High-ranking Journals Research Articles

Integrating accelerometry, GPS, GIS and molecular data to investigate mechanistic pathways of the urban environmental exposome and cognitive outcomes in older adults: a longitudinal study protocol

IntroductionMaintaining cognitive health in later life is a global priority. Encouraging individuals to make health behaviour changes, such as regular physical activity, and providing supportive urban environments can help maintain...

Sotorasib Treatment Could Worsen the Prognosis of Advanced KRASG12C-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Sotorasib, the first RAS inhibitor FDA-approved drug for advanced, KRASG12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), was approved in May 2021 under the FDA-Accelerated Approval program. This commentary critically reviews the results on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the CodeBreaK 200 trial, a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial published in The Lancet in 2023. The study reported increased PFS with sotorasib based on a reduced hazard ratio (HR). Despite the FDA's rejection of regular approval for sotorasib in October 2023, the accelerated approval status is maintained pending further confirmatory trials. We stress the crucial role of journal editors in ensuring the comprehensive reporting of statistical analyses in RCTs, particularly for publications in highly-ranked journals like The Lancet, which can heavily influence the clinical practice of oncology. Their role in upholding the highest scientific integrity and transparency standards is essential for informing oncologists, patients, and decision-makers of public health systems.

The Practice of International Relations Discipline in India: Obstacles and Challenges

The practice of International Relations (IR) in India dates back to the 1950s and the establishment of the Indian School of International Studies (ISIS). Despite an early start, IR in India struggled to establish itself as a discipline due to domestic and institutional issues. Prominent criticisms of Indian IR include a lack of methodological rigour, an absence of theory, and low contributions to high-ranking journals. While engagement with questions of post-colonialism and decolonization is not new to IR, its impact on India continues to be limited. This essay explores the issues and challenges associated with the practice of IR in India by taking a de-parochial and decolonial outlook. I argue that IR in India developed as a received discourse from the West with little to no engagement with India’s past, statist assumptions, and imperial underpinnings of the discipline.

Technology-Assisted EFL Academic Writing and Its Relation to Academic Writing Anxiety

Research practice is given top priority in universities worldwide. Scholars are pushed to write and publish articles in high-ranking journals with high citation indexes, mostly English-medium journals. English as a foreign language (EFL) scholars are anxious to publish articles in Anglophone journals and one of these obstacles is academic writing skills. Studies on academic writing paid more attention to the process and obstacles of EFL students of different ages. A few studies focus on strategies EFL scholars adopt, especially those related to technology. Hence, this paper bridged the gap by investigating the relationship between EFL scholars’ academic writing strategies with the assistance of technology and their second language academic writing anxiety (SLAWA) in China. This study is a quantitative study with 140 Chinese scholars participating. Participants used technology to gain online databases most frequently. It also showed that technological strategies in the planning stage positively relate to SLAWA. In contrast, technological strategies in the problem-solving stage have no relation with SLAWA. In addition, participants' characteristics such as age and gender have no significance with SLAWA. The findings of this study suggest that more academic writing training related to technology is needed especially in the before-writing stage where scholars complain about SLAWA mostly.

Analyzing Data Sharing Policies in Library and Information Science: Journal Metrics, Open Access Status, and Publisher Volume

The objective of this study is to explore the prevalence and characteristics of data sharing policies in library and information science (LIS) journals, focusing on their relationship with journal metrics, publisher volume (number of journals managed by the publisher), and open access (OA) status. The study examined the link between data sharing policies and journal metrics in LIS journals indexed in Scopus. Using secondary data from the SJR portal and qualitative data from author guidelines, the study revealed several key findings: First, a positive relationship existed between publisher volume and the presence of data sharing policies, with high-volume publishers consistently implementing such policies. Second, 50.2% of LIS journals lacked data sharing guidelines, indicating a significant gap. Third, journals that encouraged or required data sharing under certain conditions tended to perform better in metrics such as quartiles, h-index, and citation impact. Fourth, data sharing policies were more common in higher-ranked journals and were linked to better journal metrics. Fifth, higher-ranked journals were more likely to include details on data statements, DOIs, and repositories than lower-ranked journals. Lastly, non-OA journals were more likely to encourage practices such as including data repositories and supplementary files in submissions, compared to OA journals, revealing unexpected disparities. In conclusion, data sharing policies in LIS journals showed associations with journal ranking and publisher volume, with non-OA journals showing higher presence of certain data sharing practices.

