Presenting the Seventh JDR Award

On behalf of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR), it is my great honor and pleasure to present the 2021 JDR Award to Prof. and Dr. Suminao Murakami, or “Murakami Sensei.” Murakami Sensei has served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of the JDR for the past 16 years, since 2006. The JDR has now published more than 100 issues, becoming recognized as the leading Japan-based, international online peer-review journal on disaster risk reduction for all hazards except war, and Murakami Sensei has always been its greatest contributor. The Editorial Board reluctantly respected Murakami Sensei’s decision to resign from the position of Editor-in-Chief, but it has unanimously agreed to rename the JDR Award to the MURAKAMI Suminao Award for Disaster Research from 2022 on. The Journal of Disaster Research will continue its best efforts “to reduce the horrors of disaster through information,” as Murakami Sensei and Takiguchi Sensei wrote in the Message from the Editors-in-Chief in the first issue of the JDR.

Interactive Learning via Digital Storytelling in Teaching and Learning

Web 2.0 based applications are becoming a way of teaching and learning tool. This study takes a systematic review to understand various studies related to digital storytelling (DS) intervention. The research found through Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) from the year 2016 to the year 2020, which included full-text articles and peer review journal articles. This study was conducted based on ten research articles. The results show that the mixed-method research and qualitative research approach were the most famous designs with four research each. The critical findings indicated that DS engages the learners, DS creates a positive learning environment, and DS increased the learner’s motivation and self-confidence. DS could help learners to learn interactively during the Covid- 19 Pandemic. Furthermore, various age groups, methodology and research design are differentiated in the studies.

Research Achievements in Relation to Maize (Zea mays L) Crop Production and Productivity in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review

Despite the conducting much number of maize researches in different centers a little change on production and productivity in Ethiopia. Hence this review aimed to indicate how a maize production and productivity have been developed and used to inform that food security concern body of the country. I researched for different papers reporting maize production achievements, databases of peer review journal articles, scholar Google and other web sites. A total of 70 papers were reviewed from which 20 papers are included and from this 51.2% describe about maize production, 34.6% describe about productivity of a crop per area and 14.2% describe about deficiency of agricultural input utilization by local farmers. The use of new crop variety and artificial fertilizers is relatively a wide spread throughout the country. However, practical application on small holder’s field has less technical support and comparatively traditional way of crop managements have been involved. Most of the research findings, particularly those from agronomic practices, indicated that Maize has wide flexibility that is suitable for production.

Preprints in times of COVID19: the time is ripe for agreeing on terminology and good practices

Over recent years, the research community has been increasingly using preprint servers to share manuscripts that are not yet peer-reviewed. Even if it enables quick dissemination of research findings, this practice raises several challenges in publication ethics and integrity. In particular, preprints have become an important source of information for stakeholders interested in COVID19 research developments, including traditional media, social media, and policy makers. Despite caveats about their nature, many users can still confuse pre-prints with peer-reviewed manuscripts. If unconfirmed but already widely shared first-draft results later prove wrong or misinterpreted, it can be very difficult to “unlearn” what we thought was true. Complexity further increases if unconfirmed findings have been used to inform guidelines. To help achieve a balance between early access to research findings and its negative consequences, we formulated five recommendations: (a) consensus should be sought on a term clearer than ‘pre-print’, such as ‘Unrefereed manuscript’, “Manuscript awaiting peer review” or ‘’Non-reviewed manuscript”; (b) Caveats about unrefereed manuscripts should be prominent on their first page, and each page should include a red watermark stating ‘Caution—Not Peer Reviewed’; (c) pre-print authors should certify that their manuscript will be submitted to a peer-review journal, and should regularly update the manuscript status; (d) high level consultations should be convened, to formulate clear principles and policies for the publication and dissemination of non-peer reviewed research results; (e) in the longer term, an international initiative to certify servers that comply with good practices could be envisaged.

Evaluation Mathematical Models in SSCM and Gap Analysis

The main purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive view of the application mathematical models in the designing and implementing SSCM beside to solving problems and making decision. The research questions are: what mathematical models are used for designing and implementing sustainable supply chain management, how to use them, which industries implemented in, what modules of SSCM depth in and finally finding the gaps of researches. The methodology of research is Systematic Literature review through peer review papers which are published in high ranking journals. In this paper, First, we search all papers through scientific data bases like Scopus, science direct, MDPI, Springer, Google Scholar, then, screening papers based on the criteria such as subject of paper, journals impact factor which is published in-should be peer review journal- and relative content of the papers. Finally, we selected 245 papers with three steps screening through 2806 papers that they have enough quality and relative to our research goals for context analysis. Through context analysis, first we categorized the information of the papers and drew the current situation of researches in the framework of our topic. Then, we evaluate and compare the goals of sustainability and current situation and found the gapes, then, offered new suggestions like implementing SSCMs models in pollutant industries like casting industry, Heavy industry, coal Industry and so on. On the other hand, there are gaps in researches in some modules of SSCM such as packaging, designing products, etc.

Publishing a Research Article: A Dialogue between the Author and the Journal

The paper addresses concerns of preparing the research article for publication in a high-ranking international journal. The paper argues how to develop the competence which is required for successful manuscript submission in the international peer-review journal. The analysis of the reasons for rejecting the manuscript submitted in international journals suggests considering a successful submission through the dialogue between the author and the discourse community of the journal selected for publication. The publication competence of the author is considered as the author’s ability to construct his/her position in the text or authorial voice. Bakhtin’s concept of voice allows interpreting authorial positioning in the dialogue with the discourse community selected for submission. While only the author’s position in the article is intentionally aligned with the epistemological, discursive, and rhetorical boundaries of the discursive community of the journal, the author’s voice may be approved by the community through publication. The approach adopted in the paper is based on Swales’ concept of discourse community and the concept of author’s positioning in academic text suggested by Ivanič. The structure of authorial positioning in the article is developed by using Schmid’s model of the narrative text. The publication competence of the author confirms his/her ability to construct authorial voice, which requires firstly determining the boundaries of the discursive community selected for publication through reading. When the author aligns his/her position in the manuscript with the community boundaries, the author’s voice is addressed to the selected community and it is able to convince the community in the validity of the researcher’s results. In conclusion, the structure of authorial positioning in the research paper is suggested for designing the curriculum of academic writing for publication purposes (ERPP) which aims at successful interactions between the author and the journal community at all stages of manuscript elaboration.

