Extent Of Collaboration Research Articles

Social Network: a Cytoscape app for visualizing co-publication networks.

Networks that represent connections between individuals can be valuable analytic tools. The Social Network Cytoscape app is capable of creating a visual summary of connected individuals automatically. It does this by representing relationships as networks where each node denotes an individual and an edge linking two individuals represents a connection. The app focuses on creating visual summaries of individuals connected by co-publication links in academia, created from bibliographic databases like PubMed, Scopus and InCites. The resulting co-publication networks can be visualized and analyzed to better understand collaborative research networks or to communicate the extent of collaboration and publication productivity among a group of researchers, like in a grant application or departmental review report. It can also be useful as a research tool to identify important research topics, researchers and papers in a subject area.

Correction: Characterizing Social Media Metrics of Scholarly Papers: The Effect of Document Properties and Collaboration Patterns

A number of new metrics based on social media platforms—grouped under the term “altmetrics”—have recently been introduced as potential indicators of research impact. Despite their current popularity, there is a lack of information regarding the determinants of these metrics. Using publication and citation data from 1.3 million papers published in 2012 and covered in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science as well as social media counts from Altmetric.com, this paper analyses the main patterns of five social media metrics as a function of document characteristics (i.e., discipline, document type, title length, number of pages and references) and collaborative practices and compares them to patterns known for citations. Results show that the presence of papers on social media is low, with 21.5% of papers receiving at least one tweet, 4.7% being shared on Facebook, 1.9% mentioned on blogs, 0.8% found on Google+ and 0.7% discussed in mainstream media. By contrast, 66.8% of papers have received at least one citation. Our findings show that both citations and social media metrics increase with the extent of collaboration and the length of the references list. On the other hand, while editorials and news items are seldom cited, it is these types of document that are the most popular on Twitter. Similarly, while longer papers typically attract more citations, an opposite trend is seen on social media platforms. Finally, contrary to what is observed for citations, it is papers in the Social Sciences and humanities that are the most often found on social media platforms. On the whole, these findings suggest that factors driving social media and citations are different. Therefore, social media metrics cannot actually be seen as alternatives to citations; at most, they may function as complements to other type of indicators.

Characterizing social media metrics of scholarly papers: the effect of document properties and collaboration patterns.

A number of new metrics based on social media platforms—grouped under the term “altmetrics”—have recently been introduced as potential indicators of research impact. Despite their current popularity, there is a lack of information regarding the determinants of these metrics. Using publication and citation data from 1.3 million papers published in 2012 and covered in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science as well as social media counts from Altmetric.com, this paper analyses the main patterns of five social media metrics as a function of document characteristics (i.e., discipline, document type, title length, number of pages and references) and collaborative practices and compares them to patterns known for citations. Results show that the presence of papers on social media is low, with 21.5% of papers receiving at least one tweet, 4.7% being shared on Facebook, 1.9% mentioned on blogs, 0.8% found on Google+ and 0.7% discussed in mainstream media. By contrast, 66.8% of papers have received at least one citation. Our findings show that both citations and social media metrics increase with the extent of collaboration and the length of the references list. On the other hand, while editorials and news items are seldom cited, it is these types of document that are the most popular on Twitter. Similarly, while longer papers typically attract more citations, an opposite trend is seen on social media platforms. Finally, contrary to what is observed for citations, it is papers in the Social Sciences and humanities that are the most often found on social media platforms. On the whole, these findings suggest that factors driving social media and citations are different. Therefore, social media metrics cannot actually be seen as alternatives to citations; at most, they may function as complements to other type of indicators.

Relationships among providing maternal, child, and adolescent health services; implementing various financial strategy responses; and performance of local health departments.

