Research Articles In Journals Research Articles

Funding and Publication Performance in Higher Education

Universities play a vital role in transmission and generation of new discoveries and knowledge. In this paper, we study how research input and research output are related in these institutions. We focus on two types of research input: research funding and human resources, and employ various forms of publication to measure research output, namely books, book chapters, journal articles and conference papers. More importantly, we examine the recent trend of switching to a performance-based funding system by both developed and developing countries alike to support university research. We study these issues by exploring research activities carried out by Australian universities from 1992 to 2010. Australia first adopted a performance-based funding system in 1995 and further strengthened it in 2002. We find that research funding plays an important role in generating research output, particularly journal articles. On average, a one percent increase in the total research income brought about a 0.1074 percent increase in a measure of the total research publication and led to a 0.1753 percent increase in journal article publication. Among various sources of research income, competitive grants promoted all forms of publication while research income secured from industries and private sources posed a drag to research publication. Such effects were more visible in well-established, elite universities than those with a shorter history. On the other hand, the effects of human resources were stronger on these new, small and regional universities than on their elite counterparts. Exploring more closely, we find that academic staff was a key factor in journal article publication and its impact was more pronounced on the new, small and regional universities. Lastly, the adoption of a performance-based funding system appeared to boost research output.

PROTOCOL: Family and Community Interventions under Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Strategy for Reduction of Neonatal and Under‐five Mortality among Children in Low‐And‐Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review

PROTOCOL: Family and Community Interventions under Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Strategy for Reduction of Neonatal and Under‐five Mortality among Children in Low‐And‐Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review

An Exploratory Comparison Study of Inventor-authors with Their Non-patenting Peers in Research Productivity and Influence

The aim of this study is to explore the possible link between industrial technology development and scientific research, with specific focus on the development of industrial technology influences the inventor-authors' performance on scientific research. In this study, patenting activity was seen as representation of output of industrial technology; advised theses, funded research projects and journal articles were used as indicators of scientific research outcome. The author tried to examine the patents granted to and research output generated by members affiliated with Taiwanese Universities to reveal the productivity distribution and research performances of inventor-authors and non-patenting peers by taking bibliometrics approach. Patenting Activity Index and Academic Activity Index were used for presenting research output. Results showed that Inventor-authors performed above average both in technology development and research activities. However, it is worth a closer look at the impact of collaboration and research strategies for future researches.

Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors

To celebrate the success of the Journal of Controlled Release and the research covered in the journal, here we highlight some of the most cited research articles in the history of the journal. Based on the literature search in Google Scholar in July 2013, we identified ~30 research articles that have received most number of citations. Authors of these articles were invited to provide a commentary on these articles. This compilation of commentaries gives a historical perspective and current status of research covered in these articles.

Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors

Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors

Patient adherence with oral oncolytic therapies.

The use of oral chemotherapy has increased substantially. This adds a level of complexity beyond that of traditional intravenous chemotherapy. This article discusses challenges and strategies to meet patient needs. Research and peer-reviewed journal articles. Adherence is a challenge for oral chemotherapy. A systematic approach serves as the best way to facilitate a comprehensive oral chemotherapy plan. Nurses' knowledge is required to support and monitor patient adherence. Nurses must master effective utilization of resources to monitor and positively impact successful patient outcomes.

A Profile of Accounting Research in Morocco: A Review of Major Journals Over the Period 2005-2013

The purpose of this paper is to examine the profile of accounting research in the leading academic accounting research journals in Morocco during the last-year period from 2005 to 2013. This research is based on the identification of 237 articles published between 2005 and 2009 in the three main journals management in Morocco: Moroccan Journal of management control, the Moroccan Journal of Business and Management and the Moroccan Journal of Research in Management and Marketing.The archival research method is applied. The research method used to analyse the related articles in the Moroccan accounting research journals is based on various international studies. The following dimensions are assessed: authorship; research field; the nature of the research; and research methods. Authorship is classified by institution, and the top seven authors by relative contribution are also identified. Knowledge of the profile of accounting research in Morocco could provide opportunities for scholars to expand identified research areas and explore methods that are currently under-developed in the Moroccan accounting research field.

