Scientific Research Management Research Articles

Exploration of Centralized Purchasing Management Platform for Research Reagent Supplies Based on One-stop Service

The national requirements for the fund management of scientific research projects are becoming more stringent, so that it is convenient to carry out scientific research work and can strengthen the regulation of scientific research reagent procurement, so this study explores the standardization of the whole process of the procurement of scientific research reagent supplies in hospitals and new modes of management. By exploring the implementation of the centralized procurement management platform, we engage in full process supervision before, during, and after the event. Introduction of centralized procurement management platform for scientific research reagent supplies can normalize the procurement process, ensure the quality of procurement and improve the procurement efficiency on the basis of ensuring the quality of scientific research. The new model of centralized procurement of full process management based on one-stop service for scientific research reagent supplies is an important part of improving the fine scale management of public hospitals, and it is of great significance in improving the level of scientific research in China and avoiding scientific research corruption.

Slow violence, over-indebtedness, and the politics of (in)visibility: Stories and creative practices in pandemic times

In this paper I share insights and thoughts on the ‘doing’ of creative practice for representing and communicating lived experiences of slow violence. Reflecting on two UKRI GCRF studies I have been part of in Cambodia, and which both harnessed creative practice in their methodologies, I focus specifically on the slow violence of over-indebtedness effecting garment workers and farmers during, but also pre-dating, the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper intentionally ‘makes space’ for the films and portraiture photography from these studies to be viewed and exalted – the aim being to encourage political geographers to become more attuned to, and themselves embrace, the ‘doing’ of creative practice. Together they show first how the ‘doing’ of creative practice can deepen and add new dimensions to growing work on embodied relations and temporalities of debt and over-indebtedness. Second, the insights offered in this paper underscore the ethical importance of care, responsibility, and trust in geographical knowledge creation and the management of research projects concerned with slow violence. The paper ultimately impresses the dual value of the ‘doing’ of creative practice and its myriad politics, and being more attentive to what can be learned through creative practice itself about the political geographies of slow violence encountered in people's lives.

Information Technology Project Management Research: A Review of Works by Influential Pioneers

Information technology project management practices effectively help organizations achieve IT value. We employed a semistructured review with the practice of jizhuanti by tracing the development of the research intersection of IT and projects through the works of seven influential authors. From the analysis of the review, we build representative models of the intersection and suggest open lines of research. The results unveil stakeholder integration, knowledge management, and risk controls as principal themes for the sampling subset. Future scholars can continue to delve into these areas over more complex systems, consider other categories, or open new directions revealed by practice.

PACMMOD V1 N1 Editorial - Welcome to PACMMOD

We are excited to welcome you to Volume 1 of a brand new journal - Proceedings of the ACM on Management of Data, PACMMOD. This new journal is concerned with the principles, algorithms, techniques, systems, and applications of database management systems, data management technology, and science and engineering of data and will include articles reporting cutting-edge data management, data engineering, and data science research. Articles published at PACMMOD address data challenges at various stages of the data lifecycle, from modeling, acquisition, cleaning, integration, indexing, querying, analysis, exploration, visualization, interpretation, and explanation. They focus on data-intensive components of data pipelines; and solve problems in areas of interest to our community (e.g., data curation, optimization, performance, storage, systems), operating within accuracy, privacy, fairness, and diversity constraints. Articles reporting deployed systems and solutions to data science pipelines and/or fundamental experiences and insights from evaluating real-world data engineering problems are especially encouraged.

Talent identification research: a bibliometric study from multidisciplinary and global perspectives.