Respiratory and Cardiovascular Health Effects of E-Cigarette Substitution: Protocol for Two Living Systematic Reviews

Background: Despite the clear risks of tobacco use, millions of people continue to smoke. Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly called e-cigarettes, have been proposed as a substitute for those who are unwilling or unable to quit. Current systematic and narrative reviews on the health effects of ENDS use, respiratory and cardiovascular effects in particular, have come to differing conclusions. Objective: The purpose of our two systematic reviews is to critically assess and synthesize the available human studies on the respiratory and cardiovascular health effects of ENDS substitution for people who smoke. The primary goal is to provide clinicians with evidence on the health effects of ENDS substitution to inform their treatment recommendations and plans. The twin goal is to promote the health literacy of ENDS users with facts on the health effects of ENDS. A secondary goal is to develop policy briefs to provide governmental bodies with a preliminary assessment of the potential public health impacts of ENDS. Methods: These two reviews will be living systematic reviews. The systematic reviews will be initiated with a baseline review. Studies will be evaluated with the JBI quality assessment tools and a checklist of biases drawn from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine Catalogue of Bias. A narrative synthesis is planned due to the heterogeneity of data. A search for recently published studies will be conducted every three months, and an updated review published every six months for the duration of the project or possibly longer. Results: The baseline and updated reviews will be published in a peer review journal. The review findings will be reported in a white paper for clinicians, a fact sheet for people who use ENDS, and country-specific policy briefs. Conclusions: The substitution of ENDS for cigarettes is one of the ways to potentially reduce the risks of smoking. Clinicians and their patients need to understand the potential benefits and possible risks of substituting ENDS for cigarettes. Our living systematic reviews seek to highlight the best and most up-to-date evidence in this highly contentious and fast-moving field of research.

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Facebook as a Marketing Channel among SMEs in Nigeria as a Developing Country: A Conceptual Framework

This paper reviews empirical literature to develop a conceptual framework for the adoption of Facebook as a marketing channel by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries like Nigeria. Recent peer-review journal articles were reviewed to develop the conceptual framework for this study. Facebook provides SMEs with a cost-effective strategy for marketing their products and services to both local and international customers. However, SMEs in developing countries like Nigeria are slow in the adoption of Facebook. A literature review has revealed a lack of research on the adoption of Facebook by SMEs from the context of developing countries like Nigeria. Most of the existing studies on Facebook adoption were conducted in developed countries. Findings from such studies cannot be directly applied to SMEs in developing countries because they face different challenges. The paper proposes a conceptual framework based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework that can be empirically tested by a future researcher to determine factors influencing the intention of small and medium enterprises operating in the context of developing countries to adopt Facebook as a marketing channel to enhance their competitive advantage in the modern market. Findings from this study would be beneficial to decision-makers in Nigerian SMEs and Nigerian government agencies with responsibility for strengthening SMEs' activities in the country. It will also encourage and guide SMEs to adopt Facebook as their marketing channel.

New Beginnings:

It is Tuesday, April 2 2019. On this day, like many days, the three of us sat down to answer and craft emails. But on this day, we wrote to each other, responding to a simple question that we began to ponder: “What if we created a peer review journal of academic librarian engagement?”.

Claw Trimming as a Lameness Management Practice and the Association with Welfare and Production in Dairy Cows

Lameness resulting from claw lesions remains a pressing welfare issue in dairy cows. Claw trimming (CT) is a common practice for prevention and management of clinically lame cows. This review summarizes the results of studies that have investigated various claw trimming (CT) methods, their application in lameness management, and associations with the welfare and production of dairy cows. The papers included in this review fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: published in peer review journal or book chapter within the last 20 years (1999–2019), written in English, and focused on the application of CT for lameness management and the association with either welfare or production variables. Databases used included Google scholar, Web of Science and PubMed. A total of 748 records were assessed and 61 papers were eligible for inclusion and the main objectives and results were used to categorize the results under six topics: CT techniques, association between CT and claw overgrowth/specific claw lesions, timing and frequency of CT, association between CT and behavioral variables, association between CT and physiological parameters, and association between CT and production. The literature findings showed the existence of various CT methods with the common types including the Dutch Five-step, White Line, White Line Atlas, and Kansas techniques. There is data paucity on the efficacy of these techniques in lameness management; however, the slight procedural difference yields varying sole thicknesses and presentations which may influence their prophylactic use. Results regarding the impact of CT on welfare and production were discussed in relation to potential short and long-term benefits. Depending on the lesion type and severity level, CT may induce immediate painful sensation, stress, changes in lying down activities and reduction in milk yield, but the positive impacts were more evident at later stages of lactation following improvement in locomotion score. The majority of the reviewed studies were lacking a detailed description of CT techniques and claw health of the studied animals; thus, reducing the strength of demonstrating CT-related benefits. However, electronic recording of claw health data during every CT visit provides the basis for monitoring hoof health and could assist in curtailing some of these challenges. To elucidate CT-related benefits, certain areas requiring further research were highlighted such as ascertaining the appropriate timing for preventive CT and identifying cows that will benefit more from such intervention during lactation.