Low prevalence of spin in conclusions of interventional pediatric orthopedic studies

Interpretation bias as a factor of research reporting quality has not been thoroughly investigated in the conclusions of pediatric orthopedic publications. Our objective was to investigate the prevalence, subtypes, and severity of research reporting bias or spin of the conclusions in full-texts and abstracts of published studies investigating the effects of treatment/intervention in the pediatric orthopedic literature. We systematically searched ten high-ranking orthopedic journals on MEDLINE/PubMed. Inclusion criteria were pediatric orthopedic studies investigating the effects of treatment/intervention. We used descriptive statistics to report the prevalence, subtype, and severity of reporting bias in the studies’ conclusions according to validated classification criteria. We checked the results to ensure that data were neither misreported nor misinterpreted/extrapolated in the conclusions of the full-texts and their abstracts. Out of 93 included studies in the final analysis, 17 (18%) had at least one count of bias. Nine (10%) studies had bias in both full-text and the corresponding abstract conclusions. In four (4%) studies, bias was restricted to conclusions of abstracts only, and in four (4%) studies was restricted to a bias criterion assigned to the classification criteria of conclusions of full-text only and not the abstract. We analyzed 2511 spin/bias items across 93 studies and reported 30 (1%) counts of bias in conclusions of full-text and/or abstracts. The intervention was surgical in (71%) of studies. Interventional pediatric orthopedic studies published in high-ranking journals showed a low prevalence of reporting bias, namely, misleading reporting, misinterpretation, and inadequate extrapolation of conclusions. A comparative analysis with lower-ranking journals as a control group may reveal if our favorable results are an attribute of journal rank/quality. In general, editorial policies should emphasize skilled interpretation and extrapolation of research results.

Journey of financial inclusion: a systematic literature review and conceptual framework for future research

PurposeThis article provides a systematic literature review on financial inclusion, offering a comprehensive overview of research publications. It also develops a conceptual framework to outline future research objectives, enhancing understanding and identifying key areas for further investigation.Design/methodology/approachThe data extraction concentrates on facts and figures about financial inclusion from 2005 to 2024. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), the study reviews and synthesizes insights from 115 pertinent articles published in 77 high-ranked journals, indexed across three academic databases: Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC).FindingsPrevious research on financial inclusion demonstrates that out of 115 articles, 50 were published between 2020 and 2024 and 43 between 2015 and 2019. This indicates the increasing trend of research on financial inclusion. Another interesting point is that researchers mostly use regression techniques to analyze the relationship between variables. Notably, reviewing the selected literature is valuable for researchers and practitioners interested in financial inclusion. It synthesizes the existing knowledge on the topic, identifies research gaps and suggests a conceptual framework to direct future studies.Originality/valueThis unique study contributes original value to the financial inclusion literature through a systematic literature review. By synthesizing existing knowledge and identifying research gaps, it presents a novel framework that offers new perspectives and highlights areas for future research, advancing the understanding of financial inclusion.