Coxhead's AWL Across ESP and Asian EFL Journal Research Articles (RAs): A Corpus-based Lexical Study

In the past few years, several cross-disciplinary corpus-based studies have been carried out on the frequency and coverage of 570 word families from Coxhead's (2000) academic word list (AWL). Some reported high coverage of this word list in their corpuses while some others questioned its generality and stated that this word list is far from complete. Hence, along with these studies, the present study attempted to examine the word frequency and text coverage of AWL on 80 research articles (RAs) written in English with 320310 running words across two Asian EFL and ESP journals. Using frequency and range as the criteria for word form selection, this study identified 438 words as the academic words and 144 new added academic words to the list which was called revised academic word list (RAWL). Applying both AWL and RAWL into the entire corpus, results support high coverage and importance of academic words in both ESP and EFL RAs. However, when two word lists were examined into ESP corpus (ESPC) and EFL corpus (EFLC) separately, academic words had higher coverage in ESPC than EFLC. From these findings it is concluded that (1) academic words play an important role in academic texts; therefore, acquisition of them seems to be essential for language learners and users, (2) because of the nature of ESP articles, ESPC holds higher coverage of academic words, (3) some of the words included in the AWL are field-specific and (4) direct attention to these words from behalf of the material and syllabus designers and teachers can lead to a better understanding of these words;hence, students’ development in their writing and reading.

Images and imagination: the role of figures in plant cell and molecular biology publications

One of the current mantras in research publishing is that science papers should ‘‘tell a story.’’ I have been known to utter this phrase to my own trainees in the form of a strong suggestion. Current wisdom states that telling a cogent story through a scientific publication is an important vehicle to render research findings understandable—not only to reviewers and primary readers of the papers, i.e., other scientists, but also to science writers and the public. After all, a paper with a novel finding that tells a good story can potentially get published in a journal with a high impact factor and will be cited at high frequency. And if these conventional research metrics are not enough to spur on the storytelling, we are now reminded of ‘‘altmetrics’’ (see http://altmetrics.org/manifesto) such as the number of posts on blogs, Facebook and popular media articles. Of course, one problem about telling a story is that stories, by their nature, are often fictional. Research journal articles fall into the genre of non-fiction. The temptation to embellish or ‘‘tell a tall tale,’’ ever-present in the quest of storytelling, cannot be tolerated in science papers. ‘‘A picture is worth a thousand words’’ goes the old saying. Historically, illustrations, graphs, micrographs and other types of figures in papers were used to show key data that would help the reader to understand the most important findings in a study. The same is true today, but in the digital age, molecular data in gels, blots and photographic images are easily manipulated with a few mouse swipes and keystrokes. In addition, raw data images included in older techniques, such as northern blot analysis has been replaced by real-time RT-PCR summary data. Papers published in Plant Cell Reports are typically awash with digital data and images, which should give us pause for a reality check. Back in the old analog days of Kodachrome and Polaroids, what you saw was truth—the raw data. The common adage, ‘‘typical results are shown’’ was usually interpreted as ‘‘best results are shown,’’ but at least the reader could assume that the results were real, and that they were, to some degree, represented by the image. Sadly, programs such as Photoshop render this assumption obsolete. Readers, reviewers and editors should be vigilant to assess if ‘‘typical results’’ are actual results at all. Fanelli’s (2009) meta-analysis of research misconduct surveys found that 1.97 % of scientists admitted to falsification or fabrication. More shocking is that scientists admitted that they had observed that 14.12 % of their colleagues had falsified research (Fanelli 2009). Estimates range as high as 20 % of cell biology papers containing a questionable figure (Pearson 2005). Rossner and Yamada (2004) have succinctly described guidelines about permissible image manipulation. There is no need to recapitulate the details of their discussion here—I encourage all scientists to read their paper. What is important as an overriding research integrity issue is that the images shown on the pages of Plant Cell Reports and other journals should reflect the true nature of the data and the experiments performed. For example, if a gel contained 12 lanes, then the best practice is to show the entire gel and only the gel in the panel—the unit of the study should be made clear to the reader. Therefore, images of separate gels should not be spliced together, and if lanes within a gel are removed in an image, it is best practice to state the image was manipulated. A photographic image of plant cells or tissues should be honestly representative. A key guideline is that Communicated by G. Hahne.

About Our Authors

About Our Authors

What’s in a name: Dual sensory impairment or deafblindness?