We explored the relationships between local health department (LHD) structure, capacity, and macro-context variables and performance of essential public health services (EPHS). In 2012, we assessed a stratified, random sample of 195 LHDs that provided data via an online survey regarding performance of EPHS, the services provided or contracted out, the financial strategies used in response to budgetary pressures, and the extent of collaborations. We performed weighted analyses that included analysis of variance, pairwise correlations by jurisdiction population size, and linear regressions. On average, LHDs provided approximately 13 (36%) of 35 possible services either directly or by contract. Rather than cut services or externally consolidating, LHDs took steps to generate more revenue and maximize capacity. Higher LHD performance of EPHS was significantly associated with delivering more services, initiating more financial strategies, and engaging in collaboration, after adjusting for the effects of the Affordable Care Act and jurisdiction size. During changing economic and health care environments, we found that strong structural capacity enhanced local health department EPHS performance for maternal, child, and adolescent health.

Opportunities, challenges, and extent of collaboration in La Palma's goat cheese sector: an exploratory study

This study examines the perceived opportunities, challenges, future, and the extent to which micro businesses collaborate in a traditional food sector of a European ultra–peripheral region. The perceptions of members of La Palma Island's goat cheese regulatory council and local goat cheese producers were gathered through interviews and questionnaires. Overall, the strong commercial potential of local cheeses is acknowledged; however, increasing costs of production are perceived as the main barrier to its further development. Further, whilst the importance of collaboration is clearly acknowledged, most participating cheese producers are currently not involved in any form of collaboration. In turn, the GCRCs leadership appears to be filling some of these obvious gaps, particularly in quality assurance and promotion of 'Palmero' cheese. In this context, some elements of the theory of collaboration were identified. The study's implications, as well as future research avenues will be presented and discussed.

Sources of Information Used When Prescribing for Children, a Survey of Hospital Based Pediatricians

Due to the lack of properly tested medicines for children, there is little available information with regards to indications and dosing of medications in children. To collect data on sources where hospital based pediatricians obtain prescribing information when treating children and the extent of collaboration with the hospital pharmacist. Two hundred and fifty pediatricians in different hospitals within different cities in Jordan were asked to fill in a structured questionnaire regarding information sources used when prescribing for children. Questionnaires were collected from 162 (64.8%) hospital based pediatricians, who have completed the questionnaire by the designated date. Most (75.5%) reported that the Lexi Comp's Drug Information Handbook was the source that they most frequently used for drug information when prescribing for in children. The BNF and the BNFc (British National Formulary for children) were found to be the most sources that contain sufficient information that aids pediatricians when prescribing for children. A minority (22%) claimed to consult with the hospital pharmacist when they face difficulties when prescribing for children. Pediatricians rely on different information sources when they prescribe for children. Those sources vary in their reliability in aiding pediatrician when prescribing. Further work should be done in the provision of useful information on pediatric drug therapy to pediatricians. More steps should be taking place to activate collaboration and interaction between pediatricians and pharmacists as well.

Interprofessional collaboration at transition of care: perspectives of child and family health nurses and midwives.

To examine collaboration in the provision of universal health services for children and families in Australia from the perspective of midwives and child health and family health nurses. Collaboration is identified as a key concept contributing to families' smooth transition between maternity and child health services. However, evidence suggests that collaboration between services is often lacking. Few studies have explored how maternity and child health and family health services or professionals collaborate to facilitate a smooth transition. This study reports on data collected in phases 1 and 2 of a three-phase mixed-methods study investigating the feasibility of implementing a national approach to child health and family health services in Australia (Child Health: Researching Universal Services study). In phase 1, consultations (via discussion groups, focus groups and teleconferences) were held with 45 midwives and 60 child health and family health nurses. Themes identified were used to develop phase 2 surveys. In phase 2, 1098 child health and family health nurses and 655 midwives returned surveys. Midwives and child health and family health nurses reported 'some collaboration'. Midwives and child health and family health nurses indicated that collaboration was supported by having agreement on common goals and recognising and valuing the contributions of others. Organisational barriers such as poor communication and information transfer processes obstructed relationships. Good collaboration was reported more frequently when working with other professionals (such as allied health professionals) to support families with complex needs. This study provides information on the nature and extent of collaboration from the perspective of midwives and child health and family health nurses providing universal health services for children and families. Both professional groups emphasised the impact of service disconnection on families. However, their ability to negotiate professional differences is affected by system constraints and differing perspectives of what constitutes collaboration. Developing the capacity to collaborate is essential to ensure smooth transition of care given ongoing changes to the system.

