Gender differences in grant peer review: A meta-analysis

Narrative reviews of peer review research have concluded that there is negligible evidence of gender bias in the awarding of grants based on peer review. Here, we report the findings of a meta-analysis of 21 studies providing, to the contrary, evidence of robust gender differences in grant award procedures. Even though the estimates of the gender effect vary substantially from study to study, the model estimation shows that all in all, among grant applicants men have statistically significant greater odds of receiving grants than women by about 7%.     

Latent Markov modeling applied to grant peer review

In the grant peer review process we can distinguish various evaluation stages in which assessors judge applications on a rating scale. Research on the grant peer review process that considers its multi-stage character scarcely exists. In this study we analyze 1954 applications for doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships from the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (B.I.F.), which are evaluated in three stages (first: evaluation by an external reviewer; second: internal evaluation by a staff member; third: final decision by the B.I.F. Board of Trustees). The results of a latent Markov model (in combination with latent class analysis) show that a fellowship application has a chance of approval only if it is recommended for support already in the first evaluation stage, that is, if the external reviewer's evaluation is positive. Based on these results, a form of triage or pre-screening of applications seems desirable.     

Gender differences in information seeking behavior in three universities in West Bengal,India

The Information Revolution has resulted in dynamic changes in information dissemination services. It is difficult for most people to understand the dynamic causes, processes, and the effects of these changes on the information world. Gender as a variable has been identified in some studies as a possible influencing variable in information seeking research. Some social psychology depicts physical, mental and social differences between men and women in society. Gender as a variable may be useful for better understanding the cognitive and social background of human information processing and may have important implications for information dissemination services and systems. Hence, it is pertinent to explore the gender-specific differences in information seeking behavior of university students so as to better assist them in their information search processes.

The objective of this study was to determine whether gender as a variable is related to the information seeking behavior of university students. Data were collected from 600 university students studying different disciplines (arts, science and commerce) from three state-aided universities in West Bengal, India. Data tools included a General Information Schedule and an Information Seeking Behavior Inventory. Significant differences were noted in most of the domains of information seeking behavior with respect to gender (male and female). Females scored high on all the domains of information search except in diversity in search where the males were found to be high. The findings may have implications for research and practice in psychology, especially in the subfields of educational institutions, library science, cognitive development, and training and performance appraisal.     

Item Parceling in Structural Equation Modeling: A Primer

This article provides a primer of the statistical technique called parceling, or aggregating items and using those aggregates as indicators of latent constructs, for structural equation modeling (SEM). First, two major types of parceling (subset-item-parcel and all-item-parcel approaches), alongside the traditional item-based approach, are illustrated. Second, both pros and cons of parceling are explicated. Parceling provides psychometric and modeling-related benefits. Risks associated with parceling are also noted. Particularly, potential induction of estimation bias and model misspecification are pointed out. In relation to the latter problem, unidimensionality of the scale is highlighted as an important prerequisite for the use of parceling. Finally, issues of the number of parcels per factor and parcel-building algorithms are discussed. Forming three parcels per factor by the random algorithm is recommended. Suggestions and general guidelines for the use of item parceling for SEM are also provided.     

Saint Matthew strikes again: An agent-based model of peer review and the scientific community structure

This paper investigates the impact of referee reliability on the quality and efficiency of peer review. We modeled peer review as a process based on knowledge asymmetries and subject to evaluation bias. We tested various levels of referee reliability and different mechanisms of reviewing effort distribution among agents. We also tested different scientific community structures (cohesive vs. parochial) and competitive science environments (high vs. low competition). We found that referee behavior drastically affects peer review and an equal distribution of the reviewing effort is beneficial only if the scientific community is homogeneous and referee reliability is the rule. We also found that the Matthew effect in the allocation of resources and credit is inherent to a ‘winner takes all’ well functioning science system, more than a consequence of evaluation bias.     

Gender differences in information seeking behavior in three universities in West Bengal, India

The Information Revolution has resulted in dynamic changes in information dissemination services. It is difficult for most people to understand the dynamic causes, processes, and the effects of these changes on the information world. Gender as a variable has been identified in some studies as a possible influencing variable in information seeking research. Some social psychology depicts physical, mental and social differences between men and women in society. Gender as a variable may be useful for better understanding the cognitive and social background of human information processing and may have important implications for information dissemination services and systems. Hence, it is pertinent to explore the gender-specific differences in information seeking behavior of university students so as to better assist them in their information search processes.The objective of this study was to determine whether gender as a variable is related to the information seeking behavior of university students. Data were collected from 600 university students studying different disciplines (arts, science and commerce) from three state-aided universities in West Bengal, India. Data tools included a General Information Schedule and an Information Seeking Behavior Inventory. Significant differences were noted in most of the domains of information seeking behavior with respect to gender (male and female). Females scored high on all the domains of information search except in diversity in search where the males were found to be high. The findings may have implications for research and practice in psychology, especially in the subfields of educational institutions, library science, cognitive development, and training and performance appraisal.     

