Disciplinary Norms Research Articles

Crossing disciplinary boundaries: An ethnographic exploration of academic publishing invitations.

Background: This autoethnographic study examines email invitations for health researchers to publish in journals outside their expertise, exploring implications for interdisciplinary research and knowledge production.Methods: Over three months, email invitations to publish outside the author's field were documented and analysed thematically and through reflexive journaling.Results: Five main themes in publication invitations were identified: emphasising novelty, promising rapid publication, appealing to research impact, flattering language, and persistent messaging. Reflexive analysis revealed complex factors shaping responses, including publication pressures, desires for prestige, and tensions between disciplinary norms and interdisciplinary collaboration. While invitations may present opportunities for novel collaborations, they often reflect predatory publishing practices.Conclusions: Navigating this landscape requires careful discernment, commitment to academic integrity, and reflexivity about one's positionality. The study underscores the need for researchers to critically interrogate the motivations behind such invitations. Further research could explore decision-making processes across disciplines and implications for academic publishing integrity and equity.

Multimodal Academic Discourse Socialization: Examining Geoscience Students’ Disciplinary Knowledge Construction and Socialization at a Canadian University

Abstract This ethnographic multiple-case study examines how undergraduate students are socialized into the disciplinary norms, values, and practices of a geoscience course at a Canadian university. Transcending logocentric assumptions about academic discourse, this article advances a broader domain of inquiry––multimodal academic discourse socialization––which foregrounds the polysemiotic nature of academic socialization. This approach examines not only linguistic but also a wider range of semiotic resources, including gestural, visual, material, and spatial ones, among others. To understand geoscientists’ disciplinary norms, values, and communicative practices, ethnographic data (classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, course-related artefacts) were thematically analysed. Focal students’ geoscience poster presentation performances were also analysed using multimodal interaction analysis to scrutinize micro-level instantiations of disciplinary practices. Findings highlight how students were socialized into geoscience ‘observations and interpretations’ through a recurrent multimodal classroom activity, which was also reflected in micro-level multimodal practices enacted in students’ geoscience poster presentations. This study emphasizes that multimodal enactments constitute a crucial dimension of disciplinary practices and values connected with learning to think, view, and represent knowledge as geoscientists.

Music, Sound, Politics

This article reviews literature that followed from a political turn, starting in the 1980s, when new epistemological and disciplinary norms were established for articulating music and sound with politics. In an age of impotence, when neoliberal expansion led to pervasive political exhaustion, music and sound took on added potency as political forces in and of themselves. This wager rests on the presumption of music's capacity for politicization (its entry into and effect on the sphere of normative politics) under conditions of increasing depoliticization (the constraints placed on political participation). I have organized research on the politicization of music and sound into four primary categories: resistance and dissent, identity and recognition, affect and belonging, and power and dominance. The article concludes with recent wagers on music and sound to mitigate life's perils in the present and model “otherwise” possibilities for the future.

ENHANCING SCHOOL-AGE CARE ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH POSITIVE INTERACTIONS

This research is devoted to the implementation of the School Educational Environment Rating Scale (SACERS) in Almaty schools, a project approved as a state initiative of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2023-2025. The research aims to describe the SACERS scale, which includes 48 indicators assessed on a 7-point scale and allows for evaluation of the educational environment that promotes the development of students. Research method: In this research work, a mixed method. The quantitative component included bibliometric analysis data operations using R Studio software (version 2023.3.1.446) and a Google Forms survey administered to 99 students aged 10-13. The qualitative component involved semi-structured interviews with staff, parents, and teachers, in observations, focused on the “Interactions” subscales (27-34) of the SACERS scale. Integrating the findings with broader educational research, this analysis allowed for a detailed assessment of Almaty’s school environment. A comparison of Schools A and B revealed strong disciplinary norms, positive peer interactions, and effective communication between teachers and students. These results emphasize the importance of such elements in creating a positive school environment that promotes learners’s holistic development and global achievement.