Communications about deafblindness within the clinical and research literature are littered with several terms that have not yet been well established or defined, such as deafblindness, dual sensory loss, or combined vision and hearing impairment. Depending on the context (e.g. service delivery for children, adults, or seniors) or the user (e.g. educators, clinicians, researchers, or clients), these terms are sometimes used interchangeably; such practice, however, can be misleading and does not assist the scientific goal of precise communication. The goal of this study was to review the existing definitions of these terms and their use through a systematic review of the literature and by conducting a qualitative survey to solicit the opinions of clinicians and researchers in the field of deafblindness. A systematic review of five databases resulted in 809 references containing terms relevant to deafblindness, which were then searched using the terms, such as deafblind, deaf-blind, deaf AND blind, dual, vision AND hearing, and combined, as they appeared in the titles and/or abstracts. In addition, a survey of researchers and rehabilitation professionals in this domain was conducted. The large majority of articles using deafblind-related terminology were published in clinician-oriented journals, whereas authors of high-impact research journal articles (many outside the domain of sensory rehabilitation) were more likely to utilize terms such as dual sensory or combined impairment. This segregation was similar in the 68 responses obtained through the survey. There is a need to harmonize the interpretation of terminology, specifically across professionals and interest groups relevant to deafblindness. Through the development of comparable terminology and clarity in communication, rehabilitation professionals will find it easier to access (and translate) research findings in their respective fields. In addition, the exchange of ideas between practitioners and researchers will be easier, resulting in more practically relevant research projects.

An Analysis of Moves in Introductions in International and Thai Journal Research Articles

An Analysis of Moves in Introductions in International and Thai Journal Research Articles

On personal and collective dimensions of agency in doctoral training: medicine and natural science programs

The purpose of the present study was to investigate knowledge-creating agency by examining doctoral students' accounts of their pursuits, using structured interviews. We examined all of the talk apparently related to agency of 13 doctoral students taking part in collective doctoral training in two, highly regarded Finnish research communities (natural science and medicine). The doctoral process involved the participants pursuing article-based theses based on collectively shared research problems and journal articles co-authored with the supervisor and other senior researchers. Based on the qualitative analysis of the interviews, three categories of agentic talk were identified, respectively, for three proposed types of knowledge-creating agency: personal, distributed, and ‘object-related’. Personal agency involved participants' reflection on their academic competence, self-efficacy, and personal strengths and weaknesses. Distributed agency played an important role in assisting these participants overcoming challenges; this includes sharing of expertise, receiving social support, and having a sense of collective efficacy. Object-related agency, in turn, represented integration of a doctoral student's efforts with those of her immediate research community while pursuing shared research objects (e.g., co-authored articles). Apart from issues of agency which, the authors propose, are raised in the interviews, the data provide content-rich accounts of the collective nature of doctoral experiences.

Essential distinctiveness: strategic alternatives in updating the business core curriculum

PurposeThis paper seeks to propose the use of specific strategic management tools for identifying opportunities for gaining competitive advantage in the business core curricula offered at colleges and universities.Design/methodology/approachA brief review of the literature on business core curriculum innovation and change is examined, and strategic management concepts are used to compare with a set of competitive peer institutions. The techniques employed in the analysis include a representative weighted competitive strength assessment and a strategic group map in an example case analysis.FindingsThe results show that in this particular sample competitive environment, a business core course program could gain a competitive lead over rivals by improving innovation and distinctiveness in the core program content and/or teaching methods.Research limitations/implicationsThe concepts proposed in this paper are limited by the measures that are selected, the subjective level of importance weights assigned by the users to the measures, the possible overlap among some measures, and the use of a single case with five selected peer institutions.Practical implicationsThere is potential usefulness of these strategic management analytical tools in the field of higher education by practitioners and researchers to examine the fundamental business core curricula in a systematic manner. The approach proposed could be used for other practical analyses of educational programs, organizational processes and services.Social implicationsConsidering that higher education courses and degree programs are important to individuals, organizations, and society at large, this proposed adaption of business strategic management concepts by educators could have a positive impact by enabling colleges and universities to discover and implement more opportunities for distinctiveness and improvement.Originality/valueWhile there are previous research journal articles describing the importance of making changes to business core curricula and programs in today's rapidly changing environment, this paper offers practical and methodical analytical tools that administrators, faculty members and committee leaders can use for informed decision making.

On Going (Way) Beyond One’s Data: A Proposal to Restrict Recommendations for Practice in Primary Educational Research Journals

To counteract what we see as a growing research-reporting concern, we propose the following editorial-policy change regarding the content of primary research articles in educational research journals: Contributors should restrict their discussion and conclusions to their data and not offer recommendations for educational practice nor speculate about the educational policy implications of their research. We believe that this change will be beneficial for maintaining a separation between evidence and opinion concerning the legitimate warrants of empirical research. We suggest viable accompaniments and alternatives to authors offering practical recommendations and policy speculations in primary-research journal articles. Among these is to rely on all sources of evidence, including systematic research syntheses based on the aggregated contribution of multiple research studies from different sources, with recommendations for practice tailored to specific situations so that both their validity and utility will be increased. It is hoped that our proposed policy change will initiate a conversation among researchers, editors, reviewers, and educational-policy experts with respect to the scope and purpose of primary research journal articles.

