Supreme Court Review (1960–2009): A Bibliometrical Study

Supreme Court Review is a faculty-edited legal periodical published by the University of Chicago Law School. This periodical is a highly read and cited law review in law, history, and political science. This article applies bibliometrics to a study of the 438 articles that are published in the periodical over a 50-year period. It is analysis of the number of articles by volume, pages, footnotes, authorship by sex, by individual, by institution, and most-cited articles.     

Scholarly management research in Spanish language: A bibliometric analysis (2000–2010)

In this article, the authors analyze the characteristics of the vernacular management literature in Spanish-speaking countries and examine what factors can explain the differences observed in the production of these countries. The results indicate that management research has gained ground in the last decade, as revealed by the apparition of new journals and the number of articles published. The article also shows that Spain has a different profile of published articles than that of the other countries, as its production is mostly composed of empirical-quantitative articles. Finally, a negative binomial regression model suggests that the countries' scientific output is positively associated with their level of economic development and the size of their economies.     

Cartographies of research designs in library information science research in Nigeria and South Africa, 2009–2015

Research designs are key to the research process and the production of knowledge that supports performance and development. The appropriateness of the methodologies used in research has implications for the trustworthiness and validity of the outcomes of research and practice. The research designs used in library information science (LIS) research in Nigeria and South Africa between 2009 and 2015 were investigated. The objective was to map out the contours of the research designs that are utilised in LIS, particularly to keep the profession abreast of the trends in the field and the patterns in research designs used. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine 104 PhD dissertations, using six taxonomies to categorise research designs used in the two countries. Positivist epistemologies and quantitative methodologies predominated research in LIS. A handful of studies used basic mixed method research designs. Questionnaires and interviews were commonly used for data collection, but the triangulation of methods was not prevalent. The value of this study lies in that it will lead to the accumulation of knowledge of research designs and provide a baseline for studies on methodological practices.     

Prevalence of methodological transparency in the use of mixed methods research in library and information science research in South Africa and Nigeria, 2009–2015

Methodological transparency facilitates rigorous, trustworthy, and reliable mixed methods research (MMR). Because divergent views on the conceptualization of mixed methods can create confusion for researchers, methodological transparency can help researchers to replicate methods in other studies and attract them to mixed methods research. Many studies have been conducted to assess the utilization of mixed methods research in several disciplines, but few in library and information science (LIS) have studied how authors describe the methods used. This study investigated the clarity and detail provided about methodology in mixed methods research articles in LIS, focusing on South Africa and Nigeria. Content analysis was used to assess 104 doctoral theses, of which 10 used mixed methods. Results suggest that methodological transparency in MMR research is underrepresented in LIS. This study contributes to the discussion on how LIS can enhance the quality of mixed methods research studies by underscoring the importance of methodological transparency in such studies. Researchers and LIS educators can use the gaps identified by this study to use and report mixed methods appropriately in future research.     

A sensitivity analysis of research institutions’ productivity rankings to the time of citation observation

One of the critical issues in bibliometric research assessments is the time required to achieve maturity in citations. Citation counts can be considered a reliable proxy of the real impact of a work only if they are observed after sufficient time has passed from publication date. In the present work the authors investigate the effect of varying the time of citation observation on accuracy of productivity rankings for research institutions. Research productivity measures are calculated for all Italian universities active in the hard sciences in the 2001–2003 period, by individual field and discipline, with the time of the citation observation varying from 2004 to 2008. The objective is to support policy-makers in choosing a citation window that optimizes the tradeoff between accuracy of rankings and timeliness of the exercise.     

Civilizing Prime Time: Gender and Conflict Resolution in the 2004–05 Season

Using a sample of 129 situation comedies, dramas, and reality programs airing during the 2004–05 prime-time season on the broadcast networks, this study examined the relationship between the gender of storytellers and on-screen portrayals of conflict resolution. The study found that the employment of at least one woman storyteller was related to the more equitable use of conflict resolution strategies and more “civilized” conflict resolution strategies among characters.     

Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans’ future

We have studied the efficiency of research in the EU by a percentile-based citation approach that analyzes the distribution of country papers among the world papers. Going up in the citation scale, the frequency of papers from efficient countries increases while the frequency from inefficient countries decreases. In the percentile-based approach, this trend, which is uniform at any citation level, is measured by the e_p index that equals the P_{top 1%}/P_{top 10%} ratio. By using the e_p index we demonstrate that EU research on fast-evolving technological topics is less efficient than the world average and that the EU is far from being able to compete with the most advanced countries. The e_p index also shows that the USA is well ahead of the EU in both fast- and slow-evolving technologies, which suggests that the advantage of the USA over the EU in innovation is due to low research efficiency in the EU. In accord with some previous studies, our results show that the European Commission’s ongoing claims about the excellence of EU research are based on a wrong diagnosis. The EU must focus its research policy on the improvement of its inefficient research. Otherwise, the future of Europeans is at risk.     