This paper describes the general status, trends, and evolution of research on talent identification across multiple fields globally over the last 80 years. Using Scopus and Web of Science databases, we explored patterns of productivity, collaboration, and knowledge structures in talent identification (TI) research. Bibliometric analysis of 2,502 documents revealed talent identification research is concentrated in the fields of management, business, and leadership (~37%), sports and sports science (~20%), and education, psychology, and STEM (~23%). Whereas research in management and sports science has occurred independently, research in psychology and education has created a bridge for the pollination of ideas across fields. Thematic evolution analysis indicates that TI has well developed motor and basic research themes focused on assessment, cognitive abilities, fitness, and youth characteristics. Motor themes in management and sports science bring attention to talent management beyond TI. Emerging research focuses on equity and diversity as well as innovation in identification and technology-based selection methods. Our paper contributes to the development of the body of TI research by (a) highlighting the role of TI across multiple disciplines, (b) determining the most impactful sources and authors in TI research, and (c) tracing the evolution of TI research which identifies gaps and future opportunities for exploring and developing TI research and its broader implications for other areas of research and society.

Spatiotemporally continuous estimates of daily 1-km PM2.5 concentrations and their long-term exposure in China from 2000 to 2020

Monitoring long-term variations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is essential for environmental management and epidemiological studies. While satellite-based statistical/machine-learning methods can be used for estimating high-resolution ground-level PM2.5 concentration data, their applications have been hindered by limited accuracy in daily estimates during years without PM2.5 measurements and massive missing values due to satellite retrieval data. To address these issues, we developed a new spatiotemporal high-resolution PM2.5 hindcast modeling framework to generate the full-coverage, daily, 1-km PM2.5 data for China for the period 2000–2020 with improved accuracy. Our modeling framework incorporated information on changes in observation variables between periods with and without monitoring data and filled gaps in PM2.5 estimates induced by satellite data using imputed high-resolution aerosol data. Compared to previous hindcast studies, our method achieved superior overall cross-validation (CV) R2 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.90 and 12.94 μg/m3 and significantly improved the model performance in years without PM2.5 measurements, raising the leave-one-year-out CV R2 [RMSE] to 0.83 [12.10 μg/m3] at a monthly scale (0.65 [23.29 μg/m3] at a daily scale). Our long-term PM2.5 estimates show a sharp decline in PM2.5 exposure in recent years, but the national exposure level in 2020 still exceeded the first annual interim target of the 2021 World Health Organization air quality guidelines. The proposed hindcast framework represents a new strategy to improve air quality hindcast modeling and can be applied to other regions with limited air quality monitoring periods. These high-quality estimates can support both long- and short-term scientific research and environmental management of PM2.5 in China.

Organizational Labor Flow Networks and Career Forecasting.

The movement of employees within an organization is a research area of great relevance in a variety of fields such as economics, management science, and operations research, among others. In econophysics, however, only a few initial incursions have been made into this problem. In this paper, based on an approach inspired by the concept of labor flow networks which capture the movement of workers among firms of entire national economies, we construct empirically calibrated high-resolution networks of internal labor markets with nodes and links defined on the basis of different descriptions of job positions, such as operating units or occupational codes. The model is constructed and tested for a dataset from a large U.S. government organization. Using two versions of Markov processes, one without and another with limited memory, we show that our network descriptions of internal labor markets have strong predictive power. Among the most relevant findings, we observe that the organizational labor flow networks created by our method based on operational units possess a power law feature consistent with the distribution of firm sizes in an economy. This signals the surprising and important result that this regularity is pervasive across the landscape of economic entities. We expect our work to provide a novel approach to study careers and help connect the different disciplines that currently study them.

Russian nuclear weapons, 2023

ABSTRACT The Nuclear Notebook is researched and written by the staff of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project: Director Hans M. Kristensen, Senior Research Associate and Project Manager Matt Korda, and Research Associate Eliana Reynolds. The Nuclear Notebook column has been published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since 1987. This issue’s column examines Russia’s nuclear arsenal, which includes a stockpile of approximately 4,489 warheads. Of these, some 1,674 strategic warheads are deployed on ballistic missiles and at heavy bomber bases, while an approximate additional 999 strategic warheads, along with 1,816 nonstrategic warheads, are held in reserve. The Russian arsenal continues its broad modernization intended to replace most Soviet-era weapons by the late-2020s. To see all previous Nuclear Notebook columns, go to https://thebulletin.org/nuclear-risk/nuclear-weapons/nuclear-notebook/.