Understanding the peer review endeavor in scientific publishing

Peer review plays an essential role in the scholarly publishing life cycle. Using the verified peer review records of reviewers who use the Publons, we employed review length as a potential indicator of the effort researchers spend on peer review. We then examined the associations between various factors and review length. Special focus was placed on estimating the relationships between non-academic (economic and sociological aspects) factors and review length. Our results show that gender, country-level cultural backgrounds, and country-level economic backgrounds were significantly associated with review length. In addition, there are significant associations of disciplines (humanities & social sciences or hard sciences), English proficiency, publications, and verified reviews with review length.     

Peer Review and Scientific Publishing in Times of Web 2.0

The second half of the twentieth century brought major changes in the society and consequently in the different areas of the sciences. The growing number of universities after the second world war, the post-war industrial growth and later digitalization transformed the sciences present until then, enlarged the scientific community and the number of scientific publications. In the last couple of decades, the creation of web 2.0 brought new possibilities for knowledge co-production, interaction and exchange between all interested parties in research. The goal of this paper is to explore the possibilities for (extended) peer review and quality control on the internet, primarily blogs and social media, which could contribute to the standard peer review process and open the sciences to a wider audience. We are wondering if these processes could also raise the quality in science and lead to the democratization of knowledge production. We argue that changes in science also have an impact in reshaping the society and bringing democratization in knowledge production.     

Online Environmental Engagement Among Youth: Influence of Parents,Attitudes and Demographics

Although young citizens may not always politically engage in the same fashion as their elders, research suggests they are using Facebook, Twitter, and other newer communication systems to mobilize politically both generally and around environmental issues. Given the declining environmental conditions facing young citizens, a national stratified quota sample of 1,096 U.S. parents and their children between the ages of 12 and 17 was conducted to investigate the factors potentially related to their efforts to persuade members of their online social networks to be more environmental. We believe that online peer persuasion is an important concept to investigate because peer persuasion can create subjective norms that ultimately may influence behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, although parents influence youth behavior (Adj. R ² = .11), the greatest variance in behavior was explained by the youth's own environmental self-efficacy, environmental news consumption, political interest, time spent online, gender, and environmental consumerism (ΔR ² = .29). Youth political interest and environmental consumerism were especially important variables in the final model. Structural equation modeling reinforced that parental influence is primarily indirect. This study appears to be among the first to link environmental consumerism with youth online peer persuasion.     

Peer review: The experience and views of early career researchers

This paper presents selected findings from the first year of a 3‐year longitudinal study of early career researchers (ECRs), which sought to ascertain current and changing habits in scholarly communication. Specifically, the aims of the paper are to show: (1) how much experience and knowledge ECRs had of peer review – both as authors and as reviewers; (2) what they felt the benefits were and what suggestions they had for improvement; (3) what they thought of open peer review (OPR); and (4) who they felt should organize peer review. Data were obtained from 116 science and social science ECRs, most of whom had published and were subject to in‐depth interviews conducted face‐to‐face, via Skype, or over the telephone. An extensive literature review was also conducted to provide a context and supplementary data for the findings. The main findings were that: (1) most ECRS are well informed about peer review and generally like the experience, largely because of the learning experiences obtained; (2) they like blind double‐peer review, but would like some improvements, especially with regards to reviewer quality; (3) most are uncomfortable with the idea of OPR; and (4) most would like publishers to continue organizing peer review because of their perceived independence.     

