Expressing Lesser Relevance in Academic Conference Presentations

While marking importance and relevance in academic discourse has been a widely researched topic, markers of lesser significance have so far been understudied. The article therefore focuses on some of the discoursal means of expressing lesser importance in conference presentations. The corpus of the study comprises recordings of 20 presentations in English at international linguistics conferences by speakers of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The methodology follows Deroey and Taverniers’s (2012) study of lecture discourse, whereby depending on the way lesser importance is expressed, the markers are grouped under five categories. Their methodology is checked against the data provided by the transcriptions of the conference recordings to ascertain the extent to which it is applicable to other spoken academic genres. The ultimate objective is to provide steppingstones for interpreting information and distinguishing between what is important and relevant and less so in conference presentations, as well as for the identification of presenters’ motivation for employing this type of metadiscourse.

Direct-to-Caregivers Research Dissemination: A Novel Approach to Targeting End-Users

Dissemination of geriatrics research usually occurs through conference presentations or publications viewed by colleagues in the same field. Older adults and their family caregivers have limited direct access to research findings. We sought to pilot a direct-to-caregiver workshop with the intent to disseminate geriatrics research directly to family caregivers of older adults. As part of an academic national conference, an ‘Updates in Geriatrics Research’ workshop is presented as a compilation of innovative research published in the prior year. We distilled workshop content into a lay format which was presented to family caregivers at two community-based caregiver symposiums. Mixed method surveys were completed by family caregiver attendees with open-ended responses analyzed using content and constant-comparative techniques. Of the 29 survey respondents, all were female, mean age 58.9 yrs. (range 52-72), providing care to older adults, mean age 87.2 years (range 66-97). Respondents unanimously identified learning information pertinent to their care recipient. When asked: Do you feel that direct-to-caregiver research dissemination is useful, all respondents selected yes. Open-ended responses for reasons why revealed two main themes: 1.) Creating informed caregivers: “Caregivers need this information in their toolbox.” and 2.) Empowering caregiver-advocates: “The more we know, the better we can advocate for our loved ones and challenge their health care.” Respondents all planned on sharing information with others, specifically family, friends, and physicians. In conclusion, disseminating geriatrics research direct-to-caregivers is feasible. Researchers, who present their work for scientific conferences, should consider translating their findings into presentations for community-based family caregivers.

‘Indexing Unlimited’: the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI) Virtual Conference 2021

‘Indexing unlimited’ was the theme for the online conference hosted by the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI) on 27-9 May 2021. We combine three reports on the conference from Canada and Germany to provide an overview not only of the conference presentations but also of the experience of planning for and attending a virtual conference in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Development of a self-reported reflective tool on advanced access to support primary healthcare providers: study protocol of a mixed-method research design using an e-Delphi survey

IntroductionTimely access is one of the cornerstones of strong primary healthcare (PHC). New models to increase timely access have emerged across the world, including advanced access (AA). Recently in Quebec, Canada, the AA model has spread widely across the province. The model has largely been implemented by PHC professionals with important variations; however, a tool to assess their practice improvement within AA is lacking. The general objective of this study is to develop a self-reported online reflective tool that will guide PHC professionals’ reflection on their individual AA practice and formulation of recommendations for improvement. Specific objectives are: (1) operationalisation of the pillars and subpillars of AA; (2) development of a self-reported questionnaire; and (3) evaluation of the psychometrics.Methods and analysisThe pillars composing Murray’s model of AA will first be reviewed in collaboration with PHC professional and stakeholders, patients and researchers in a face-to-face meeting, with the goal to establish consensus on the pillars and subpillars of AA. Leading from these definitions, items will be identified for evaluation through an e-Delphi consultation. Three rounds are planned in 2020–2021 with a group of 20–25 experts. A repository of recommendations on how to improve one’s AA practice will be populated based on the literature and enriched by our experts throughout the consultation. Median and measures of dispersions will be used to evaluate agreement. The resulting tool will then be evaluated by PHC professionals for psychometrics in 2021–2022.Ethics and disseminationThe Centre Intégré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Centre Scientific Research Committee approved the protocol, and the Research Ethics Board provided ethics approval (2020-441, CP 980475). Dissemination plan is a mix of community diffusion through and for our partners and to the scientific community including peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Journal of Health, Sports, and Kinesiology

JOHSK 2021, Volume 2, Issue 3 (s), including conference presentations and abstracts.