Artificial Intelligence in Health Sector: Current Status and Future Perspectives

The developing fields of artificial intelligence (AI)/ machine learning (ML) offer a significant potential to improve healthcare services. Many areas of clinical practice, scientific research, and healthcare management have included AI/ML techniques. Screening and daily fitness monitoring, diagnostic services in gastroenterology, pathology, and radiology, as well as support for clinical decision-making and palliative care, are the main categories involved. However, there are significant obstacles to the widespread use of AI/ML in healthcare, including higher installation and maintenance costs, potentially harmful medical mistakes, a lack of ethical frameworks for AI, unemployment, and reduced capacity building within the human workforce. Many business initiatives have now been created in the field of healthcare AI/ML innovation. They offer everything from advanced diagnostics to vitals monitoring in their products and services. In short, AI/ML may be extremely important in addressing the difficulties with complexity and the explosion of data in the healthcare system. AI/ML is a component of contemporary healthcare, and its further adoption is contingent on thoroughly addressing pertinent issues.

Role of urban vegetation in air phytoremediation: differences between scientific research and environmental management perspectives

Air pollutant removal by urban vegetation is perceived to be a key ecosystem service for mitigating air pollution. However, the effectiveness of air phytoremediation in cities requires more synthesis to inform environmental management. A Bayesian meta-analysis approach was used to quantify the effectiveness of the removal of typical air pollutants—particle matter (PM), nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3)—by synthesizing global field measurement studies. The results revealed that urban vegetation can mitigate the growth of air pollutant concentrations, with reduction rates of 16.5~26.7% for PM, 13.9~36.2% for NOx, and 20.5~47.8% for SO2. However, they failed to significantly mitigate ground-level O3, corresponding to an increase of 5.1~25.9%. The variability in effect sizes was mainly influenced by the distance to nearest highway, ambient concentration, relative humidity, and green coverage. A questionnaire survey conducted in Shenzhen city (China) showed that most environmental managers supposed positive impacts of urban vegetation on all four air pollutants, which was at odds with our findings with respect to O3. This study can inform the lessening of discrepancies between scientific research and environmental managers’ perceptions on how to improve air phytoremediation for urban air pollution mitigation in China and elsewhere.

Strategic Management of Research and Innovation Projects: A Systematic Literature Survey

The informality of Strategic Research Project Management procedures is still a reality in several health science and technology institutions in Brazil, with a recognized negative impact on innovation management. The objective of this work is to verify the scientific and academic production related to the methodologies of strategic management of research projects and innovation in health in the databases of journals in the last 10 years, in the period from 2011 to 2021. The methodology used was the systematic review of literature based on the criteria of Tranfield, Denyer, and Smart (2003) to ensure the scope and impartiality of the research. The question that guided the selection of articles in this study was: “What are the main methodological references for the strategic management of research projects and innovation in health proposed in the scientific literature?” The databases defined for searches were Pubmed, SciELO, and Lilacs. 90 records were screened and reviewed by crossing keywords, descriptors, and eligibility criteria listed in research and innovation. The data collected for screening referred to specific information on the source/article/document (title, authors, journal, year, language) and main characteristics of the study (population profile, research context, objective, methodology used), as well as identification of emerging themes and additional notes. We conclude that, despite the interest in publications on the subject in question, the application of strategic management in research and innovation projects in Health is still emerging not only in Brazil but also in other countries recognized for the development of this area of study. The systematic review made it possible to identify the main practices described in scientific articles, which may help in assessing the implications and benefits generated using these strategies.

A proposal of indicators for the development of Brazilian scientific research in the perception of specialists

This study proposes indicators that guide the induction, contraction and monitoring of scientific research whose funding source is government resources. The bibliographic research methodology enabled the mapping of a set of variables through the application of questionnaires to specialists and the use of the Fuzzy Delphi technique in order to analyze the selected variables selected validated by the specialists. The results identified 34 important indicators that can guide the induction, contracting, monitoring and results of scientific research to reduce any discrepancies in the analysis of research projects financed by organizations and instances that promote scientific research. Such validated indicators can serve as important public policy indicators to optimize the use of research resources. It is possible to conclude that the proposal favors the development of a research project management flow as reflected in the systematic use of indicators.