Hyperlinks as inter-university collaboration indicators

Collaboration is essential for some types of research, and some agencies include collaboration among the requirements for funding research projects. This makes it important to analyse collaborative research ties. Traditional methods to indicate the extent of collaboration between organizations use co-authorship data in citation databases. Publication data from these databases are not publicly available and can be expensive to access and so hyperlink data has been proposed as an alternative. This paper investigates whether using machine learning methods to filter page types can improve the extent to which hyperlink data can be used to indicate the extent of collaboration between universities. Structured information about research projects extracted from UK and EU funding agency websites, co-authored publications and academic links between universities were analysed to identify if there is any association between the number of hyperlinks connecting two universities, with and without machine learning filtering, and the number of publications they co-authored. An increased correlation was found between the number of inlinks to a university’s website and the extent to which it collaborates with other universities when machine learning techniques were used to filter out apparently irrelevant inlinks.

Building digital collections in a public university library in Ghana: priority-setting and user needs assessment

Purpose – Although user needs assessment is an intrinsic element of service quality delivery in digital libraries (DLs), not much has been written on this topic in the context of African universities. This is understandable as academic digital libraries in Africa are rather nascent. Even so, the most frequently-used needs assessment methods do not directly involve the users. This study aims to assess priority setting by academic library administrators and the needs of patrons of digital collections of a public university library in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – Analysis of official university documents and interviews with digital library patrons at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana were carried out between September, 2011 and January, 2012. Five research questions were asked: what are the current conditions of the UCC digital library project, the user communities and their needs, what are the priorities set by the university administrators and library leaders at the UCC and the state of technological readiness in place and what are needed by the UCCDL. Also, what is the extent of collaboration by interested parties in the UCCDL? Findings – Three general digital library user communities were identified, that is, UCCDL staff- this community was composed of experts in both digital library systems and content, characterized as heavy users of the existing systems, as knowledgeable about articulated (formalized) user needs, and able to devote short (usually less than two hours) amounts of time to individual's needs. Next, are scholars and other visitors to the UCCDL – this community was characterized as having high levels of domain expertise and knowledge of library systems. They are also able to devote large but specific amounts of time (days or weeks) to their individual information needs. Visitors/Prospective users- this community was characterized as having varied levels of domain expertise and low levels of library systems knowledge. They are able to devote only short periods of time to their information needs or explorations. These user communities are influenced by diverse preferences, experiences, and knowledge structures. Practical implications – Academic libraries are increasingly advocating local user studies as a way to provide the digital library services that are relevant to the culture and user population of the academic institution. Replicating digital library user studies at the local level can provide information for improving existing services or developing new ones. Originality/value – In African public universities, there is little earlier research on digital library user needs assessments or DL priority-setting by academic library administrators.

The role of clinical pharmacists as perceived by Egyptian physicians

Clinical pharmacists play an important role in ensuring the safe and rational use of medicines; however, physicians in developing countries may not always recognize the wide scope of services that a pharmacist can provide to improve patient safety and achieve clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and experience of physicians regarding the role of the pharmacists, the pharmacists' ability to perform clinical services, their acceptance of new pharmacist roles and the extent of collaboration that can occur between the two disciplines. In this cross-sectional survey, 583 randomly selected physicians from the Grand Cairo area were invited to complete a survey composed of 25 questions designed to determine their perceptions of the role of clinical pharmacists. The response rate was 53%. Of the 312 physicians who completed the questionnaire, 50.5% reported direct contact with the pharmacists using the pharmacist as a source of information about the name of the medication, side effects, drug interactions or efficacy as the main role. About one-third believed that pharmacists could be a reliable source of clinical information, identify clinically related problems or advise the physicians about medication's cost effectiveness. More than 80% agreed that physicians and clinical pharmacists should have daily cooperation, and face-to-face contact was selected to be the best method of communication. Although a wide proportion of the physicians were aware of the clinical pharmacy principle, the service itself is not well promoted or applied. Greater effort needs to be directed towards increasing physicians' awareness and knowledge of the importance of clinical pharmacist and promote the benefit of the clinical pharmacy service.

