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%.     

How to detect indications of potential sources of bias in peer review: A generalized latent variable modeling approach exemplified by a gender study

The universalism norm of the ethos of science requires that contributions to science are not excluded because of the contributors’ gender, nationality, social status, or other irrelevant criteria. Here, a generalized latent variable modeling approach is presented that grant program managers at a funding organization can use in order to obtain indications of potential sources of bias in their peer review process (such as the applicants’ gender). To implement the method, the data required are the number of approved and number of rejected applicants for grants among different groups (for example, women and men or natural and social scientists). Using the generalized latent variable modeling approach indications of potential sources of bias can be examined not only for grant peer review but also for journal peer review.     

From Women-Staffed to Women-Led: Gender and Leadership in Academic Libraries, 1974-2018

This article reviews post-1974 scholarly literature on women’s leadership in academic libraries, with the emphasis on the United States. The purpose of this synthesis is to highlight research areas and themes that have significantly expanded the profession’s knowledge about gender and its impact at the top administrative level. The article starts with a brief overview of theories of gender and leadership before tracing scholarship on the gendered career patterns singled out in Schiller’s work (1974). The article then focuses on additional issues related to gender and library administration, including leadership styles, perceptions of differences between male and female leaders, and the lack of diversity among academic library women directors.     

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.     

Developing the Librarians' Role in Supporting Grant Applications and Reducing Waste in Research: Outcomes From a Literature Review and Survey in the NIHR Research Design Service

ABSTRACT

Librarians and information specialists' involvement during the development of grant applications for external funding can save researchers' time, provide specialist support, and contribute to reducing avoidable waste in research. This article presents a survey of information specialists working for the National Institute for Health Research's Research Design Service within English applied health services research and a scoping review to identify other examples of librarians supporting grant applications. The survey found that support included: verifying proposed research has not already been performed; searching literature to provide background for the project; and advising on or writing systematic review methods. The scoping review found three examples where librarians were involved: in writing sections of the application; conducting reviews, and becoming a co-applicant. We recommend librarians engage with researchers by checking whether search requests are to support an application and by becoming familiar with resources and techniques to support grant proposal development.     

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.     

Measuring dissatisfaction with coauthorship: An empirical approach based on the researchers’ perception

Increasing levels of collaboration constitute one of the characteristics of science. However, the knowledge production system is based on a fundamental discordance: on the one hand, it is cooperative in nature, with links articulated through coauthorships, and on the other, the systems for assigning merit and distributing rewards function on an individual scale. This contradiction can give rise to dysfunction and inappropriate practices.This study analyses researchers’ perceptions about the problems associated with authorship in scientific publications. We make use of a coauthorship dissatisfaction index that measures the degree of dissatisfaction with the author order on the byline, ghost authors, and unjustified authorship. There are differences in this regard according to the branch of knowledge, status in the academic hierarchy, and sex. Using a sample of 2344 university researchers, we observed an overall dissatisfaction rate of 12.4%. The highest rates were in the areas of Health Sciences and Social Sciences, in early-stage career academics, and in women. The cognizant authorities should take steps to regulate authorship, tailoring rules to each area of knowledge, with an eye toward reducing discrimination, gender bias, and abuse of authority.     

Scientometrics reveals funding priorities in medical research policy

Several studies have assessed whether funding of disease specific research is in line with their burden. The authors of these studies concluded that the burden of a disease was a good predictor for its associated research funding. However, previous analyses did not take into account diseases that mainly affect people living in low income regions, i.e. so-called diseases of poverty. Moreover, the analyses were only performed for the burden diseases cause in high income countries. We investigated whether the conclusions about the relationship between burden and funding still holds when (1) including diseases of poverty and (2) accounting for the burden of diseases in low income countries. We found that the relationship between the burden and the level of diseases specific funding decreases for people living in low income countries. We find the best predictor for the level of funding to be the mortality in high income countries. In contrast to previous studies, we were able to include more diseases into our analyses (74). This enabled us to discover differences in funding levels between and within groups of diseases. we found that research on cancers was over funded with respect to the associated burden. In contrast, diseases of poverty systematically receive less funding than would be expected based on their burden. Other groups of diseases (cardiovascular diseases and mental illnesses) contained both over and under funded diseases.     

Gender differences in research topic and method selection in library and information science: Perspectives from three top journals

Research in the social sciences has shown that there are gender differences in the selection of research methods, with women often opting for qualitative methods while men prefer quantitative methods. However, it is important to consider that research methods are generally chosen based on the research topic. To figure out the influence of gender on research method selection, a study was conducted in the field of library and information science, using a more fine-grained method classification system and an automatic classification model called CogFT, which is based on full-text cognition. The findings showed that women tend to use interviews while men prefer theoretical approaches, across a range of topics. Insights into the specific research design processes that contribute to gender differences in method selection are offered and ways to promote gender inclusivity and equality in academia by considering research method use and guidance are suggested.     

