Journal selection behavior among early-career academicians in Iran: how they choose the most appropriate journal for their publications

Purpose Journals are the essential tools of researchers, especially academicians, to present their scientific findings. So, choosing the right journal helps not only science development but also their academic promotion. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that Iranian medical researchers consider when selecting scholarly journals in which to submit their work. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered online questionnaire was emailed in May 2021, with 101 responses received. The sample included all the faculty members with the role of “lecturer” in Iranian medical universities and who have 1–5 articles in the Scopus database as early-career Iranian medical researchers. The questionnaire consisted of 36 items, divided into five sections: basic information, attitudes and beliefs, ways to choose a journal, problems and familiarity with the components of scientometrics/validity metrics related to journals. Findings The findings indicate that these researchers value the expertise of experienced researchers and professionals, like librarians, when selecting publication venues. They often use journal indexes to guide journal selection. They also consider factors like the length of typical peer review and the complexity of submission guidelines when making decisions. Research limitations/implications The study of one country, though detecting requirements of journal selection behavior, cannot be generalized to the entire region. Practical implications The current study has academic implications as far as decisions on journal selection are concerned. University policymakers in Iran may consider re-examining their emphasis on academicians’ promotion policies at Iranian universities of medical sciences. Originality/value These findings may support the work of early-career researchers and those individuals (e.g., librarians) that serve them, as well as publishers and editors of scholarly journals.

Modeling and Simulation of Exit Selection Behavior in Pedestrian Evacuation Based on Information Perception and Transmission

This paper aims to present an improved evacuation model, which is capable of simulating individual exit selection behavior based on the acquisition and processing of information, especially in dangerous and unfamiliar environments. Firstly, an evacuation model was improved by the introduction of a floor field of gas concentration and an exit selection model, considering the congestion avoidance and danger avoidance behavior. Secondly, the process of information perception and transmission was studied and introduced into the model with a set of rules. Finally, real experiments in a simple double-exit room were conducted for model validation and parameter setting, and simulation experiments in scenarios with an unknown hazard or unknown exits were conducted to confirm the necessity and rationality of introducing information perception and transmission. The simulation results show that, with the increase in perception distance or trust extent, the pedestrian safety increases. The critical values of perception distance or trust extent, below which some people cannot acquire any new information, vary depending on the pedestrian density. When the density is high, the influence of perception distance or trust extent reduces, and the probability of reselecting an exit increases, which causes the safety of pedestrians to decrease.

Influence of Olfaction in Host-Selection Behavior of the Cassava Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Cassava is a vital food-security crop in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cassava crops are, however, severely affected by viral diseases transmitted by members of the whitefly species complex Bemisia tabaci. We have here investigated the role of olfaction in host selection behavior of the cassava whitefly B. tabaci SSA-ESA biotype. Surprisingly, we find that the whiteflies appear to make little use of olfaction to find their favored host. The cassava whitely shows a highly reduced olfactory system, both at the morphological and molecular level. Whitefly antennae possess only 15 sensilla with possible olfactory function, and from the genome we identified just a handful of candidate chemoreceptors, including nine tuning odorant receptors, which would afford the whitefly with one of the smallest olfactomes identified from any insect to date. Behavioral experiments with host and non-host plants, as well as with identified specific volatiles from these sources, suggest that the few input channels present are primarily tuned toward the identification of unwanted features, rather than favored ones, a strategy quite unlike most other insects. The demonstrated repellence effect of specific volatile chemicals produced by certain plants unflavored by whiteflies suggests that intercropping with these plants could be a viable strategy to reduce whitefly infestations in cassava fields.

Plasticity in depth selection behavior and heat shock proteins in Daphnia

Habitat selection behavior by aquatic and terrestrial animals is influenced by both abiotic (e.g., temperature) and biotic (e.g., threat from predators) environmental factors. In this study, the mechanisms underlying the variability in behavior of habitat selection of Daphnia under environmental stress were examined. Experiments were conducted using five Daphnia clones with different environmental preferences and, consequently, with a different width of the reaction norm. These clones also showed variation in their constitutive levels of stress-related heat shock proteins (HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90), but none of the tested stress factors had any direct effect on their expression. However, behavioral plasticity was significantly positively correlated with the constitutive level of HSP70. It is likely that animals with a high constitutive HSP70 level can cope better with sudden changes in environment conditions that they experience, e.g., during vertical migrations. In contrast, non-migrating animals with low HSP levels do not allocate energy to the synthesis of stress proteins and have a narrow range of behavioral plasticity.

Jumping to conclusions – an analysis of the NBA Draft Combine athleticism data and its influence on managerial decision-making

PurposeThe NBA Draft policy pursues the goal to provide the weakest teams with the most talented young players to close the gap to the superior competition. But it hinges on appropriate talent evaluation skills of the respective organizations. Research suggests the policy might be valid but to date unable to produce its intended results due to the “human judgement-factor”. This paper investigates specific managerial selection-behavior-influencing information to examine why decision-makers seem to fail to constantly seize the opportunities the draft presents them with.Design/methodology/approachAthleticism data produced within the NBA Draft Combine setting is strongly considered in the player evaluations and consequently informs the draft decisions of NBA managers. Curiously, research has failed to find much predictive power within the players pre-draft combine results for their post-draft performance. This paper investigates this clear disconnect, by examining the pre- and post-draft data from 2000 to 2019 using principal component and regression analysis.FindingsEvidence for an athletic-induced decision-quality-lowering bias within the NBA Draft process was found. The analysis proves that players with better NBA Draft Combine results tend to get drafted earlier. Controlling for position, age and pre-draft performance there seems to be no proper justification based on post-draft performance for this managerial behavior. This produces systematic errors within the structure of the NBA Draft process and leads to problematic outcomes for the entire league-policy.Originality/valueThe paper delivers first evidence for an athleticism-induced decision-making bias regarding the NBA Draft process. Informing future selection-behavior of managers this research could improve NBA Draft decision-making quality.