Double-blind Review Research Articles

SIGIR Community Survey on Preprint Services

Recently, there has been a growing number of questions about the relationship between preprints and double-blind peer-review at the SIGIR conference. These questions come from authors who wish to post papers which are under review to preprint servers such as arXiv.org, as well as reviewers who become aware of author identities through such postings, and are subsequently, unsure of how to proceed in a double-blind review process. A review of current conference publication guidelines was conducted, along with a survey of SIGIR community members to gain insight about their behaviors, practices and opinions. The paper presents results of this survey, as well as recommendations about submission and review policies for the SIGIR conference.

Message from Editor

It is a great honor for us to publish Volume 8, No 2 of Global Journal of Information Technology: Emerging Technologies.
 
 Global Journal of Information Technology: Emerging Technologies focuses on contemporary research addressing Information technology including emerging technologies, strategy, change, infrastructure, human resources, sourcing, system development and implementation, communications, technology developments, technology futures, national policies and standards. The journal also publishes articles that advance our understanding and application of research approaches and methods covering information technology, its evolution and future prospects. It is intended to be a multi-disciplinary international journal aimed at revealing results of research on information technology.
 Articles focusing on Barriers to adopting e-commerce with small to mid-sized enterprises-SMEs in developed countries: an exploratory study in Australia, Building artificial neural networks to predict direction and magnitude of wind, current and wave for sailing vessels, Analysing Bangladeshi Consumers’ Satisfaction and Preferences of E-banking Services in Small to Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs), The economic benefits of Cloud-based e-commerce in Indian service SMBs have been included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. You can make sure that we will be trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge in which different kinds of topics are discussed in each volume and issue.
 A total number of twelve (19) manuscripts were submitted for this issue and each paper has been subjected to double-blind peer review process bythe reviewers specialized in the related field. At the end of the review process, a total number of four (4) high quality research papers were selected and accepted for publication.
 We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue. Best regards,Prof. Dr. Dogan Ibrahim Editor – in Chief

Introduction to the special issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

Introduction to the special issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

Uptake and outcome of manuscripts in Nature journals by review model and author characteristics

BackgroundDouble-blind peer review has been proposed as a possible solution to avoid implicit referee bias in academic publishing. The aims of this study are to analyse the demographics of corresponding authors choosing double-blind peer review and to identify differences in the editorial outcome of manuscripts depending on their review model.MethodsData includes 128,454 manuscripts received between March 2015 and February 2017 by 25 Nature-branded journals. We investigated the uptake of double-blind review in relation to journal tier, as well as gender, country, and institutional prestige of the corresponding author. We then studied the manuscripts’ editorial outcome in relation to review model and author’s characteristics. The gender (male, female, or NA) of the corresponding authors was determined from their first name using a third-party service (Gender API). The prestige of the corresponding author’s institutions was measured from the data of the Global Research Identifier Database (GRID) by dividing institutions in three prestige groups with reference to the 2016 Times Higher Education (THE) ranking. We employed descriptive statistics for data exploration, and we tested our hypotheses using Pearson’s chi-square and binomial tests. We also performed logistic regression modelling with author update, out-to-review, and acceptance as response, and journal tier, author gender, author country, and institution as predictors.ResultsAuthor uptake for double-blind submissions was 12% (12,631 out of 106,373). We found a small but significant association between journal tier and review type (p value < 0.001, Cramer’s V = 0.054, df = 2). We had gender information for 50,533 corresponding authors and found no statistically significant difference in the distribution of peer review model between males and females (p value = 0.6179). We had 58,920 records with normalised institutions and a THE rank, and we found that corresponding authors from the less prestigious institutions are more likely to choose double-blind review (p value < 0.001, df = 2, Cramer’s V = 0.106). In the ten countries with the highest number of submissions, we found a large significant association between country and review type (p value < 0.001, df = 10, Cramer’s V = 0.189). The outcome both at first decision and post review is significantly more negative (i.e. a higher likelihood for rejection) for double-blind than single-blind papers (p value < 0.001, df = 1, Cramer’s V = 0.112 for first decision; p value < 0.001; df = 1, Cramer’s V = 0.082 for post-review decision).ConclusionsThe proportion of authors that choose double-blind review is higher when they submit to more prestigious journals, they are affiliated with less prestigious institutions, or they are from specific countries; the double-blind option is also linked to less successful editorial outcomes.