Evaluation of Scientific Research in Universities Based on the Theories for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Under the background of insufficient scientific research funding, evaluating the level of scientific research from the perspective of sustainable development is necessary. The study aims to develop an evaluation index system based on the theories for sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), which could be used to evaluate the sustainable development trend of scientific research in universities. In this study, 42 world-class universities in China are used as examples to calculate their SCA performance in scientific research using the entropy and equal weights methods. The scores of scientific research in different universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2021 are used to verify the effectiveness of the evaluation index system. The results show that the evaluation index system can effectively predict the scientific research performance of universities in the future. It could be deduced from the results that universities with better scientific research performance meet the needs of the external market better and have more valuable, rare, imitable, and ambiguous resources but a lower level of scientific research dynamic ability. The evaluation index system makes up for the lack of emphasis on the potential scientific research capacity of the university in the current evaluation methods. It can help university administrators formulate relevant scientific research management regulations.

Project and Process Approaches in Science

The comparison of the project and process approach to the management of the scientific sector is carried out. The classification of projects in terms of their scale, financial instruments for supporting scientific research in project and process approaches, the regulatory framework for the implementation of the project approach, the interests of participants in the organization of scientific research in terms of their interest in the project version of science management are considered. It is shown that the project and process approaches to management are not antagonists and the science management system should combine both of them. At the same time, the lack of infrastructure for the organization of large scientific and technical projects, the experience of organizing such activities among the majority of participants in the management and implementation of scientific research, the interest of the majority of participants in the project approach was noted. The organization of large complex scientific and technical projects cannot be financed in the same way as the formation of small and medium-sized projects is financed, for the organization of large complex projects a higher level of management organization is required, which is currently absent.

Vaccine Allocation and Distribution: A Review with a Focus on Quantitative Methodologies and Application to Equity, Hesitancy, and COVID-19 Pandemic

This review focuses on vaccine distribution and allocation in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The implications discussed are in the areas of equity in vaccine distribution and allocation (at a national level as well as worldwide), vaccine hesitancy, game-theoretic modeling to guide decision-making and policy-making at a governmental level, distribution and allocation barriers (in particular in low-income countries), and operations research (OR) mathematical models to plan and execute vaccine distribution and allocation. To conduct this review, we adopt a novel methodology that consists of three phases. The first phase deploys a bibliometric analysis; the second phase concentrates on a network analysis; and the last phase proposes a refined literature review based on the results obtained by the previous two phases. The quantitative techniques utilized to conduct the first two phases allow describing the evolution of the research in this area and its potential ramifications in future. In conclusion, we underscore the significance of operations research (OR)/management science (MS) research in addressing numerous challenges and trade-offs connected to the current pandemic and its strategic impact in future research.

High-Resolution Quantitative Retrieval of Soil Moisture Based on Multisource Data Fusion with Random Forests: A Case Study in the Zoige Region of the Tibetan Plateau

