels which can lead to increased human errors. Originality/value The significance of this study is to provide the basis for building surveying organizations who wish to implement BIM and how this would lead to a synergy between BIM functionalities and lean principles. Both positive and negative interactions were considered to provide these organizations with different options for waste elimination.

Information Integrity in the Era of Fake News

In this article we report on an experiment that tested how useful library-based guidelines are for measuring the integrity of information in the era of fake news. We found that the usefulness of these guidelines depends on at least three factors: weighting indicators (criteria), clear instructions, and context-specificity.