Clinical Research Informatics: Contributions from 2017.

Summary Objectives: To summarize key contributions to current research in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) and to select best papers published in 2017. Method: A bibliographic search using a combination of MeSH descriptors and free terms on CRI was performed using PubMed, followed by a double-blind review in order to select a list of candidate best papers to be then peer-reviewed by external reviewers. A consensus meeting between the two section editors and the editorial team was organized to finally conclude on the selection of best papers. Results: Among the 741 returned papers published in 2017 in the various areas of CRI, the full review process selected five best papers. The first best paper reports on the implementation of consent management considering patient preferences for the use of de-identified data of electronic health records for research. The second best paper describes an approach using natural language processing to extract symptoms of severe mental illness from clinical text. The authors of the third best paper describe the challenges and lessons learned when leveraging the EHR4CR platform to support patient inclusion in academic studies in the context of an important collaboration between private industry and public health institutions. The fourth best paper describes a method and an interactive tool for case-crossover analyses of electronic medical records for patient safety. The last best paper proposes a new method for bias reduction in association studies using electronic health records data. Conclusions: Research in the CRI field continues to accelerate and to mature, leading to tools and platforms deployed at national or international scales with encouraging results. Beyond securing these new platforms for exploiting large-scale health data, another major challenge is the limitation of biases related to the use of “real-world” data. Controlling these biases is a prerequisite for the development of learning health systems.

ABORDAGEM ETNOGRÁFICA: UMA METODOLOGIA, MUITAS POSSIBILIDADES DE USO EM PESQUISAS

This editorial for this special issue of Brazilian Journal of Education, Technology and Society (BRAJETS), in partnership with the 6th Ibero-American Congress on Qualitative Research (CIAIQ2017), has its guiding principle the ethnography, methodology that permeates the content of the six (06) articles in the extended versions of the papers selected and invited by the scientific / organizing committee of CIAIQ2017, which address issues of education and health. This special issue of BRAJETS has as its central theme the theme "Ethnographic Approach: A methodology, many possibilities of use in research". This partnership between CIAIQ and BRAJETS seeks to promote and disseminate qualitative research to the scientific community in the target areas of this Journal which are: education, technology and society. In order to provide quality and representativeness of the articles published in this journal, we made sure that all underwent a double-blind review process, which uses the services of a scientific committee composed of experienced, qualified and extremely active researchers in their respective areas of activity. In the light of the above, we invite everyone to enjoy a good reading of this special issue of BRAJETS, and that it can contribute with inspirations and ideas for the writing and execution of future research, work and papers.

Peer Review and the PJOHNS: Principles, Problems, and Promise

Peer Review and the PJOHNS: Principles, Problems, and Promise

Topical Aloe Vera Gel for Accelerated Wound Healing of Split-Thickness Skin Graft Donor Sites: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial and Systematic Review.

Aloe vera has been used to treat wounds since ancient times. However, data regarding the efficacy of aloe vera for burns and split-thickness skin graft donor sites are inconclusive. A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted. Patients who underwent split-thickness skin graft harvesting from the thigh were included. Split-thickness skin graft donor sites were divided into two groups: the aloe vera group and the placebo group. The visual analogue scale score was used to evaluate pain, and complete epithelialization was assessed. The authors searched electronic databases and included only international clinical trials published in the English language. Twelve patients with 24 donor sites participated. Times to complete epithelization for the aloe vera and placebo groups were 11.5 ± 1.45 and 13.67 ± 1.61 days, respectively (p < 0.05). Visual analogue scale scores after wound dressing for the aloe vera and placebo groups were 17.18 ± 13.17 and 18.63 ± 11.20, respectively. No statistical significance was found between groups. Five articles met the inclusion criteria: four involved burns and one involved split-thickness skin graft donor sites. Three studies of burn wounds demonstrated improved epithelization and one did not. The split-thickness skin graft donor-site study indicated that wound healing time for the control group was significantly different from that of the aloe vera and placebo groups. The healing rate was not statistically different between groups. Topical aloe vera gel significantly demonstrated accelerated split-thickness skin graft donor-site healing but did not show significant pain relief. Therapeutic, I.