LABOR DISCIPLINE AND LABOR MARKET REGULATION ACTIVITIES

The purpose of this paper is not only to analyze the current state of the labor market in Kazakhstan but also to propose recommendations for optimizing labor policy, taking into account both current challenges and potential opportunities for sustainable development of the labor market in the country. Based on a wide range of data, including statistical indicators range of unemployment levels, legislative changes, and analysis of judicial practice, we aim to identify correlations and cause-and-effect relationships between labor discipline and market indicators. This research provides a detailed comparative analysis of the number of labor disputes and the evolution of Kazakhstan’s labor discipline legislation. Key observations include the correlation between stringent disciplinary norms and reduced unemployment, the influence of judicial practices on labor discipline, and the necessity of balancing strict discipline with fair treatment to prevent legal disputes. The findings offer valuable insights for optimizing labor policies to support sustainable labor market development in Kazakhstan.

Leveraging epistemic data agency with data visualizations to bridge the gap between data trends and personal experiences

PurposeWhile designing personally meaningful activities with data technologies can support the development of data literacies, this paper aims to focuses on the overlooked aspect of how learners navigate tensions between personal experiences and data trends.Design/methodology/approachThe authors report on an analysis of three student cases from a design study in which middle and high school youth assembled family migration stories using data visualization technologies with socioeconomic and demographic data. The authors used interaction analysis to examine how students responded to misalignments they encountered between their families’ experiences and data trends in their models, drawing on the theoretical construct of epistemic data agency.FindingsThis case analysis demonstrates ways in which students enacted epistemic data agency. Instructional support can help students deepen inquiry and avoid certain pitfalls, such as encoding data in unsound or misleading ways to support a particular story, while encouraging students to see themselves as an epistemic authority on par with data. This study opens pathways for future research that considers how data can shape personal narratives and how students can leverage their experiences in the stories they tell with data.Originality/valueThe authors introduce the construct of epistemic data agency to describe the conceptual and material practices that reveal and shape students’ relationships to the data. The descriptions of students enacting epistemic data agency in assembling data stories informs the understanding of how to better elevate and recognize students’ efforts in relation to disciplinary norms and support deeper, meaningful student learning with and about data.

Employment Discipline And the Threat of Dismissal Asregulators of the Labor Market in Kazakhstan (SDG)

Objective: This study investigates the role of unemployment as a mechanism of labor discipline in Kazakhstan. It analyzes the relationships between the official unemployment rate and the labor legislation reforms regulating labor discipline that have occurred since Kazakhstan gained independence. The manuscript outlines the developmental stages of labor legislation concerning labor discipline. Method: The research is based on a comprehensive analysis of statistical data, legislative acts, and judicial practices in Kazakhstan. Data sources include official statistics on unemployment and labor disputes, an analysis of changes in the Labor Code of Kazakhstan, and a review of judicial decisions related to disciplinary sanctions and dismissals. Results: The study reveals that strengthening disciplinary responsibility and expanding the powers of employers have significantly contributed to the decline in unemployment in Kazakhstan. These results support the hypothesis that strict labor discipline and pressure on employees can positively impact the overall labor market. However, this impact is not isolated but part of a broader set of measures. Contribution: This research provides a detailed comparative analysis of the number of labor disputes and the evolution of Kazakhstan's labor discipline legislation. Key observations include the correlation between stringent disciplinary norms and reduced unemployment, the influence of judicial practices on labor discipline, and the necessity of balancing strict discipline with fair treatment to prevent legal disputes. The findings offer valuable insights for optimizing labor policies to support sustainable labor market development in Kazakhstan. These insights align with the goals of SDG 8, which promotes sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

Spatial informality, urban regularization, and social resistance: Tianqiao as a public space for the poor, 1911–1937

ABSTRACT This study examines Tianqiao, the largest commercial and entertainment centre, which underwent a significant transformation into the most popular public space in Republican Beijing. Spatial informality has often been overlooked in planning history, due to its deviation from traditional disciplinary norms, tools, and materials, yet it can offer valuable insights into Chinese urban public spaces and their social values. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including government documents, newspapers, social surveys, and personal records, this paper elucidates how everyday life and popular culture emerged as effective strategies for the poor population to exert their political power and passively resist the state's incomplete urban regularization efforts. This exemplifies a distinct type of Chinese public space that acts as a mediator between the state and society, particularly from a bottom-up perspective of urban modernization.

