A Rationale for Scholarly Examination of Institutional Review Boards: A Case Study

In recent years, institutional review boards (IRBs) have become an increasingly significant part of the research process for communication scholars. This essay provides a rationale for scholarly examination of IRBs. Using the review process for this special issue as a case study, it identifies a number of ironies that provide justification for this special issue.     

Anonymity in Applied Communication Research: Tensions Between IRBs,Researchers, and Human Subjects

This essay examines the rather complex role of anonymity in communication research as revealed in the narratives submitted to this special issue. First, narratives were examined quantitatively to assess the prevalence of issues related to anonymity, with terms such as “anonymous” and “confidential” emerging most often. Next, a thematic analysis of the narratives suggests five tensions discussed in some detail: anonymity or (not and) confidentiality, over-promising and under-delivering anonymity, to sign and record … or not, named vs. anonymous vs. pseudonymous, and whether institutional review boards (IRBs) should be anonymous. The essay concludes with several applied recommendations for IRBs, researchers, and participants as they confront these tensions linked to the role of anonymity in human subjects research.     

Communication Scholars' Communication and Relationship with their IRBs

Using grounded theory, 57 narratives of communication scholars detailing their experiences and relationships with institutional review boards (IRBs) were examined. From this analysis, 24 concepts emerged constituting five larger categories characterizing the communication relationship between communication scholars and IRBs: antagonistic actions of IRBs, negative perceptions of IRBs, actions of researchers, positive perceptions of IRBs, and protagonistic actions of IRBs. Results indicate that the main difference between positive and negative experiences with IRBs was associated with the nature of the relationship between scholars and IRBs. Scholars who saw their IRBs as adversarial bureaucracies had the most negative experiences, whereas scholars who saw their IRBs as partners in the research process had the most positive experiences. Recommendations for how both IRBs and researchers can improve their relationships conclude this essay.     

Organizational Power and the Institutional Review Board

In this essay, we respond to the narratives and essays in this issue by examining organizational power issues related to researchers and institutional research boards (IRBs). Rather than taking a singular perspective on power, we use multiple perspectives and suggest that the cumulative analyses provide the best understanding of IRBs and organizational power.     

Organizational Power and the Institutional Review Board

In this essay, we respond to the narratives and essays in this issue by examining organizational power issues related to researchers and institutional research boards (IRBs). Rather than taking a singular perspective on power, we use multiple perspectives and suggest that the cumulative analyses provide the best understanding of IRBs and organizational power.     

Teaching Macroappraisal: A View of the Literature

The author, who is Guest Reviews Editor for this special issue on macro-appraisal, introduces and provides context for four review articles, written by archival educators from Canada, the United States, and Australia, that discuss the most important works they use to teach macroappraisal and why these works are chosen. While each article demonstrates the unique characteristics of the archival education program in which the author is situated, they are united by a common theme—the need for educators to prepare students, as best they can, to take their places as practising professional archivists.     

Implications of the use of artificial intelligence in public governance: A systematic literature review and a research agenda

To lay the foundation for the special issue that this research article introduces, we present 1) a systematic review of existing literature on the implications of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in public governance and 2) develop a research agenda. First, an assessment based on 26 articles on this topic reveals much exploratory, conceptual, qualitative, and practice-driven research in studies reflecting the increasing complexities of using AI in government – and the resulting implications, opportunities, and risks thereof for public governance. Second, based on both the literature review and the analysis of articles included in this special issue, we propose a research agenda comprising eight process-related recommendations and seven content-related recommendations. Process-wise, future research on the implications of the use of AI for public governance should move towards more public sector-focused, empirical, multidisciplinary, and explanatory research while focusing more on specific forms of AI rather than AI in general. Content-wise, our research agenda calls for the development of solid, multidisciplinary, theoretical foundations for the use of AI for public governance, as well as investigations of effective implementation, engagement, and communication plans for government strategies on AI use in the public sector. Finally, the research agenda calls for research into managing the risks of AI use in the public sector, governance modes possible for AI use in the public sector, performance and impact measurement of AI use in government, and impact evaluation of scaling-up AI usage in the public sector.     

The Development and Operation of IRBs: Medical Regulations and Social Science

A sketch of the development of institutional review boards (IRBs) and the system of human subjects research regulation in the United States is presented, from the Nuremberg Code of 1949 to the Belmont Report of 1979, and continues with several contemporary developments. Conflicts within the system are discussed, particularly those related to the regulatory application of the medical model to social science. Examination of two central documents produced by participants in the IRB regulatory system is presented to illustrate difficulties with current regulation.     