The Role of Geographic and Organizational Boundaries in Nanotechnology Collaboration

This paper examines how the collaboration of inventors within an organization and in different organizations contributes to the success of innovation in nanotechnology. We expect that the greater extent of collaborations among inventors would yield better research outcomes because of the importance of collaboration in combining existing knowledge to create new ideas, and in evaluating and selecting from these ideas. Due to the tacit nature of technological knowledge, greater geographic distance of collaborating inventors can negatively affect inventive performance, while distant collaboration can bring opportunity to tap into unique local knowledge. The collaboration of inventors in different countries can further add difficulties. On the other hand, we expect the collaboration between universities and companies would yield better performance due to the importance of scientific knowledge in nanotechnology research. We utilize patent data for our empirical analysis, and corroborate with interviews with researchers at nanotech companies. Our results show that, after controlling for inventor quality, a greater number of inventors in collaboration is associated with more successful innovation. International cooperation appears to be an obstacle for successful innovation. While inventor's quality or prior collaboration experience has some moderating effect on international collaboration, this effect is not statistically significant. Collaboration between companies and universities is positively associated with the success of innovation. Also, the U.S subsample indicates that cooperation over longer distance is negatively associated with successful innovation, but the statistical significance is weak. The number of assignees has mixed effect on successful innovation, indicating the difficulties of collaboration across organizational boundaries.

Network Influences on Dissemination of Evidence-Based Guidelines in State Tobacco Control Programs

Little is known regarding the social network relationships that influence dissemination of evidence-based public health practices and policies. In public health, it is critical that evidence-based guidelines, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, are effectively and efficiently disseminated to intended stakeholders. To determine the organizational and network predictors of dissemination among state tobacco control programs, interviews with members of tobacco control networks across eight states were conducted between August 2009 and September 2010. Measures included partner attributes (e.g., agency type) and relationships among network members (frequency of contact, extent of collaboration, and dissemination of Best Practices). Exponential random graph modeling was used to examine attribute and structural predictors of collaboration and dissemination among partners in each network. Although density and centralization of dissemination ties varied across states, network analyses revealed a consistent prediction pattern across all eight states. State tobacco control dissemination networks were less dense but more centralized compared with organizational contact and collaboration networks. Tobacco control partners in each state were more likely to disseminate the Best Practices guidelines if they also had existing contact and collaboration relationships with one another. Evidence-based guidelines in public health need to be efficiently and broadly disseminated if we hope to translate science into practice. This study suggests that funders, advocacy groups, and public health agencies can take advantage of existing public health organizational relationships to support the communication and dissemination of evidence-based practices and policies.

Problem- and Case-Based Learning in Science: An Introduction to Distinctions, Values, and Outcomes

Case-based learning and problem-based learning have demonstrated great promise in reforming science education. Yet an instructor, in newly considering this suite of interrelated pedagogical strategies, faces a number of important instructional choices. Different features and their related values and learning outcomes are profiled here, including: the level of student autonomy; instructional focus on content, skills development, or nature-of-science understanding; the role of history, or known outcomes; scope, clarity, and authenticity of problems provided to students; extent of collaboration; complexity, in terms of number of interpretive perspectives; and, perhaps most importantly, the role of applying versus generating knowledge.