Writing book reviews: Perceptions and experiences of Chinese novice scholars

Writing book reviews provides novice scholars with the valuable experience of critical engagement with their field and the development of academic writing skills, but it also confronts them with rhetorical and publishing challenges. Given the enduring value of the genre and its potential importance in English for Research and Publication Purposes courses, we investigate how academics view their experience of publishing this genre. Based on in-depth interviews with fifteen Chinese scholars of varied professional status, we find that authors participate in writing book reviews early in their careers and appreciate the opportunities it offers to develop their academic writing, gain an appreciation of reader needs, become familiar with publication practices, and advance their careers. Concerns were raised, however, about the extent to which institutions value book reviews for advancement. Despite varying opinions, the respondents saw book reviews as affording them tangible gains, especially early in their careers, in writing for publication and learning disciplinary norms of communication. Thus the genre merits respect from institutions and a more central place in ERPP training programmes and postgraduate writing courses.

Beliefs, Values, and Practices in Development Studies

This article uses a survey of Development Studies (DS) professors and students in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom to answer three questions about academic DS. DS is defined in part by a commitment to improve the world, and the first questions ask if the respondents believe that DS lives up to this defining criteria. The second group of questions asks about the ethical commitments of DS academics and how these commitments inform our research and teaching. Finally, I explore cross-national variation in how we practice DS. I ask about the methods, training, and disciplinary norms of DS academics across the three countries. In asking about beliefs, values, and practices and in exploring cross-national variation in our answers, I seek to both build self-knowledge about DS academics as a cross-national epistemic community and also to encourage self-reflection about how we can harmonise our empirical beliefs, ethical commitments, and professional practices.

Diversifying laboratory assessment modes broadens engagement with practical competencies in life science students.

Laboratory practicals in life science subjects are traditionally assessed by written reports that reflect disciplinary norms for documenting experimental activities. However, the exclusive application of this assessment has the potential to engage only a narrow range of competencies. In this study, we explored how multiple modes of laboratory assessment might affect student perceptions of learned skills in a life science module. We hypothesized that while a mixture of assessments may not impact student summative performance, it might positively influence student perceptions of different skills that varied assessments allowed them to practice. This was informed by universal design for learning and teaching for understanding frameworks. In our study, in a third-year Bioscience program, written reports were complemented with group presentations and online quizzes via Moodle. Anonymous surveys evaluated whether this expanded portfolio of assessments promoted awareness of, and engagement with, a broader range of practical competencies. Aspects that influenced student preferences in assessment mode included time limitations, time investment, ability to practice new skills, links with lecture material, and experience of assessment anxiety. In particular, presentations were highlighted as promoting collaboration and communication and the quiz as an effective means of diversifying assessment schedules. A key takeaway from students was that while reports were important, an overreliance on them was detrimental. This study suggests that undergraduate life science students can benefit significantly from a holistic assessment strategy that complements reports with performance-based approaches that incorporate broader competencies and allow for greater student engagement and expression in undergraduate modules.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study suggests that undergraduate life science students can benefit significantly from a holistic assessment strategy that complements reports with performance-based approaches that incorporate broader competencies and allow for greater student engagement and expression in undergraduate modules.

Understanding academia-industry collaboration in a developing economic environment: Determinants and implications from Bariloche, Argentina

This study examines the determinants of academia-industry collaboration (AIC) in the context of Bariloche, Argentina, and provides valuable insights into collaboration dynamics in a developing economy. Using a quantitative research approach, data was collected through a survey administered to academic researchers in Bariloche. The survey included questions on researcher characteristics, organizational attributes, and disciplinary norms, which were then tested through eight hypotheses related to factors influencing AIC. Data analysis, including descriptive and inferential statistics, revealed significant relationships between independent variables (e.g., prior career experience, organizational affiliation, disciplinary norms) and researchers’ involvement in AIC. The study’s limitations, such as reliance on self-reported data and non-probabilistic sampling, are acknowledged. Nevertheless, the findings contribute to the understanding of AIC in Bariloche and have implications for promoting effective academia-industry partnerships. Future research should consider longitudinal studies and explore additional factors to inform evidence-based policies in developing economies.