The market for university press books in the United States: 1985–1999

University press books play a pivotal role in the transmission of knowledge among academics and to serious readers outside universities. Yet the market for these books underwent substantive changes and posted lacklustre increases in net publishers' revenues and unit sales between 1985 and 1999. In this article, statistical data on university presses' net publishers' unit and dollar revenues, covering the years 1985 through 1999, are analysed to ascertain: (i) shifts in the channels of distribution; (ii) the future demand for university press books for the years 2000 through 2004; and (iii) the price elasticity of demand for these titles. Other issues addressed briefly include competition from commercial academic publishers, consolidation in the publishing industry, the rise in importance of the global market for university press books, and financial issues.     

Efficiency analysis of forestry journals: Suggestions for improving journals’ quality

In this paper we attempt to assess the impact of journals in the field of forestry, in terms of bibliometric data, by providing an evaluation of forestry journals based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). In addition, based on the results of the conducted analysis, we provide suggestions for improving the impact of the journals in terms of widely accepted measures of journal citation impact, such as the journal impact factor (IF) and the journal h-index. More specifically, by modifying certain inputs associated with the productivity of forestry journals, we have illustrated how this method could be utilized to raise their efficiency, which in terms of research impact can then be translated into an increase of their bibliometric indices, such as the h-index, IF or eigenfactor score.     

Through the ‘I’ of the beholder: A rationale for physicalization in performance of narratives

This article presents a rationale for physicalization in performance of narrative prose based on the literary convention of “point of view.” It explores a variety of narrative voices and attempts to illustrate, through example, how narrators rely on both imitation and narration to present story to audience.     

Practitioners’ celebrity endorser selection criteria in South Korea: an empirical analysis using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

This study investigated how clients and advertising agencies in Korea prioritized celebrity selection criteria differently. Responses from 50 client-side and 50 agency-side executives in Korea were analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Results show that the brand-centered factor ‘Match-up’ was considered most important by both clients and agencies but that the celebrity-centered factor ‘Popularity’ was ranked quite differently (i.e. second by agencies and fourth by clients, out of five factors). Other factors (i.e. Availability and Potential Risk) were ranked similarly. The main finding of the study is that Korean ad agencies and clients placed different weight on celebrity endorser selection criteria. This finding is particularly valuable to national and international advertisers who are deliberating about celebrity endorsement for the Korean market.     

The interdisciplinarity of research data: How widely is shared research data reused in the STEM fields?

The aim of this study was to examine the interdisciplinarity of research data in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The findings revealed that interdisciplinarity was not distributed evenly across journals serving the STEM fields. Based on the diversity of the references as measured by the Gini coefficient index, the mathematical sciences showed the greatest inequality, followed by astronomy/physics, the earth sciences, the biological sciences, and technology. Based on the number of Essential Science Indicator (ESI) fields, the biological sciences showed the greatest variety, followed by the earth sciences, technology, the mathematical sciences, chemistry, and computing, while engineering showed no variety. Lastly, based on the Leydesdorff interdisciplinarity formula outcomes, the earth sciences showed the greatest diversity, but earth sciences articles were cited in articles in fewer fields than biological sciences articles. This study contributes to the study of interdisciplinary data citation for data sharing and reuse in STEM fields with respect to the measurement of the balance, variety, and diversity of research data.     

Introducing recalibrated academic performance indicators in the evaluation of individuals’ research performance: A case study from Eastern Europe

In Hungary, the highest and most prestigious scientific qualification is considered to be the Doctor of Science (DSc) title being awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The academic performance indicators of the DSc title are of high importance in the evaluation of individuals’ research performance not only when a researcher applies for obtaining a DSc title, but also during promotions and appointments at universities, and in the case of the evaluation of applications for scientific titles and degrees, and the assessment of applications for funding. In the Section of Earth Sciences encompassing nine related disciplines, rather than carrying out a straightforward bibliometric analysis, the performance indicators were designed as a result of a consensual agreement between leading academicians, each of whom represented a particular discipline. Therefore, the minimum values of the indicators, required to be fulfilled if one is applying for a DSc title, do not adequately reflect the actual discipline-specific performance of researchers. This problem may generate tension between researchers during the evaluation process. The main goal of this paper is to recalibrate the minimum values of four major performance indicators by taking the actual discipline-specific distance ratios into account. In addition, each minimum value will be defined by employing integer and fractional counting methods as well. The research outcome of this study can provide impetus for the Section of Earth Sciences (and eventually other sections of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) to optimize the minimum values of the DSc title performance indicators by taking the specifics of each discipline into account. Because academic performance indicators are also employed in other Eastern European countries in the evaluation of individuals’ research performance, the methods used in that paper can be placed into a wider geographical context.     