2018 5th International Conference on Advanced Composite Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

PrefaceThe organizing committee of ACMME 2018 is proud to present the proceedings of the 2018 5th International Conference on Advanced Composite Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (ACMME 2018: http://www.icacmme.org), held on June 16-17, 2018 in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China.ACMME 2018 intends to be a global forum for researchers and engineers to present and discuss recent innovations and new techniques related to materials engineering, in particular, advances in composite materials, materials processing engineering, functional materials and manufacturing engineering, as well as their analytical techniques and related environmental issues.ACMME 2018 received more than 480 manuscripts, and less than 450 submissions have been accepted by our reviewers. By submitting a paper to ACMME 2018, the authors agreed to the review process and understood that papers would undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts were reviewed by qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committee. All papers were reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declared their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers did not know each other’s identities, nor did the authors receive information about who had reviewed their manuscript.The committees of ACMME 2018 invested great efforts in reviewing the papers submitted to the conference and organizing the sessions to enable the participants to gain maximum benefit. We do believe your great participation will make our conference success and we would appreciate your participation.We express our heartfelt thanks to IOP publishing house. Hopefully, all participants and other interested readers will benefit or find inspirations from this proceeding.With our warmest regards,Conference Organizing ChairXishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

2nd International Symposium on Resource Exploration and Environmental Science

PrefaceThis proceeding includes original and peer-reviewed research papers from 2018 the 2nd International Symposium on Resource Exploration and Environmental Science (REES 2018). REES 2018 will be held on April 28-29, 2018 in Ordos, China.The REES 2018 conference had four main topics: 1). Resource Exploration and Utilization, Geography and Geological Engineering; 2). Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development; 3). Energy, Power, Electrical Engineering and Related Technologies; 4). Chemical Science and Biochemical Engineering. REES 2018 was a platform for presenting excellent results and new challenges facing the field of earth and environmental sciences, resources and environmental engineering, energy and electricity engineering and related topics. It brought together experts from industry, governments and academia, experienced in engineering, design and research.REES 2018 received 1832 manuscripts, and 576 submissions had been accepted by our reviewers and the press. By submitting a paper to REES 2018, the authors agreed to the review process and understood that papers undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts were reviewed by appropriately qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committees, who gave detailed comments and-if the submission was accepted the authors would submit a revised version that took into account this feedback. All papers were reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declared their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers did not know each other’s identities, nor did the authors receive information about who had reviewed their manuscript. The Committees of REES 2018 invested great efforts in reviewing the papers submitted to the conference and organizing the sessions to enable the participants to gain maximum benefit.Hopefully, all participants and other interested readers will benefit scientifically from the proceedings and also find it stimulating in the process.With our warmest regards,Lin LiuConference Organizing ChairWuhan, China

Preface

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 1st International Conference on Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy (ICMMRE 2017) organised by Mechanical Engineering Department, SMIT, Majitar, East Sikkim from 8-10 December 2017. The proceedings of the conference will be published by IOP publishing house. All the submitted papers are gone through double blind review before accepting them in the conference. In this conference there will be two plenary talks followed by five keynote lectures. These will be subsequently followed by 18 parallel technical sessions. The speakers/experts for plenary and keynote address are drawn from academic and R&D organisations. The aim of the conference is to provide a common platform for Students, Researchers, Practicing Engineers, Academicians, Industry Professionals and Participants to share their recent research work and to explore upcoming trends in various fields of Mechanical, Materials and Renewable Energy. We also wish to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to the International Advisory committee, National Advisory committee, Reviewer committee and all those who are directly or indirectly involved in organising this International Conference. We also like to express our deep appreciation to eminent personalities like Prof. A. B. Chattopadhyay, Prof. P. Muthukumar, Dr. A. Sreekumar, Dr. Amitanshu Pattanaik, Prof. B. K. Mandal, Prof S. Ghosh and Dr. Chandramohan V.P who have accepted our request to deliver keynote talks in the conference. Also we would like to thank all the sponsers namely DRDO, NHPC Stage V, Union Bank of India Majitar, Pankaj fuel pump Majitar for propiving the necessary fund to organize the conference. We are also thankful to all the authors who contributed their research papers to this conference without whom one cannot think of this type of mega conference. We also acknowledge the contribution of all session/program chairs without whom it won’t be possible to conduct the technical sessions.Our sincere thanks to the honourable Vice Chancellor (SMU), Registrar (SMU), Director and all the staff members of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology for providing the logistics, technical, administrative and financial support to make ICMMRE2017 a grand success. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all organising committee members and student Volunteers, for making ICMMRE2017 a grand success. Our sincere thanks to IOP publishing house for accepting the request to publish the conference proceedings of ICMMRE 2017.