西夏序跋碑类文书种类功用与体式研究

任何实用类文书都有其比较固定的写作体式,这也使从古至今写作经验逐渐沿袭而来,西夏各类实用文书的写作体式也仍然是学习、借鉴而来。为了更好地了解和掌握西夏实用类文书的体式,本文主要结合留传或出土的实物文书对西夏序跋碑类文书如序、跋、发愿文、题记、榜题、碑文、墓志铭等的功用、体式等作具体全面的研究,并总结归纳各自大致的体式,以供学习者利用。     

Planning that title: Practices and preferences for titles with colons in academic articles

Colons play a hidden but important role in the planning and writing of effective titles for academic articles. This paper presents three studies of current practices in using colons and four studies of students' and academics' preferences for titles with and without colons. The practice studies showed disciplinary differences in the use of colons (with a greater use in the arts than in the sciences). They also showed that more single authors than multiple authors use colons. Using colons in the titles of academic articles had no effect upon their subsequent citation rates. The preference studies showed that students and academics generally preferred titles with colons to titles without them. However, these results depended to some extent on the materials and the methods used.     

医学论文常见审稿偏倚及避免建议

审稿是期刊筛选论文、确保刊发论文质量的重要手段,审稿过程可能会受到审稿人、编辑和作者有意或无意的偏倚的影响而导致审稿结果失实。本文总结了医学论文常见审稿偏倚,如内容偏倚、保守偏倚、利益冲突、作者身份或地域偏倚等问题,对目前国内外期刊现有的审稿模式进行讨论并提出建议。各期刊可结合自身实际情况,采取一种或多种审稿模式;谨慎选择审稿人,既要“对口”送审,又要避免利益冲突;避免审稿一票否决,严格落实三审制度;尊重作者的科研成果,建立作者申诉机制。基于此,确保论文的优势得到承认,弱点得到剖析,为作者提供具有建设性的修改意见,帮助作者提高科学研究及论文撰写的水平,最大限度地减少审稿过程中出现偏倚。     

Sex differences in communication and the construction of HIV/AIDS

This paper reports analyses of sex differences in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to HIV/AIDS and communication about HIV I'AIDS in the heterosexual college population. Men and women differed in their assessments of risk to HIV infection for various behaviors; in each case women perceived greater risk. Women were more favorable than men regarding talking about AIDS and attitudes about condom use. Men reported a greater number of sexual partners for the previous five years than did women. Men, more often than women, appear to have changed their behavior in a direction of greater risk. Only two sex differences were found for prevention‐related behaviors. First, men more often reported having purchased a condom. However, no sex differences were found for actual condom use. Second, as reported in previous studies, women were more likely to engage in AIDS‐related talk with a sexual partner. Because of their many differences, men and women need to be targeted as separate audiences for HIV/AIDS prevention. Further, because women have emerged as the most rapidly growing group at risk for HIV infection and because women appear to be more willing than men to implement HIV/AIDS prevention in their relationships, they should be considered a primary audience for HIV/AIDS‐prevention programs designed for influencing the behavior of heterosexual couples.     

A bibliometric analysis of academic publication and NIH funding

Academic productivity and research funding have been hot topics in biomedical research. While publications and their citations are popular indicators of academic productivity, there has been no rigorous way to quantify co-authors’ relative contributions. This has seriously compromised quantitative studies on the relationship between academic productivity and research funding. Here we apply an axiomatic approach and associated bibliometric measures to revisit a recent study by Ginther et al. (Ginther et al., 2011a, Ginther et al., 2011b) in which the probability of receiving a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 award was analyzed with respect to the applicant's race/ethnicity. Our results provide new insight and suggest that there is no significant racial bias in the NIH review process, in contrast to the conclusion from the study by D. K. Ginther et al. Our axiomatic approach has a potential to be widely used for scientific assessment and management.     

Administration of Grant Funds-the Project Approach

Grant funds, which are of considerable importance in collection-building, require special care in administration. The "project approach" enables the librarian to employ the efficiencies of project management by concentrating on a management unit of appropriate size. Other advantages of this approach include participation of the user community, visibility, ease in reporting and control, and directivity in the use of supplementary funding. The principle may be extended to grant proposal writing, where it is particularly useful in developing proposals tailored to the known granting patterns of agencies.     

我国高校图书馆信息资源共享现状研究

运用文献调查和网络调查方法,从全国性和区域性两种模式着手,对我国高校图书馆信息资源共享现状作了介绍,对其资金模式、服务体系、管理体制、共享形式等方面进行了分析,指出我国高校图书馆信息资源共享活动中存在的六大问题,从六个方面提出加强我国高校图书馆信息资源共享建设的对策。     

Cox,American radio networks: A history

Most previous research into gender role stereotypes in the mass media has concentrated on television or print. Using content analysis, gender role stereotyping in radio commercials was examined. The goals of the study were to: (1) provide current data on level and content of gender stereotyping in Portuguese radio advertising; (2) compare levels of stereotyping in three countries. One hundred and sixty six advertisements were content analyzed into nine categories referring to the central figure, credibility, role, location, argument, reward, product, accent, and narrator. As previously found, male and female characters were portrayed in different ways particularly on credibility (males as authorities, females as users), role (males as celebrities/narrator, females as dependent), location (males in occupational setting more than females), and narrators (females as characters more than males). The patterns of bias in Portuguese radio commercials are consistent with, though less marked than, those in television commercials. Concerning the cross- national analysis, results showed more similarities than differences.