Accurate high-resolution soil moisture mapping is critical for surface studies as well as climate change research. Currently, regional soil moisture retrieval primarily focuses on a spatial resolution of 1 km, which is not able to provide effective information for environmental science research and agricultural water resource management. In this study, we developed a quantitative retrieval framework for high-resolution (250 m) regional soil moisture inversion based on machine learning, multisource data fusion, and in situ measurement data. Specifically, we used various data sources, including the normalized vegetation index, surface temperature, surface albedo, soil properties data, precipitation data, topographic data, and soil moisture products from passive microwave data assimilation as input parameters. The soil moisture products simulated based on ground model simulation were used as supplementary data of the in situ measurements, together with the measured data from the Maqu Observation Network as the training target value. The study was conducted in the Zoige region of the Tibetan Plateau during the nonfreezing period (May–October) from 2009 to 2018, using random forests for training. The random forest model had good accuracy, with a correlation coefficient of 0.885, a root mean square error of 0.024 m³/m³, and a bias of −0.004. The ground-measured soil moisture exhibited significant fluctuations, while the random forest prediction was more accurate and closely aligned with the field soil moisture compared to the soil moisture products based on ground model simulation. Our method generated results that were smoother, more stable, and with less noise, providing a more detailed spatial pattern of soil moisture. Based on the permutation importance method, we found that topographic factors such as slope and aspect, and soil properties such as silt and sand have significant impacts on soil moisture in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. This highlights the importance of fine-scale topographic and soil property information for generating high-precision soil moisture data. From the perspective of inter-annual variation, the soil moisture in this area is generally high, showing a slow upward trend, with small spatial differences, and the annual average value fluctuates between 0.3741 m3/m3 and 0.3943 m3/m3. The intra-annual evolution indicates that the monthly mean average soil moisture has a large geographical variation and a small multi-year linear change rate. These findings can provide valuable insights and references for regional soil moisture research.

Assessing Good Practices in Construction Safety and Phasing Plans

Construction Safety and Phase Planning (CSPP) is a crucial document to have an impact on normal airport operations for any airport construction project. The basic intent of every CSPP is to minimize risk and to ensure that airport operations are not hindered at the time of construction activities taking place on the site. It is important to have such documents readily planned and prepared before initiating any construction activity at the airport. However, the requirements for such documents vary significantly around the world. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) helps to create a mutual understanding of aviation policy, framework, and guidance. There is a lack of data identifying the differences between ICAO and CSPP. This can be challenging in terms of participating in the overseas market for consultancies and engineering firms for the very first time. Eventually, to perform the best practice for CSPP development, a lot of practicing firms find it arduous as there is little data available on understanding the best practice. This paper provides data that discusses and questions the possibility of best practices for CSPP development within the current industry and is further bolstered by case studies, surveys, and other empirical research found in project management research. The paper also confers the key differences present in the current practicing CSPP developments and the requirements published in ICAO states.

What theory is – A late reply to Sutton and Staw 1995

Theory plays a central role in research in management science, with theoretical contribution an essential measure for evaluating research. However, the many ambiguities regarding the use of the theory concept make judgments imprecise and, to an extent, arbitrary. The discussion of the concept of theory in management science has remarkably little anchoring in the findings of the philosophy of science. This article presents some of these findings and discusses the concepts of explanation and theory on this basis. In particular, Sutton and Staw's (1995, p. 385) notion that theory should provide a logical explanation of causal relationships formulated in hypotheses is critically questioned.

A Manifesto for project management research

AbstractProject management research has evolved over the past five decades and is now a mature disciplinary field investigating phenomena of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers. Studies of projects and project management practices are theoretically rich and scientifically rigorous. They are practically relevant and impactful when addressing the pursuit of operational, tactical and strategic advancements in the world of organisations. We want to broaden the conversation between project management scholars and other scholars from cognate disciplines, particularly business and management, in a true scholarship of integration and cross‐fertilisation. This Manifesto invites the latter scholars to join efforts providing a foundation for further creative, theoretical and empirical contributions, including but not limited to tackling grand challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and global poverty. To this end, we identify five theses:Projects are often ‘agents of change’ and hence fundamental to driving the innovation and change required to tackle grand challenges.Much project management research leverages and challenges theories across disciplines, including business, organisation and management studies, contributing to developing new theories, including those specific to projects and temporary organisations.‘Projects’ are useful units of analysis, project management research is ideal for scientific cross‐fertilisation and project management scholars welcome academics from other communities to engage in fruitful conversations.As in many other fields of knowledge, the project management research community embraces diversity, welcoming researchers of different genders and various scientific and social backgrounds.Historically rooted in ‘problem‐solving’ and normative studies, project management research has become open to interpretative and emancipatory research, providing opportunities for other business, management and organisational scholars to advance their knowledge communities.

Guest editorial: Second special issue on action research and variants in project studies and project management

Guest editorial: Second special issue on action research and variants in project studies and project management