Review of Peer review: Reform and Renewal in Scientific Publishing

Peer Review: Reform and Renewal in Scientific Publishing offers a useful overview of the processes of peer review in scholarly journal publication. The book is engaging and accessible. Peer Review provides helpful descriptions of different varieties of peer review, such as single blind, double blind, and open review, and describes challenges the practice faces. Peer Review misses its mark when it begins to suggest improvements for the peer review process. No automation or reviewer training will guarantee validity in publication.

Effectiveness of anonymization in double-blind review

Assessing the effectiveness of anonymization in the review process.

Editors' Note

Editors' Note Dane Alivarius, Undergraduate Editor-in-Chief and Cristine Pedersen, Graduate Editor-in-Chief There have been only a handful of seminal moments in human history in which the gravity of change, be it the evolution of a commodity or of an idea, has had such revolutionary ramifications as that of the cyber and technological advancements of the past half century. Enhanced technological systems have altered the way humans communicate, trade, and war. Nearly every genre of human pursuit has been forced to adapt to this new digital era, for the best and for the worst. States have seen unparalleled growth, buoyed by the exploitation of technologies. Financial capital is transferred in seconds, peace is monitored from thousands of miles away, activists spur demonstrations for expanded liberties, and indicators testing child mortality and water sanitation are formulated to combat poverty and destitution. Yet, even as the world has seen progress without precedent, the cyber revolution has been harnessed toward pernicious ends. Authoritarian regimes spy on a shackled citizenry, nefarious hackers pose critical threats to national security, and the political, economic, and ethical norms undergirding our societies have dissolved to anachronism. In short, technology has changed the very nature of how states interact with each other and how the individuals that comprise them interact with the world. With the utilization of cyber technologies, the world has grown ever more connected. To this end, the intelligent application of foreign policy has played no more serious role than in today's time. As academics, researchers, policymakers, and students of the world, it is our prerogative to delve deep into cyber and its vast implications. In this edition of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs we strove to comprehend this seismic shift. Articles from our nation's, and the world's, leading scholars on cyber-related matters tackle issues concerning governance, security, economics, and human rights. Authors with long careers serving our country explain specifically what the United States must do to take full advantage of the cyber revolution. This insight is laudable. The diligent work of the Journal staff for researching, thoroughly editing, and organizing double-blind peer reviews for the production of this edition is equally praiseworthy. Ultimately, understanding cyber's, and more generally technology's, position in this altered era will prove eminently consequential in who sees the greatest returns from its employ. Subsequently, those who choose not to grapple with technology in the administration of their local, national, and international policies will surely fall victim to it. The print Journal is the creation of over forty dedicated Georgetown students in conjunction with deans Jennifer Long and Anthony Arend and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Enjoy reading this 19th volume. May the world be better informed by its contents. [End Page 1] Copyright © 2018 Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University except when otherwise expressly indicated

2017 3rd International Conference on Environmental Science and Material Application (ESMA2017)

PrefaceThe organizing committee of ESMA 2017 is proud to present the proceedings of the 2017 3rd International Conference on Environmental Science and Material Application (ESMA 2017: http://www.icesma.org/), held in Chongqing, China from 25 to 26 November, 2017. We warmly welcome prospected authors submit new research papers to ESMA 2017, and share the valuable experiences with the scientist and scholars around the world.The conference is an international forum for the presentation of technological advances and research results in the fields of environmental science, environmental protection technology, energy engineering, materials science, geological resources and geography. The conference will bring together leading researchers, engineers and scientists in the domain of interest from around the world.ESMA 2017 received more than 460 manuscripts, and less than 420 submissions have been accepted by our reviewers. By submitting a paper to ESMA 2017, the authors agreed to the review process and understood that papers would undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts were reviewed by appropriately qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committee, who took detailed comments and the authors would submit a revised version that took into account this feedback. All papers were reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declared their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers did not know each other’s identities, nor did the authors receive information about who had reviewed their manuscript.The committees of ESMA 2017 invested great efforts in reviewing the papers submitted to the conference and organizing the sessions to enable the participants to gain maximum benefit. We do believe your great participation will make our conference success and we would appreciate your participation.With our warmest regards,Conference Organizing ChairChongqing, China

Clinical efficacy and effectiveness of 3D printing: a systematic review

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy and effectiveness of using 3D printing to develop medical devices across all medical fields.DesignSystematic review compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Data...