注册式研究报告的同行评议机制研究

[目的/意义]近年来频发的"学术丑闻"对我国的科研评议机制提出新的挑战。而在开放科学运动中兴起的注册式研究报告因其独特的同行评议机制,能有效地提高研究过程、评估环节的透明度,减少审稿过程中的出版偏见,确保学术严谨和科研质量,最大程度地减少学术造假行为。对注册式研究报告的同行评议机制现状和特点进行分析,以期为我国同行评议的创新发展和科学完善提供参考。[方法/过程]综合运用网络调研法和内容分析法,从注册式研究报告同行评议机制的评议流程、评议形式、评议效率、评议道德指南、同行评议专家库建设等方面进行分析,探讨注册式研究报告同行评议机制中作者、评议专家、编辑三者之间关系以及相关权利,总结注册式研究报告的同行评议机制的特征。[结果/结论]注册式研究报告同行评议机制创新性特点主要表现在：①审稿流程与标准的优化：注册式研究报告实行两次同行评议的新模式,不再仅以专家主观判断为标准,同时评议专家选择和专家意见处理等流程科学合理;②审稿匿名性和交互性的改进：同行评议的形式多样化,在保持基本的制衡关系中追求最大的灵活性;③审稿效率的提升：并行式的评议信息传递方式、明文化规定和系统化监惩机制促成高效率的同行评议。注册式研究报告同行评议机制的先进性特点主要表现在：①建立严格且细致的评议专家道德规范体系;②重视同行评议专家库的建设,形成完善的评议专家激励机制。     

Open access megajournals: The publisher perspective (Part 1: Motivations)

This paper is the first of two Learned Publishing articles in which we report the results of a series of interviews with senior publishers and editors exploring open access megajournals (OAMJs). Megajournals (of which PLoS One is the best known example) represent a relatively new approach to scholarly communication and can be characterized as large, broad‐scope, open access journals that take an innovative approach to peer review, basing acceptance decisions solely on the technical or scientific soundness of the article. This model is often said to support the broader goals of the open science movement. Based on in‐depth interviews with 31 publishers and editors representing 16 different organizations (10 of which publish a megajournal), this paper reports how the term ‘megajournal’ is understood and publishers’ rationale and motivations for launching (or not launching) an OAMJ. We find that while there is general agreement on the common characteristics of megajournals, there is not yet a consensus on their relative importance. We also find seven motivating factors that were said to drive the launch of an OAMJ and link each of these factors to potential societal and business benefits. These results suggest that the often polarized debate surrounding OAMJs is a consequence of the extent to which observers perceive publishers to be motivated by these societal or business benefits.     

Google Scholar and Web of Science: Examining gender differences in citation coverage across five scientific disciplines

Many studies demonstrate differences in the coverage of citing publications in Google Scholar (GS) and Web of Science (WoS). Here, we examine to what extent citation data from the two databases reflect the scholarly impact of women and men differently. Our conjecture is that WoS carries an indirect gender bias in its selection criteria for citation sources that GS avoids due to criteria that are more inclusive. Using a sample of 1250 U.S. researchers in Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Cardiology and Chemistry, we examine gender differences in the average citation coverage of the two databases. We also calculate database-specific h-indices for all authors in the sample. In repeated simulations of hiring scenarios, we use these indices to examine whether women's appointment rates increase if hiring decisions rely on data from GS in lieu of WoS. We find no systematic gender differences in the citation coverage of the two databases. Further, our results indicate marginal to non-existing effects of database selection on women's success-rates in the simulations. In line with the existing literature, we find the citation coverage in WoS to be largest in Cardiology and Chemistry and smallest in Political Science and Sociology. The concordance between author-based h-indices measured by GS and WoS is largest for Chemistry followed by Cardiology, Political Science, Sociology and Economics.     

In a different mode: Masculine styles of communicating closeness

A number of contributors to Journal of Applied Communication Research have demonstrated communication research and theory can inform practical conduct in sundry situations. Less addressed has been the pragmatic potential of research to reform its own practice. Believing research is ideally self‐reflexive, we apply principles of scholarly inquiry to evaluate knowledge about gender and communication in close relationships. We document a prevalent bias that favors feminine styles of relating, characterized by verbal, emotional disclosure, and that devalues activity‐focused modes empirically more associated with masculinity. We then trace the presence of this bias in textbooks on gender and communication and interpersonal relationships, and we suggest teaching that relies on a non‐inclusive model of intimacy may misguide students’ communicative expectations and interpretations and may misdirect practical conduct in friendships and romantic relationships. Finally, we return to existing scholarship to extract information about masculine styles of experiencing and expressing closeness as a starting point for more inclusive research and teaching about gender, communication and human relationships.     

Paying for technology: student fees and libraries

Technology resource fees provide a possible source of funding for library technology. Integrating these student funds into libraries’ budgets requires strategic planning, good communication, and student involvement. Through a review of peer institutions and a broad student survey, this study explored how libraries may tap into these funds.