On Replication in Communication Science

Replications are an important part of the research process because they allow for greater confidence in the findings of communication research. However, engaging in replications is often undervalued, replication studies can be difficult to publish, and thus it is difficult for individual scholars to devote their resources toward replication. This essay outlines the importance of replications for communication science and provides a framework for this special issue on replications. The authors also issue a call for communication scholars to consider future projects and structural changes that would incentivize future replication studies.     

科技期刊刊庆纪念特刊的编撰与设计

为了纪念科技期刊创刊各周年,可编撰一期刊庆纪念特刊.刊庆特刊通常的内容有导语、贺信、题词、寄语、感言、杂志发展史、刊庆主题约稿或征文选登、高质量专业论文、历年载文分析、优秀论文评选结果或重要论文题录等.编撰刊庆纪念特刊有助于系统梳理杂志历史,扩大杂志影响力,对杂志载文进行深入分析,加深作者、读者、编者感情.由于刊庆特刊通常为全彩页设计,编撰时要重视色彩的选择、图片和文字的分布、专业元素的体现,等等;在编撰过程中应尽早启动,构建框架,收集资料,进行约稿.     

IoT and AI for Smart Government: A Research Agenda

The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of objects/things that contain electronics, software, sensors, and actuators, which allows these things to connect, interact, and exchange data. The users, sensors, and networks generate huge amounts of data from which governments can develop applications and gain knowledge using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. Thus, IoT and AI can enable the development of valuable services for citizens, businesses, and public agencies, in multiple domains, such as transportation, energy, healthcare, education, and public safety. This guest editorial for the special issue on IoT and AI for Smart Government, identifies the challenges involved in implementing and adopting these technologies in the public sector, and proposes a comprehensive research framework, which includes both IoT and AI elements for smart government transformation. Subsequently, the editorial provides a brief introduction of the six papers in this special issue. Finally, an agenda for future research on IoT and AI for smart government is presented, based on the proposed framework and gaps in existing literature, supported by the papers that were submitted to this special issue. The agenda comprises four directions i.e., conducting domain-specific studies, going beyond adoption studies to examine implementation and evaluation of these technologies, focusing on specific challenges and thus quick wins, and expanding the existing set of research methods and theoretical foundations used.     

科技期刊加大专刊出版力度的可行性与现实意义

针对目前科技期刊对专刊出版重视程度不足的问题,从客观需求、特殊机遇、人才储备3个方面探讨了加大专刊出版力度的可行性,并深入分析了专刊对期刊拓展稿源、培育核心编委、创造经济效益的积极作用。指出借鉴国外经验,加强专刊策划与出版,充分挖掘其学术价值和传播价值,对国内科技期刊意义重大。     

Agile government: Systematic literature review and future research

Governments need to adapt to changes in their internal and external environments and create systems that allow them to scan trends, identify developments, predict their potential impact on the organization, and quickly learn how to implement changes to their standard operating procedures. As a response, government organizations are adopting agile approaches as part of their process redesigns, project management, and software development approaches. Although agility and adaptiveness are long in use in the private sector, they have been increasingly adopted in the public sector literature and practices. In order to understand the existing theoretical and practical foundations of the field, we have conducted a systematic literature review and identified four streams of research areas: (1) software development approaches, (2) project management approaches, (3) application areas, and (4) potential outcomes. In this article, we synthesize this literature, provide an outlook on future research questions, and introduce several articles as part of the current special issue focused on agile government.     

Government innovation through social media

Social media in government is becoming one of the major trends in Electronic Government (e-government) research and practice worldwide. During the last few years, several authors have addressed the potential of social media for the innovation of public sector organizations. Most of these contributions have focused on the technical dimensions of social media, while other aspects have not attracted equal attention. In contrast, this introductory article interrogates the role of social media in the basic areas of e-government: government information flows and the availability of government information; the use of information technology to create and provide innovative government services; the impact of information technology on the relationships between the governed and those governing; and the increasing importance of information policies and information technologies for democratic practices. Accordingly, the next few pages propose and develop three dimensions of social media in government: tools, goals, and topics. We think that these dimensions could help to better understand the use of social media in government settings. Then, after a brief review of current trends in social media and government research, we present the articles included in this special issue. Finally, we present some practical lessons and suggest ideas for future research. This special issue could be seen as a starting point for the development of innovation through social media in public administrations around the world.     