Editorial

This last issue of 2012 presents a number of very interesting articles about creativity and innovation management. The first article, by Sabrina Adamczyk, Angelika Bullinger and Kathrin Möslein, is about innovation contests. Innovation contests are growing tremendously in popularity as a means to realize innovative products and services. In this article, the authors review and classify the growing body of literature on these contests, present crucial elements for understanding, designing and managing them, and propose a research agenda. This article is based on a conference paper presented at the EURAM conference in 2011 and was selected by Anna Trifilova and John Bessant. The second article, by Markus Grote, Cornelius Herstatt and Hans Georg Gemünden, focuses on cross-divisional innovation in large corporations. Forty-five years after Ansoff's influential work on synergies, many multidivisional corporations still struggle to create additional value. The authors examine the role of cross-divisional collaboration in the early stages of the innovation process and test a model in a quantitative study in 110 multidivisional firms. They conclude that the extent of collaboration in the early stages of innovation strongly determines the impact of cross-divisional products on corporate success, and that appropriate integration mechanisms and incentives are highly relevant. In the third article, Anne Koch presents a typology of product development teams and communities that promote innovation. Based on the relationship of groups to institutional and procedural authority, four categories can be distinguished: autonomous teams, functional teams, communities of practice, and epistemic communities. The author provides a framework for understanding how these various groups function and manage themselves in different ways, and argues that by choosing various innovation groups for different purposes, firms can create a competitive advantage. She proposes intervention strategies and an agenda for further research. The articles by Thomas Clauß and by Monique Goepel, Katharina Hölzle and Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß form a mini-special, guest-edited by Patrick Spieth. These are based on papers that were selected from the EURAM conference in 2011. The article by Thomas Clauß focuses on the influence of the type of relationship on the generation of innovations in buyer-supplier collaborations. Based on a sample of 250 small and mid-sized enterprises from the German machinery construction sector, the author classifies buyer-supplier relationships empirically into four types, and relates these to innovation outcomes. He concludes that a relational context fosters joint innovation, and that high formalization can also lead to innovation, if it is legitimated. The article by Monique Goepel, Katharina Hölzle and Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß is about innovation response behaviour. Innovation response behaviour is individuals’ novelty-supporting or novelty-impeding behaviour. Based on the theory of planned behaviour, the authors elaborate by which factors and in which ways individuals’ innovation response behaviour is influenced, and they develop a typology, distinguishing between active and passive modes of conduct. This typology forms a framework for studying the innovation process from an actor-based perspective, and links existing research on individual innovation with the process of innovation at an organizational level. The sixth article of this issue, by Monika Schuhmacher and Sabine Kuester, is based on a conference paper presented at the International Product Development Management Conference in Delft 2011. It focuses on the identification of lead user characteristics, in particular in idea contests for service innovations. The authors examine the impact of specific lead user characteristics on the quality of service innovation ideas. Based on a study of 120 ideas resulting from an idea contest for new online services of soccer clubs, the authors demonstrate that dissatisfaction with existing services has the highest impact on idea quality. Furthermore, highly experienced users are shown to provide ideas of higher quality. In the final paper of this issue, Julia Froehlich and Martin Hoegl study thematic ideation. This is a cognitive process in which the recognition of thematic similarity rather than categorical similarity is the source of new ideas. The authors theoretically develop and empirically test a set of antecedents and consequences of thematic thinking in a quantitative study. Their research indicates that experience and positive affect are positively related to thematic thinking and that, counter-intuitively, thematic thinking is negatively related to creativity.

Research productivity and the quality of interregional knowledge networks

This paper estimates the impact of interregional knowledge flows on the productivity of research at the regional level. We develop the novel index of ‘ego network quality’ in order to measure the contribution of knowledge accessed from the interregional network to the production of new knowledge inside the region. Quality of interregional knowledge networks is related to the level of knowledge accumulated by the partners (‘knowledge potential’), the extent of collaboration among partners (‘local connectivity’) and the position of partners in the entire knowledge network (‘global embeddedness’). Ego network quality impact on the productivity of research in scientific publications and patenting at the regional level is tested with co-patenting and EU Framework Program collaboration data for 189 European NUTS 2 regions.

Cross‐Divisional Innovation in the Large Corporation: Thoughts and Evidence on Its Value and the Role of the Early Stages of Innovation

Forty‐five years after Ansoff's seminal work on synergies, many multi‐divisional corporations still struggle to create additional value. Therefore, it is surprising that in times of open innovation, little research has been conducted on the impact of cross‐divisional product development. In our paper, we derive conceptual arguments for the relevance of joint initiatives and examine the role of cross‐divisional collaboration in the early stages of the innovation process. Our research model is tested using a quantitative survey in 110 multi‐divisional firms. We find that the extent of collaboration in the early stages of innovation strongly determines the impact of cross‐divisional products on corporate success. To achieve collaboration, our results highlight the relevance of appropriate integration mechanisms and incentives.