Successful use of case studies in an online physiology course

As institutions respond to the need for greater flexibility in access to higher education, there has been increasing emphasis in offering distance education courses. To address this need, an online graduate course in physiology using case studies was offered at WCU. Topics in both animal and human physiology were organized as modules that contained a case study with questions, a pre‐recorded online lecture, and 3 research journal articles. We followed best practices for teaching and learning in distance education including preparation of materials before the course starting date, a discussion board for responding to pre‐ and post case discussion questions, and prompt reply to student queries. For exams, students generated their own questions based on unfamiliar cases and developed their own case study for the final project. Although only 20% of students had previously taken an online course, all students would recommend this course to others. Formative assessment indicated that students found cases interesting, informative, and presented at the appropriate level. Most students said that the online course took them more time; they learned more content and used the primary literature more than a traditional class. Our results indicate that a well‐organized physiology course using a case study format is a very effective model for online learning.

Teaching physiology online: successful use of case studies in a graduate course

To address the need for greater flexibility in access to higher education, an online graduate course in physiology using case studies was developed and offered in summer 2012. Topics in both animal and human physiology were organized as modules that contained a case study with questions, a prerecorded online lecture, and three research journal articles. We followed best practices for teaching and learning in distance education, including the preparation of materials before the course starting date, a discussion board for responding to pre- and postcase discussion questions, and prompt reply to student queries. For exams, students generated their own questions based on new cases and developed their own case study for the final project. Although only 20% of students had previously taken an online course, all students stated that they would recommend this course to others. Postcase assessment indicated that students found the cases interesting, informative, and presented at the appropriate level. Most students said that the online course took them more time but that they learned more content and used the primary literature more than in a traditional class. Our results indicate that a well-organized physiology course using a case study format is a very effective model for online learning.

Challenging the “Extensive Development Process” of the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

It is evident, over the past 30 years, that there has been widespread promotion of the concept of a biological basis for psychiatric disorders and direct promotion on the belief by medical experts in media, texts, and public meetings. In developed countries, and in particular die United States, this has resulted in epidemic comparable increases in the percentage of the population that are diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder.The associated increases in drug-based treatments have resulted in financial benefits to pharmaceutical companies and medical experts. This relationship raises questions con- cerning the construction of knowledge, particularly in light of the claims promoting a proven biological/neurological basis for many psychiatric disorders that, at diis point, has not been clearly established in research (Healy, 2012; Whitaker, 2010).The claims made in the biopsychiatric discourse are supported dirough reference to experts' opinions, scientific research studies, and reports in refereed journals. Linked to the research studies and journal articles are medical experts, many in esteemed positions in universities, whose power over the discourse is impenetrable even to practicing physicians, nurses, other health workers, education systems, teachers, parents, and the individuals diagnosed with a mental health disorder.Understanding the context of the hegemonic medical model of psychiatry is critical given the rapid increases in the number of individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disor- ders. What is considered normal in a society varies over time and die definition of devi- ance can and does change in accordance with the values of a society. The increased use of psychiatric diagnoses raises questions concerning the forces in society that have led to die acceptance of, and increasing promotion of drug regimes for an ever-increasing number of psychiatric disorders, evident in each new edition of die American Psychiatric Association's (APA; 2011) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). With die imminent release of the DSM-5 in 2013, diis issue of the journal has a focus on questioning aspects of the hegemonic psychiatric discourse.Individual and community expectations of psychiatric medical intervention are that treatments will produce positive outcomes and result in improvements in die functioning of individuals diagnosed widi a mental health problem. However, negative consequences from pharmaceutical and biopsychiatric treatments are not new or uncommon phenomena. Iatrogenic outcomes resulting from adverse drug reactions have been well documented in medicine (illustrated by die devastating consequences of dialidomide) and in biopsychiatry (illustrated by the development of tardive dyskinesia in a significant percentage of patients as a result of long-term treatment with neuroleptic drugs; Lader, 1993).This issue of the journal concludes with an In Memoriam to Thomas Szasz. Szasz was one of the first significant critics of biopsychiatry. Szasz's initial text The My[h of Mental Illness, first published in 1961, critiqued the biopsychiatric construct of mental illness and outlined the potentially flawed constructs of biopsychiatry. Szasz's critical commentary was underpinned by libertarian views. He was damning of the role of psychiatry because of its coercive nature, reflected by involuntary treatment programs. Szasz's analysis extended beyond the problems of coercion associated with psychiatric intervention, and condemned the very construct of mental illness and associated treatments (Szasz, 1976).In Pharmacracy, published in 2001, Szasz refined his analysis, defining "pharmacracy" as a totalitarian regime of social control that uses drug therapy as the main regulating mecha- nism (Szasz, 2001). The agents of the regime are the health care professionals, principally psychiatrists, whose certifying role classifies, what Szasz perceived as, socially undesirable, unacceptable, or criminal behavior as diseases and results in die use of psychotropic drugs and other biopsychiatric interventions for treatment and solution. …