Trends in Water Quality Research: A Bibliometric Study of Factors and Parameters in Drinking Water

ABSTRACT This study examines trends in water quality research through a bibliometric approach with the aim of mapping dominant factors and parameters and identifying research gaps in this area. The introduction of this research highlights the importance of water quality as a global issue that affects public health and environmental sustainability. The main objective of the study was to analyze water quality-related publications published between 2017 and 2024 using the Publish or Perish application to identify trends, distribution, and research focus. The method used involved collecting data from the 50 highest-ranked journals on Google Scholar, then classifying them by year of publication, publication type, number of citations, and author country. The data obtained was analyzed with the VOSviewer application to generate network visualizations, overlays, and densities to reveal the linkages between research topics. The analysis showed that research on water quality is highly diversified with the main focus on factors affecting water quality and the development of assessment methods. The publications reviewed highlighted global challenges in water quality management and the need for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The conclusions of this study emphasize several research gaps, such as the need for the development of more sensitive water quality indices, the application of new technologies, and further research in local and regional contexts. This research provides valuable insights into current research trends and encourages further exploration to improve water quality management effectively and sustainably. Keywords: Water Quality, Bibliometrics, Assessment Methods, Emerging Technologies, Research Gaps.

Reported community engagement in health equity research published in high-impact medical journals: a scoping review

ObjectiveTo assess reported community engagement in the design and conduct of health equity-focused articles published in high-impact journals.DesignScoping review follows guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items...

Organisational anthropomorphism and its antecedents: a literature review and proposed framework

Purpose This study aims to understand the phenomenon of organisational anthropomorphism, a psychological process in which employees attribute personality characteristics to organisations. Anthropomorphism, a psychological concept, after making its mark in consumer behavioural studies, is emerging into the domain of organisational behaviour. This less deliberated concept is explored through the lens of psychological cues and motives leading to the identification of its managerial antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their confluence into organisational culture. Further, the relationship between organisational culture and organisational anthropomorphism is established through literature review with a number of propositions and a framework. Design/methodology/approach This paper explores the available literature on organisational anthropomorphism and the constructs of organisational culture by employing literature review methodology. On the basis of selected research studies sourced from high ranked journals from Web of Science, Scopus and journal homepages, domain-based and theory-based reviews were performed to comprehend the concept of organisational anthropomorphism. Findings This study identifies OCB and CSR as the antecedents of organisational anthropomorphism through the psychological cues and motives, comes out with a number of propositions and recommends a framework based on the same. Practical implications This paper helps managers study employee behaviours and observe the organisation’s connections with society. Moreover, this study benefits organisations to brand themselves better amongst employees and external stakeholders. Originality/value This paper helps managers study employees’ citizenship behaviours through anthropomorphic cues exhibited by employees and improve organisation-employee association. It also suggests organisations to brand themselves using anthropomorphic social traits to stage itself as a socially responsible entity among external stakeholders. The empirical validation of proposed framework through quantitative and qualitative methods is proposed to be the future scope of the study.

How do environmental factors shape entrepreneurial intention? A review and future research

Entrepreneurial intention plays a critical role in the economic growth and development of countries. As a result, an increasing number of studies have examined different antecedents of entrepreneurial intention to understand how to foster entrepreneurial intention in a country. This research focuses on macro-environmental-related factors and endeavors to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the critical factors in these areas that can impact entrepreneurial intention. A total of 40 studies from high-ranked journals were systematically identified and analyzed in the field of entrepreneurship and management. This review sheds light on details of the key cultural, regional, and economic factors as well as governmental and political factors and highlights how they impact entrepreneurial intention. It also provides some suggestions for future research directions. While some systematic literature review papers have been conducted on entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents, environmental factors have only been identified broadly as key antecedents. This research systematically reviews the existing papers and unravels different aspects of these factors and explains how they impact entrepreneurial intention. In addition, it sheds light on related future research directions.