Life scientists’ experience with posting preprints during the COVID-19 pandemic

AbstractIn the COVID-19 pandemic, it was much more critical for many life science researchers to rapidly disseminate research results—so they used preprints as upstream publication opportunities. This was rather new to the life sciences where preprint servers had only appeared as early as 2013. With a mixed-methods-study we examined this development and investigated whether preprint posting is a temporary phenomenon or the beginning of a cultural shift in publishing behavior in the life sciences. First, we conducted a survey of researchers who have posted COVID-19 related preprints. We investigated experiences with posting preprints during the COVID-19 pandemic, motivations for and concerns about posting preprints, the role of research institutions or funders, and the future of preprint publishing. Answers were grouped to compare differences between respondents’ gender, career stage, region of origin (global south or global north) and experience with posting preprints before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We further analyzed eight popular preprint repositories regarding the number of posted preprints and preprint characteristics, such as the number of authors and citations. Interestingly, survey and preprint server analysis have presented different, if not contradicting results: While the majority of surveyed researchers was willing to continue posting preprints, the numbers of preprints published, especially on servers for the life sciences, have stagnated or declined. Also, while certain preprints garnered substantial citations during the COVID-19 pandemic, this has not resulted in a significant shift in researchers’ publishing behavior, and the posting of preprints has not become a routine. We concluded that the sustainability of preprint publishing practices is more strongly influenced by disciplinary norms and practices than by external shocks as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do universities support solutions-oriented collaborative research? Constraints to wicked problems scholarship in higher education

Questions abound over how universities should teach and prepare the next generation of researchers to confront current and future wicked problems. With so much focus on curriculum and training, it is crucial that we step back and reflect on higher education’s capabilities to foster solution-oriented, collaborative research. What do the institutional incentive structures in higher education support, in terms of practices and outputs related to scholarship? And are those structures felt evenly across the academy? Those doing research in these spaces—in terms of title, autonomy, power, privilege, and status—vary widely by their institutional locations as well as in terms of their ties to broader disciplinary norms. To assess whether these dynamic, contested institutional landscapes afford so-called wicked problem scholarship, this paper draws from survey and interview data collected from 44 researchers working at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems at Carnegie Research 1 universities in the United States. Findings point to an uneven institutional landscape, which is shown to shape in different ways the type of solutions-oriented, collaborative scholarship fostered across the five positions examined. The paper concludes by reflecting on the paper’s findings, particularly in terms of what the data tell us about higher education as a place that fosters wicked problems scholarship, while also highlighting the study’s limitations.

Disrupting Disciplinary Norms and Advocating for Feminist Solidarity through Coalition Building, Healing Justice Lineages, and Collective Care

Disrupting Disciplinary Norms and Advocating for Feminist Solidarity through Coalition Building, Healing Justice Lineages, and Collective Care

Legal research as a collective enterprise: an examination of data availability in empirical legal scholarship

Abstract While most social sciences confronted data sharing, transparency, and reproducibility sometime in the last two decades, the legal academy has largely been absent from these discussions. In this study, we examine the degree to which the information underlying empirical studies is available. Using an original dataset of every empirical study published in top law journals from 2010 to 2022, we find that 15% have a dataset that is readily available. We compare these low rates with a dataset of every empirical article published in the top economics, political science, and interdisciplinary journals from 2018 to 2022. The vast majority of these articles (99%) make their data available. Additional analysis demonstrates that disciplinary norms enforced by journals drive when authors make their data available. Given the discrepancy between law and other social sciences, we advocate for a disciplinary and cultural shift in law that embraces data accessibility and identify concrete steps to improve data availability. (JEL K00, K1, K10)

Book review: Crossing borders, writing texts, being evaluated: cultural and disciplinary norms in academic writing by Anne Golden, Lars Anders Kulbrandstad and Lawrence Zhang.