Reviewers’ Perceptions of the Peer Review Process in Journalism and Mass Communication

This survey of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) scholars ( N = 547; response rate = 39.3%) examines perceptions of peer review, a study last undertaken in 1990. Respondents rated intrinsic motivations, such as helping others, more highly than extrinsic motivations, such as reviewing as a consideration for career advancement. Respondents believed they did a significantly better job as reviewers than did scholars who reviewed their work. More experienced reviewers saw their role as balanced between critic and coach, whereas less experienced reviewers saw their role as significantly more critical. Overall, respondents were ambivalent about the state of peer review, yet they resisted adopting approaches other than double-blind review.

International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Industrial Applications (FMIA 2017)

Preface2017 International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Industrial Applications (FMIA 2017: http://www.icfmia.org) was held on October 21-22, 2017 in Taiyuan, China. This conference was sponsored by Asian Union of Information Technology, and was attended by academicians, researchers, entrepreneurs, government agencies and policy-makers, postgraduates from China and all over the world.FMIA 2017 is the annual international conference devoted to the discussion of recent developments and applications of parallel computing in the field of fluid mechanics, CFD, fluid power, fluid flow and related disciplines. The field of fluid mechanics is vast and covers numerous and diverse applications. The conference covered a wide range of topics, including basic formulations and their computer modelling as well as the relationship between experimental and analytical results. The meeting provided a forum for discussing new work on fluid mechanics and in particular for promoting the interchange of novel ideas and the presentations of the latest developments in this field. This conference will also provide an ideal environment to develop new collaborations and meet experts on the fundamentals, applications, and products of the mentioned fields.FMIA 2017 received 291 manuscripts, and 54 submissions have been accepted by our reviewers. By submitting a paper to FMIA 2017, the authors agreed to the review process and understood that papers would undergo a peer-review process. Manuscripts were reviewed by appropriately qualified experts in the field selected by the conference committee, who took detailed comments and-if the submission was accepted-the authors would submit a revised version that took into account this feedback. All papers were reviewed using a double-blind review process: authors declared their names and affiliations in the manuscript for the reviewers to see, but reviewers did not know each other’s identities, nor did the authors receive information about who had reviewed their manuscript. The committees of FMIA 2017 invested great efforts in reviewing the papers submitted to the conference and organizing the sessions to enable the participants to gain maximum benefit.With our warmest regards,Jun XiaoWuhan, China

Clinical Research Informatics: Contributions from 2016

Summary Objectives: To summarize key contributions to current research in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) and to select the best papers published in 2016. Methods: A bibliographic search using a combination of MeSH and free terms on CRI was performed using PubMed, followed by a double-blind review in order to select a list of candidate best papers to be then peer-reviewed by external reviewers. A consensus meeting between the two section editors and the editorial team was organized to finally conclude on the selection of best papers. Results: Among the 452 papers published in 2016 in the various areas of CRI and returned by the query, the full review process selected four best papers. The authors of the first paper utilized a comprehensive representation of the patient medical record and semi-automatically labeled training sets to create phenotype models via a machine learning process. The second selected paper describes an open source tool chain securely connecting ResearchKit compatible applications (Apps) to the widely-used clinical research infrastructure Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2). The third selected paper describes the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. The fourth selected paper focuses on the evaluation of the risk of privacy breaches in releasing genomics datasets. Conclusions: A major trend in the 2016 publications is the variety of research on “real-world data” - healthcare-generated data, person health data, and patient-reported outcomes -highlighting the opportunities provided by new machine learning techniques as well as new potential risks of privacy breaches.

From the Editor's Desk

During my first full year as editor-in-chief of ACM Transations on Computing Education (TOCE), the editorial board and I took the following four steps to improve the journal's ability to serve the growing community of computing education researchers: (1) We streamlined the peer review process, (2) we established a new partnership with the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education Conference, (c) we transitioned to a double-blind review process, and (4) we recruited guest editors for two new special issues that address timely research topics. In this editorial, I present key statistics on TOCE's review process and submissions during the 2016 calendar year, discuss and reflect on the positive steps we took to improve the journal during 2016, and describe steps we will consider in the coming year in order to ensure that ACM TOCE continues on its positive trajectory. These include forging additional partnerships with professional conferences, altering the review criteria to make the journal more welcoming to a broader range of research, especially within the K-12 space, and developing a set of evidence standards for research published in the journal.