Sustainability communication in marketing: a literature review

Purpose This study aims to explore the foundations and current research streams of sustainability communication (SC) within the marketing field through a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature. Furthermore, it identifies promising areas, gaps, and guides for future contributions in SC literature. Design/methodology/approach This study relies on a sample of 103 articles published in high-ranked marketing journals. Through co-citation and qualitative thematic analyses, it examines a network over the foundations and central themes in current literature. Findings In the marketing field, the foundations of SC rest on institutional and stakeholder theories, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and its effectiveness, green advertising, ethical consumerism and marketing strategies, and social marketing for sustainable consumption. Additionally, the analysis reveals four core current themes: reporting sustainability, sustainability advertising, consumer reactions, and promoting pro-sustainable behaviour. Research limitations/implications This paper defines the foundations and boundaries of SC in marketing based on a comprehensive evaluation of existing research. By doing so, it offers a valuable reference for future research, enabling scholars to understand better the past and current state of SC in marketing and to identify areas for further investigation. Practical implications Businesses and marketers can use the findings to develop more effective SC strategies and to focus on the main topics that require their attention. Social implications This research is of societal importance because it deepens our understanding of SC in marketing. It illuminates uncharted territory and helps decision-makers across sectors create a more sustainable future. In essence, this research enriches society by promoting sustainability awareness and guiding the development of practices that emphasize the value of SC. Originality/value This study advances previous literature reviews on SC in the marketing field by providing a roadmap for researchers to delve deeper and contribute to the field of SC in marketing, advancing our understanding of the importance of organizations effectively communicating their sustainability strategies to stakeholders.

Assessing competitiveness through intellectual capital research: a systematic literature review and agenda for future research

Purpose The purpose of this study is to undertake a systematic literature review (SLR) on intellectual capital disclosure (ICD), focusing on its role in fostering competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach Following the SLR process, the study identified 84 papers published in high-ranking journals over a 19-year span, providing insights into descriptive outcomes, research limitations and future research directions. Findings The results show that ICD research peaked in 2022, with the Journal of Intellectual Capital leading with the highest number of ICD publications. Resource-based theory was found to be the most applied theoretical framework, with developed country-specific research receiving the most attention. The use of small sample size, a lack of longitudinal studies, reliance on a single source of data, unsuitability of control variables and a lack of comparative studies with firms operating in developing countries are the main limitations that have been noted. Research limitations/implications This study faces constraints, primarily stemming from the selective keyword utilization and exclusive Scopus database reliance. It omits non-English papers, conference proceedings and books, potentially overlooking relevant insights. Practical implications The findings offer valuable insight for researchers, emphasizing the need for research on intellectual capital (IC) across diverse industries. Furthermore, our findings urge regulators to mandate global IC reporting to mitigate information asymmetry, while also prompting managers to enhance IC-related practices and reporting for more stakeholders’ trust. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive overview of over two decades of ICD literature, synthesizing previous studies, identifying gaps and outlining potential directions for scholars and industry professionals in the context of competitiveness.

Autoethnographic Disability-Related Research in Hospitality and Tourism Journals: Empowering Marginalized Identity Scholars’ Voices

Autoethnography, an essential research approach, interweaves personal experiences with introspective insights from distinct communities. Despite its methodological significance, autoethnography remains inadequately represented in hospitality and tourism research discourse. This paper seeks to challenge this status quo by advocating for social model strength-based paradigms in understanding disability and by addressing the structural and attitudinal obstacles that hinder the acceptance of autoethnographic research in high-ranking journals within hospitality and tourism. This conceptual note emphasizes the empowerment of marginalized voices, including those with disabilities, and their intersecting identities. It also highlights the hurdles faced by autoethnographers when submitting their work to prestigious journals and provides recommendations for fostering the recognition and inclusion of autoethnography within the field.

The Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids, Particularly Butyrate, in Oncological Immunotherapy with Checkpoint Inhibitors: The Effectiveness of Complementary Treatment with Clostridium butyricum 588.