Organizational Collaboration in the Public Sector: Do Chief Executives Make a Difference?

Upper echelons theory suggests that the characteristics of chief executives affect the strategic choices of their organizations. In this article, we examine whether the characteristics of top managers make a difference to the extent of interorganizational collaboration in the public sector. Using survey data from 228 chief executives from Catalonia, we test upper echelons theory and control for top managers’ institutional settings such as the size and the sector of the organization, as well as the socioeconomic context. The empirical results suggest that collaboration is influenced by the characteristics of chief executives; in particular, the extent of collaboration is affected positively by their educational qualifications and concern for self-development and negatively by their age.

Governance in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Post-Tsunami Rebuilding

This article applies complex evolving systems theory (CES) to investigating the governance factors affecting rebuilding in the wake of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. It also examines the crucial processes of co-operation between the various governance actors (public, market and civil society) in the aftermath of the disaster. The main focus is on the horizontal integration in the process of service delivery at the district level during the rebuilding stage, and on explaining the nature and extent of collaboration in the delivery of services needed for the survivors to build their new lives. Our observations suggest that influence, incentives and the power of dominant groups remain highly relevant to the outcomes and that the socio-political system within which they operate is dynamic. Governance as a whole has become a playing field for dominant stakeholder groups both within and outside the government. The study demonstrates the value of CES in improving the understanding of complex governance in the context of a crisis.

Collaboration between paediatric surgery and other medical specialties in Nigeria

The quality of service and success of patient care and research in most fields of medicine depend on effective collaboration between different specialties. Paediatric surgery is a relatively young specialty in Nigeria and such collaborations are desirable. This survey assesses the nature and extent of collaboration between paediatric surgery and other specialties in Nigeria. This is a questionnaire survey carried out in November 2008 among paediatric surgeons and their trainees practising in Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed and retrieved either by hand or e-mailing. The responses were then collated and analysed using the SPSS 17.0. Forty-seven respondents were included in the survey. Forty-five (95.7%) respondents thought that there was inadequate collaboration and that there was a need for an increased collaboration between paediatric surgery and other specialties. Anaesthesia, paediatrics and radiology are among the specialties where collaborations were most required but not adequately received. Collaboration had been required from these specialties in areas of patient care, training and research. Reasons for inadequate collaboration included the paucity of avenues for inter-specialty communication and exchange of ideas 33 (70.3%), lack of awareness of the need for collaboration 32 (68.1%), tendency to apportion blames for bad outcome 13 (27.7%), and mutual suspicion 8 (17%). There is presently inadequate collaboration between paediatric surgery and other specialties in Nigeria. There is a need for more inter-specialty support, communication, and exchange of ideas in order to achieve desirable outcomes.

Collaboration in Local Economic Development: The Case of Toledo

Many American communities place a high priority on retaining and attracting innovative industries. However, in most American metropolitan areas, the responsibility for local economic development is fragmented along jurisdictional and institutional lines. The result of this fragmentation is that local economic development is often chaotic with no one individual, agency, or jurisdiction in control, which may inhibit the effectiveness of local economic development efforts. To address these challenges and more effectively utilize resources, there has been greater emphasis recently on regional collaboration in local economic development. The purpose of this paper is to measure the extent of collaboration among local economic development professionals in the Toledo, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area and to identify the extent to which these interactions constitute a social network. We believe that the existence of a strong social network among economic development professionals is critical to overcome some of the negative effects of jurisdictional and institutional fragmentation. While there is a core network of relatively dense collaboration in northwest Ohio, that network does not span the entire metropolitan area. A high level of local interactions occurs, but there are few “global pipelines” outside the region. A potential challenge for economic development in the region is to avoid “lock in”, which will make it more difficult to attract innovative industries or diversify the economy in order to decrease the traditional dependence on the auto industry.