Design Considerations for Aging Populations

This issue of Health Environments Research & Design Journal features several articles that focus on the design of healthcare spaces for populations, both patients and the workforce of healthcare providers. Both of these populations have special needs that must be considered when designing healthcare spaces. According to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (Wier, Pfunter, & Steiner, 2010), the population of people aged 65 years and older in the United States is expected to grow by 79%, as compared with the 20% expected growth in the general population. Furthermore, it is expected that one in five Americans will be over 65 by the year 2030, in contrast to the one in eight Americans who were over 65 in 2010. This significant increase in the population reflects the of the baby boomer generation and has many implications for the healthcare system since the elderly use healthcare at a disproportionate rate as compared to younger populations. Among the elderly who are 65 years and older, there is generally an increase in the number of hospital admissions, a greater proportion of discharges to long-term care facilities, an increase in chronic conditions with co-morbidities, and increased healthcare spending by federal programs such as Medicare. The hospitalization of older patients presents huge challenges to hospitals as patient acuities increase but reimbursement for services decrease. This problem is exacerbated by new rules established by the Accountable Care Act, which penalize hospitals financially for the care of patients who are readmitted within 30 days of a previous hospitalization.The most common causes of hospitalization among the elderly are congestive heart failure, pneumonia, cardiac dysrhythmias, and septicemia-all conditions that may have longer recovery times and an increased risk for readmissions. The mean length of stay for patients 65-74 years is 5.3 days and 5.6 days for patients 75 years and older. While patients are in need of hospitalization for constant observation, medical and surgical treatment, and continuous care, there are also inherent risks associated with hospitalization such as hospital-acquired infections, medical errors, falls, lack of sleep, social isolation, and possible mental or cognitive disorientation. How can the design of hospitals facilitate the healing and recovery of older patients and prevent potential harm while receiving care? What is different about the care of older patients that might influence design decisions? This issue of HERD addresses many issues that must be considered in designing hospital and other healthcare facilities.Environmental GerontologyA new field of environmental gerontology has emerged in the past few decades, founded on theories, research, and practices of older persons in their social spaces and surroundings. This field reflects the multidisciplinary input of occupational and physical therapists, human service professionals, nursing or other medical professionals, and architects and other environmental designers. The intent is to create settings for the elderly that meets the challenges of their changing lifestyles and mental, physical and cognitive abilities.Studies have investigated the cost benefits of aging in place (Oswald, Jopp, Rott, Wahl, 2011; Wiles, Leibing, Guberman, Reeve, & Allen, 2012) as compared to congregate living with various approaches to ensuring total independence or assisted living with supervision for nutrition or medical care. The field also addresses the needs of the elderly when hospitalized to enhance healing, recovery, and the prevention of further deterioration. Many elderly patients have chronic disabilities in addition to the illness that causes their hospitalization, so it is critical to plan accordingly for space to store canes, scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, and other assistive devices in the patient's room or on the patient care unit. These patients often are not only physically disabled, but they may also be sight or hearing impaired, or both, and many patients have more than one sensory loss. …

Strategic environmental assessment-related research projects and journal articles: an overview of the past 20 years

This paper provides an overview of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) related research projects as well as publications in international refereed English language journals of the past 20 years. This is based on a survey with international SEA researchers and the results of a content analysis of 263 SEA papers, published in the three most preeminent international refereed English language journals for SEA: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal and Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management. It is concluded that, while more empirical evidence has been produced than is frequently acknowledged, the main challenge is to raise the level of awareness of what is already out there and to make this the baseline for the future SEA research agenda.