In the context of globalization, the demand for English academic writing instruction at the higher education level is experiencing exponential growth. Consequently, it is crucial to conduct research that transcends national, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries in order to address this pressing need. However, there is a scarcity of research examining the intricate and diverse nature of English academic writing instruction across a wide array of national, cultural, and disciplinary contexts, highlighting an area that calls for further investigation. In response to this gap, Anne Golden, Lars Anders Kulbrandstad, and Lawrence Jun Zhang have collaborated as editors on a comprehensive volume titled "Crossing Borders, Writing Texts, Being Evaluated: Cultural and Disciplinary Norms in Academic Writing." This collection aims to inform educators and researchers about the challenges encountered in multilingual contexts of academic writing and propose empirically substantiated solutions and coping strategies. This article provides a summary of each chapter of the volume, highlights notable features, and offers constructive criticism by identifying areas for improvement. Overall, the authors' adeptness in unraveling the complexity and diversity of English academic writing instruction permeates the entire book. Their utilization of empirical studies, insightful findings, practical recommendations, and consideration of diverse contexts all enable their contributions to the field of English academic writing instruction. Consequently, this book serves as an indispensable resource for researchers, educators, and graduate students who seek guidance in navigating the intricacies of teaching and learning academic writing in multilingual contexts.

A Reading of Friedrich A. Kittler’s Reading of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Der Goldene Topf” (The Golden Pot) in Aufschreibesysteme 1800/1900 (Discourse Networks 1800/1900)

Friedrich A. Kittler’s canonical Aufschreibesysteme 1800/1900 (Discourse Networks 1800/1900) threatened the very idea of the canonicity of German literature. Yet Kittler’s readings systematically dismiss, mishear, and distort foreign voices who resist and cannot easily fit into his rigid theoretical framework. This discursive strategy is most apparent in his formative reading of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1814 “Der Goldene Topf: Ein Märchen aus der neuen Zeit” (The Golden Pot: A Fairy Tale for the Modern Age). Despite its erasures and repressions of difference, his reading of this text has had a largely positive reception. A re-reading of his formative reading is thus long overdue. By closely analyzing Kittler’s interpretation of Hoffmann’s text, this article demonstrates that Kittler's expressed claim to challenge a canonical approach to German literature and his disruptions of disciplinary norms and behavioral conventions mask his fundamental affiliation with processes of canonization.

Waving through a window: Agricultural research faculty perspectives on science communication challenges.

This qualitative study explores agriculture research faculty's challenges with participating in Science Communication. To explore the challenges shared by faculty, we utilized the proposed Faculty Science Communication Engagement Framework, which identifies three dimensions that may cause challenges for faculty Science Communication work: personal, professional, and institutional. During interviews with 11 research faculty, we identified Science Communication challenges within these dimensions. Participant challenges within the personal dimension include allocation of time, the learning curve, audience familiarity, and mass-media concern. Professional dimension challenges were "it's not my job" and disciplinary norms, while challenges within the institutional dimension included a lack of support and resources. Across these dimensions, faculty challenges revolved around the time required to invest in Science Communication activities, the needed resources (personnel, technology, and financial), the value placed on efforts by their academic institution, and the lack of knowledge regarding Science Communication techniques and audience. These findings are described through rich data, and practical recommendations are provided for fostering future Science Communication engagement and interest among faculty. These include Science Communication training focused on specific content areas, hands-on training and support with Science Communication technologies, including Extension and non-Extension faculty in training sessions, creating structured and strategically implemented shared Science Communication resources at the institutional level, including Science Communication efforts in university strategic planning, and awarding and recognizing faculty who utilize Science Communication successfully.

DISCIPLINARY LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH THE EMPLOYEE’S GUILTY ACTIONS

This research provides a detailed comparative analysis of the number of labor disputes and the evolution of Kazakhstan’s labor discipline legislation. Key observations include the correlation between stringent disciplinary norms and reduced unemployment, the influence of judicial practices on labor dis-cipline, and the necessity of balancing strict discipline with fair treatment to prevent legal disputes. The findings offer valuable insights for optimizing labor policies to support sustainable labor market develop-ment in Kazakhstan. These insights align with the goals of SDG 8, which promotes sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.The purpose of this paper is not only to analyze the current state of the labor market in Kazakhstan but also to propose recommendations for optimizing labor policy, taking into account both current challenges and potential opportunities for sustainable development of the labor market in the country. Based on a wide range of data, including statistical indicators range of unemployment levels, legislative changes, and analysis of judicial practice, we aim to identify correlations and cause-and-effect relation-ships between labor discipline and market indicators.