Crowdsourcing for information retrieval: introduction to the special issue

This introduction to the special issue summarizes and contextualizes six novel research contributions at the intersection of information retrieval (IR) and crowdsourcing (also overlapping crowdsourcing’s closely-related sibling, human computation). Several of the papers included in this special issue represent deeper investigations into research topics for which earlier stages of the authors’ research were disseminated at crowdsourcing workshops at SIGIR and WSDM conferences, as well as at the NIST TREC conference. Since the first proposed use of crowdsourcing for IR in 2008, interest in this area has quickly accelerated and led to three workshops, an ongoing NIST TREC track, and a great variety of published papers, talks, and tutorials. We briefly summarize the area in order to help situate the contributions appearing in this special issue. We also discuss some broader current trends and issues in crowdsourcing which bear upon its use in IR and other fields.     

农科期刊与学会合作出版专刊的实践——以《浙江农业科学》为例

根据《浙江农业科学》与学会(协会)合作出版专刊的办刊实践,认为农科期刊与农口学会合作出版专刊具有目标一致、优势互补、效果良好的特点,总结出配合“三农”大政方针选题,制订周密的合作出版计划,分头落实,定期交流的体会与经验.     

Program Evaluation and Archives: An Essay on a Research Agenda

The author begins with comments on the importance and position of program evaluation (PE), mostly in the context of European archives. These observations, based on personal experience and on a preliminary literature review, show a definitive need for PE, despite its weak position in the managerial activities of archives. Next, the author highlights some special aspects of the evaluation of archival programs. Finally, the author draws conclusions from his general remarks and from his reading of the articles included in this thematic issue ofArchival Science. He outlines some tendencies and shifts in the definition and purposes of evaluation and a short research agenda, containing the most important issues for further development of PE in archives.     

Introducing computational social science for Asia-Pacific communication research

ABSTRACT

Computational social science has caused a shift of research paradigm in social science in general and communication in particular. The special issue brings together a community of active researchers to introduce computational social science for Asia-Pacific communication research. The special issue outlines major computational methods closely related to communication research and demonstrates how computational methods can be applied to address theoretical and practical questions in Asia-Pacific societies. The advantages and limitations of computational methods have been conceptually discussed and/or empirically illustrated. Finally, the special issue provides a guideline of conducting computational research for communication researchers in Asia-Pacific societies and beyond.     

学术期刊专家审稿进度控制的优化方法研究

同行评议时间控制应贯穿学术期刊专家审稿前、中、后全过程,而“审稿中”的时间控制是同行评议全程管理中易忽视的薄弱环节。对于该阶段的进度控制,编辑部可通过扩充专家邀请数量、提前设置增审、压缩增审周期来影响审稿进度。本文将围绕这3种方法调研其实施现状,以反映审稿进度控制现状并发现问题。结果显示,大多数期刊首次邀请专家人数仅等于要求回收意见的份数,审稿异常稿件需消耗1个审稿周期后才会被设置增审,审稿周期较长期刊的增审周期也未适当缩短,这些反映编辑部对处在“审稿中”稿件的时间管理处于近乎“虚空”的低干预状态。本文基于调研结果提出,期刊首次邀请专家人数宜大于要求回收意见份数但不是越多越好;分类确定提前增审对象及时间点;增审周期可控制在≤21 d;挖掘采编系统智能化辅助功能,减轻人力负担。多措并举,优化审稿进度控制效果,提升审稿运行效率,助力我国世界一流学术期刊建设。     

Knowledge spaces in the Internet and Semantic Web (Part 2)

This paper is the second part of the article with the same title. In the first part, the general aspects of a new field known as the Semantic Web and the history of the issue, the basic challenges for the establishment of knowledge spaces in the Internet, and problems in the extraction of knowledge from texts in natural languages (NLs) that arise in this context were discussed; as well, a review of designs and systems developed by foreign teams and organizations was presented. The aim of this article is to make a science metric analysis of publications on the subject in the proceedings of key Russian conferences. Based on this analysis, which was conducted with the use of special means for extraction of information from texts, research groups and lines of investigation in the field of interest in Russia and the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States are discovered; it is inteded to complete their consideration in the third part of this study.