Caveats for the journal and field normalizations in the CWTS (“Leiden”) evaluations of research performance

The Center for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University advocates the use of specific normalizations for assessing research performance with reference to a world average. The Journal Citation Score (JCS) and Field Citation Score (FCS) are averaged for the research group or individual researcher under study, and then these values are used as denominators of the (mean) Citations per publication (CPP). Thus, this normalization is based on dividing two averages. This procedure only generates a legitimate indicator in the case of underlying normal distributions. Given the skewed distributions under study, one should average the observed versus expected values which are to be divided first for each publication. We show the effects of the Leiden normalization for a recent evaluation where we happened to have access to the underlying data.     

Choice book reviews in American history,geography, and area studies: An analysis for 1988–;1993

A random sampling of 375 book reviews published in Choice from 1988 to 1993 in American history, geography, and area studies was evaluated through a content analysis. The research investigated how frequently certain subjective evaluative criteria were applied by Choice reviewers. References to analysis, research or readability each appeared in approximately 50% of the reviews; references to editing, historical context, objectivity or thesis each appeared in less than 25% of the reviews. An average of 2.3 of these criteria appeared in a typical review. In addition, each review was coded for the overall opinion given a book by a reviewer. This study revealed that 76% of the books were favorably evaluated. Whereas the brief reviews in Choice are supported by some critical assessments, there are limits to the amount of subjective critical elements provided for library acquisitions professionals.     

Eisenhower's ‘atoms for peace’ speech: A case study in the strategic use of language

This article examines the speech “Atoms for Peace,”; delivered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 8, 1953. The author demonstrates how a complex rhetorical situation resulted in the crafting and exploitation of a public policy address. Far from serving as a precursor to nuclear disarmament, the speech functioned to bolster the international image of the United States as a peacemaker, to warn the Soviets against a preemptive nuclear strike, and to alert the American public to the dangers of a nuclear exchange.     

Problems of exclusionary research criteria: The case against the “usable knowledge” litmus test for social justice communication research

In 1996 five Loyola University faculty members proposed limiting the term “social justice communication research” exclusively to studies whose designs focused on “usable knowledge.” For them, that criterion necessitates that a legitimate social justice research project entail immediate action recommendations and direct researcher intervention in the interests of immediate study participants. This essay contends that such a litmus test restricts acceptable research to short‐term case studies aimed at immediately measurable outcomes produced by the researcher him‐ or herself, qualities that do not necessarily match the complex nature of problems of social in(justice) or exclusively yield the type of research outcomes that most powerfully address such problems. Widespread acceptance of their criterion: 1) limits scholarly influence to those few sites of struggle where a researcher's location and finite schedule allow extended personal engagement; 2) encourages counter‐productive dependence by lay social justice advocates on Communication researchers; 3) works against discovering and integrating broader, long‐term systemic solutions or effectively empowering advocates in other social justice struggles; 4) discourages the innovation of “the scholarship of discovery” with respect to social (in)justice issues in favor of the safer, predictable strategies of responsible “scholarship of application” (and vice versa) by necessitating the combination of conflicting objectives in a single scholarly project; and 5) promotes dysfunctional isolation and territoriality within the Communication discipline.     

‘Play mas’: carnival in the archives and the archives in carnival: records and community identity in the US Virgin Islands

Over the past several decades, scholars concerned with post-colonial and indigenous populations have focused on archives as one method of excavating the cultures and lives of marginalized peoples. The limitations of textual and bureaucratic records, combined with the recognition that an archive can consist of interrelated knowledge constructs composed of many different kinds of documentation, have led these scholars to seek ‘archives’ beyond the walls of official buildings. For archivists likewise engaged in documenting post-colonial and other communities, expanding the definitions of what an archive could be, and suggesting new ways of seeing ‘records’, offers the potential of creatively representing and preserving the cultural expressions of these communities. This paper examines carnival as a cultural archive. Carnival, an annual tradition in many Caribbean islands was initially created by both enslaved and freed Africans as a counter-narrative to the festivals of the colonizers. In the US Virgin Islands, carnival began in the eighteenth century when the islands were Danish colonies. It was briefly revived at the beginning of the twentieth century and again in 1952 as an annual public celebration, which it remains today. While carnival produces traditional records, the week-long event also embodies the continuum of a local culture through a variety of non-traditional records that transmit genealogies, folkways, food customs, and history.