The discovery of immune checkpoints (CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1) and their impact on the prognosis of oncological diseases have paved the way for the development of revolutionary oncological treatments. These treatments do not combat tumors with drugs "against" cancer cells but rather support and enhance the ability of the immune system to respond directly to tumor growth by attacking the cancer cells with lymphocytes. It has now been widely demonstrated that the presence of an adequate immune response, essentially represented by the number of TILs (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) present in the tumor mass decisively influences the response to treatments and the prognosis of the disease. Therefore, immunotherapy is based on and cannot be carried out without the ability to increase the presence of lymphocytic cells at the tumor site, thereby limiting and nullifying certain tumor evasion mechanisms, particularly those expressed by the activity (under positive physiological conditions) of checkpoints that restrain the response against transformed cells. Immunotherapy has been in the experimental phase for decades, and its excellent results have made it a cornerstone of treatments for many oncological pathologies, especially when combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite these successes, a significant number of patients (approximately 50%) do not respond to treatment or develop resistance early on. The microbiota, its composition, and our ability to modulate it can have a positive impact on oncological treatments, reducing side effects and increasing sensitivity and effectiveness. Numerous studies published in high-ranking journals confirm that a certain microbial balance, particularly the presence of bacteria capable of producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyrate, is essential not only for reducing the side effects of chemoradiotherapy treatments but also for a better response to immune treatments and, therefore, a better prognosis. This opens up the possibility that favorable modulation of the microbiota could become an essential complementary treatment to standard oncological therapies. This brief review aims to highlight the key aspects of using precision probiotics, such as Clostridium butyricum, that produce butyrate to improve the response to immune checkpoint treatments and, thus, the prognosis of oncological diseases.

Predictors of citations and altmetric scores in general surgery literature.

This study aimed to determine various article characteristics influencing the citations and altmetric scores using papers published in a year in four high-ranking surgery journals. We included all papers (n= 819 articles) published between January 2015 to December 2015 in the Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery, JAMA Surgery and Journal of American College of Surgeons. Article characteristics were manually extracted. We determined citation count using the Web of Science database and used univariate analysis and negative binomial regression to determine which article characteristics affect citations and altmetric scores. Mean number of citations and altmetric score received by the article were 44.6 (0-475) and 19.2 (0-665) respectively. Majority of the articles contained at least one citation (98.3%) and altmetric score (98.2%). In regression analysis, citation count was significantly associated with the journal [Annals of Surgery (IRR= 1.93), JAMA surgery (IRR= 1.76)] and non-funded research (IRR= 0.83). The altmetric score was significantly associated with the country of the corresponding author (US) (IRR= 1.3), study subtopic, journal [JAMA surgery (IRR= 2.33)], non-funded (IRR= 0.74) and non-open-access publication (IRR= 0.44). Article metrics were found to be associated with specific study subtopics, country of the corresponding author, funding, open-access publication and the journal. These results might help editors, reviewers and authors to produce, review and publish more impactful studies. A similar study in the future may help to better understand the changing dynamics of academic publishing.

Why gendered quantification trends are a problem: Post-traumatic growth arguments and the civil war malestream

Feminist scholars have long debated quantification trends in the social sciences. Of particular concern has been the extent to which the prestige assigned to quantitative methods may reinforce ‘malestream’ dynamics in academic knowledge production. ‘Malestream’ dynamics include the (implicit or explicit) privileging of a male-centric lens in the research process and the association of ‘hard’ numerical data with notions of ‘scientifically superior’ masculinity. We build on these discussions by asking how the rise in quantitative writings may affect gender disparities in the civil war literature. Using descriptive data from a newly coded dataset that contains 1,851 articles published in high-ranking journals between 1998 and 2018, we, firstly, illustrate how – in the generally male-dominated field of civil war research – the author gender gap is particularly pronounced among quantitative writings. Secondly, we present an in-depth discussion of three articles that use statistical analysis to test the effects of violence on prospects of post-traumatic growth. A distinct difference between the three articles is that they tend to be more sceptical of arguments on ‘positive change’ following violence the more account they take of gender differentiation in their theoretical framing and/or empirical identification strategy. All in all, our arguments call for greater awareness of gender bias in quantitative research, and for more rigour in currently hegemonic standards of what ‘counts’ as reliable evidence.