Documentation and dissemination of scientific evidence by the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program: experiences and lessons learnt, 2015–2020

Background During participation in Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP) residents/fellows generate scientific evidence from the various public health projects they are engaged in. However, this evidence is not sufficiently disseminated to influence policy and practice. We describe the processes through which evidence is disseminated, and share achievements and lessons learnt during the first 5 years of the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP). Methods The PHFP is a 2-year, full-time, non-degree fellowship, and the first post-masters FETP in Africa for mid-career public health professionals. Fellows gain competencies in seven main domains, which are demonstrated by deliverables while learning through service delivery, 80% of the time within Ministry of Health and related agencies. Generated public health evidence is disseminated immediately through sharing of daily situation reports with the National Task Force for Epidemic Preparedness and Response, as well as regional and district levels. Information is also disseminated on an intermediate to long-term basis through newspaper articles, epidemiological bulletins, abstracts and conference presentations, and publications in scientific journals. Results During 2015–2020, PHFP enrolled 80 fellows in seven cohorts, including five of whom who had graduated. Overall, 355 field projects had been implemented. Additionally, PHFP made 287 conference presentations including 108 international and 178 national conferences. Altogether, the Uganda PHFP has received 7 awards, 4 of these for excellent scientific presentations during conferences. By end of 2020, PHFP had written 147 manuscripts at different stages of peer review, including 53 publications; and published 153 epidemiological bulletins. Dissemination performance was limited by delays due to challenges like non-adherence to product clearance guidelines, limited persons to conduct product review, and limited expertise on certain scientific areas, authorship related issues, and competing priorities among fellows, staff, and alumni. Conclusions The PHFP has disseminated public health evidences through various means to a wider range of audiences within Uganda and globally. Manuscript publication and monitoring of actions taken as a result of evidence dissemination is still limited. We recommend putting in place mechanisms to facilitate publication of all scientific evidence and deliberate efforts to ensure and monitor scientific evidence utilization.

Patients’ and psychiatrists’ perspectives on clozapine treatment—a scoping review protocol

IntroductionThe atypical antipsychotic clozapine has shown superior efficacy compared with other antipsychotics and is the gold standard for treating otherwise treatment resistant schizophrenia. However, multiple studies have found that clozapine is underutilised in most parts of the world. A few reviews of literature addressing barriers to clozapine prescribing have been conducted. While there is some variation in the literature included in these reviews, a common feature of the studies included is that they primarily focus on clinical staff’s attitudes and perceived barriers for prescribing. Studies of patient perspectives are only sparsely included. A preliminary literature search revealed though, that additional literature on the subject exists, including literature on patient perspectives. It is therefore difficult to conclude if the formerly synthesised literature is representative of current evidence or if the topic has been adequately investigated to inform clinical practice. A scoping review is warranted in order to map and synthesise primary literature on patients’ and psychiatrists’ perspectives on clozapine treatment, and to identify gaps for future research.Methods and analysisThe electronic databases Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, Psychinfo, MEDLINE and EMBASE will be searched for relevant publications, supplied with searches of Google scholar, The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and OpenGrey. Citation tracking of selected studies will furthermore be undertaken. Two researchers will independently screen and extract data. Data will be collated to provide a descriptive summary of the literature, along with a qualitative content analysis of key findings. Identified gaps in research will be accompanied by recommendations for future investigations.Ethics and disseminationFindings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and conference presentations. The scoping review does not require ethics approval.

International Law As We Know It

International legal scholars tend to think of their work as the interpretation of rules: the application of a law 'out there' to concrete situations. This book takes a different approach to that scholarship: it views doctrine as a socio-linguistic practice. In other words, this book views legal scholars not as law-appliers, but as constructing knowledge within a particular academic discipline. By means of three close-ups of the discourse on cyberwar and international law, this book shows how international legal knowledge is constructed in ways usually overlooked: by means of footnotes, for example, or conference presentations. In so doing, this book aims to present a new way of seeing international legal scholarship: one that pays attention to the mundane parts of international legal texts and provides a different understanding of how international law as we know it comes about.

Value of a Core Research Module in the Medical Curriculum

Introduction: Application of research methods to medical research is a key skill that students should acquire during medical school. The value of a mandatory research module for students in terms of their understanding of medical research and the academic outputs that arise from the module are yet to be evaluated, especially compared to research undertaken through different avenues. Method: Sheffield Medical Students were invited to complete a questionnaire on their thoughts of the research module, any academic outputs that arose from the module and any further research that they had undertaken outside the module. Ordinal regression analysis was used to assess for differences between groups’ answers to the Likert scales. Results: 101 students answered the questionnaire. 72.3% of students agreed that the module increased their knowledge of medical research, while fewer students agreed that it increased their interest in research and desire to undertake further research. Undergraduates agreed that the module increased their knowledge more than postgraduates (p = 0.048). There were no differences between the type of research project undertaken and students’ opinions of the module. Students gained more academic outputs, i.e. journal submissions and conference presentations, from research undertaken outside of the module. Discussion: This research found that students’ main benefit from the module was increased knowledge of medical research, in agreement with previous studies. Limitations of the study included gaining no information on respondents’ age and previous research experience, which may have had an impact on their opinion of the research module.