A Review on Picture Fuzzy Aggregation Operators

Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) is a fundamental concept in the scope of the decision sciences, serving as a structured method for evaluating and selecting the most appropriate alternative option from a pool of available alternatives. MADM methods have gained prominence over the years and are frequently applied in real-world scenarios. Nevertheless, decision-making in practical situations often involves information that is imprecise and uncertain, especially conflicting criteria or attributes. Therefore, Picture Fuzzy Sets (PFSs) and Aggregation Operators (AOs) have proven invaluable in effectively addressing decision challenges characterized by impression and uncertainty. During the past few years, various Picture Fuzzy Aggregation Operators (PFAOs) have been suggested and established but have not been thoroughly reviewed. The primary highlight of this research is to analyse as well as review the development and proposals surrounding PFAOs and their diverse applications within the decision-making paradigm. Regarding this, a review of 140 published articles from 2017 to 2022 appeared in 48 high-ranking journals cited from the "Scopus" and "Web of Science" databases. Other than that, all these articles have been classified by the nationalities of authors, publication year, published journal, research area, operators and methods. The findings of this study discovered that PFAOs have been increasingly applied for supporting decisions due to their frequent implications and applications in different managerial domains, either profit or non-profit organizations. This literature survey's significant contribution provides a platform for researchers to identify future dimensions of works as improvements for decision-making in picture fuzzy environments while also promoting future application of the approaches.

Adoption of digital marketing in tourism SMEs: a review and research agenda

PurposeThis paper aims to present a review of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) literature on the adoption of technology for marketing with the objective the knowledge trajectory from SMEs to tourism SMEs (TSMEs) and presents a research agenda for the adoption of digital marketing among TSMEs.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative literature review method is adopted to analyze 50 articles published in high-ranking journals from 2011–2021. The selected papers were reviewed to quantitatively present the popular theoretical frameworks, constructs and research methods used for the adoption of digital marketing among SMEs and to present a future research agenda in the context of TSMEs.FindingsThe findings present a review of theoretical approaches, research design, methods, and models used by researchers, and identify new directions for future research in the context of the adoption of digital marketing among TSMEs. The paper presents a theoretical critique of the technology adoption theories and builds on diffusion of innovation theory, technology–organization–environment (TOE), and institutional theory to propose an expanded model to study digital marketing adoption among TSMEs.Research limitations/implicationsThe article presents a significant advancement in the theoretical understanding of the adoption of digital marketing by offering the application of the TOE framework with moderating role of mimetic and normative pressures. Thus, the study contributes to the scarce research on institutional theory in the context of services (tourism) and offers an alternative and holistic perception to study digital marketing. The research model serves as an organizing tool for future researchers and practitioners to probe and further augment knowledge development in tourism and TSMEs.Originality/valueNegligible published work on TSMEs makes this study valuable and the proposed model gives strategic information in the given context.

How to Use Quasi-Experimental Methods in Cardiovascular Research: A Review of Current Practice.

Quasi-experimental methods (QEMs) are a family of techniques used to estimate causal relationships when randomized controlled trials are unfeasible or unethical. They offer a powerful alternative to observational studies by introducing random assignment of individuals or groups into their design, thereby offering stronger means of establishing causation. The use of QEMs in cardiovascular research has not been systematically examined to determine steps toward improving and expanding their use. We identified 4 main techniques using a systematic search strategy from 2016 to 2021: instrumental variable analysis, interrupted time series analysis, difference-in-differences analysis, and regression discontinuity designs. QEMs are examined as alternatives to randomized controlled trials and traditional observational studies; as more observational data becomes available to researchers, there are more opportunities to apply these techniques. Eligible articles were selected based on publication in high-ranked journals. The quality of eligible articles was appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for quasi-experimental studies. Data from 380 studies were extracted based on our inclusion criteria. Forty-two of these studies were published in the top 10 medical or top 20 cardiovascular disease journals, and 25 studies were included after quality appraisal. The review identifies the main features and limitations associated with each technique, providing readers with practical guidance on how to apply these to their research. A graphical decision aid was developed to facilitate the routine use of QEMs. The use of QEMs in cardiovascular research published in contemporary, high-impact articles was examined. Findings are biased toward this segment of literature, which represents the latest developments in this growing area of cardiovascular research. The decision aid is a novel schematic that researchers can adopt into practice.