Scientific communication – on the brink of the next evolution?

Key points

• Publishing is fixated on the format of the scholarly article, and this is stifling innovation.
• Content should be presented in a way that adapts dynamically to the reader's needs.
• A lot of interdisciplinary research is needed to transform reading, writing, and publishing processes.

     

COUNTER: Looking Ahead to Release 5 of the COUNTER Code of Practice

Since its first Code of Practice was published in 2003, setting the first international standard for reporting usage of scholarly content, Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) has been continually refining the code of practice to meet the evolving needs of its library, publisher, and vendor membership. The latest release of the Code of Practice went into effect in early 2014 and introduced several improvements over the prior releases. Work is now underway on Release 5 of the COUNTER Code of Practice with a promise that it will provide further improvements to better report on usage of scholarly information in an ever-changing discovery and access environment. This column discusses current challenges and how Release 5 might address them.     

Introduction to Usus,a Community Website on Library Usage,and a Discussion about COUNTER 4

Established in 2014, Usus (Latin for usage), supported by Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources (COUNTER), but editorially independent, is a community-run website designed to provide a space for librarians, consortia, publishers, aggregators, repository managers, and scholars to discuss all aspects of usage, including particular ways that use is measured. In this session, Usus Supervisory Board members provided an introduction to Usus, outlined the purpose of the community-run site, and discussed how librarians may utilize the site to submit ongoing and complex usage issues. In addition, the presenters engaged attendees in discussing specific e-resource usage issues they have encountered as well as report changes and additions in the recently released COUNTER Code of Practice 4.     

Inter-participant variability in daily physical activity and sedentary time among male youth sport footballers: independent associations with indicators of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness

Participation in youth sport is assumed to promote and contribute towards more physically active lifestyles among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine inter-participant variability in objectively measured habitual physical activity (PA) behaviours and sedentary time among youth sport participants and their implications for health. One-hundred-and-eighteen male youth sport footballers (Mean ± s = 11.72 ± 1.60) wore a GT3X accelerometer for 7 days. Average daily PA [min · day^?1, in light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and combined moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA)] and sedentary time were calculated. Participants’ body mass index adjusted for age and sex (BMI–standard deviation score), per cent body fat (BF%), waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed. Results revealed that variability in daily PA behaviours and sedentary time (min · day^?1) was associated with BMI–standard deviation score [VPA (?), MVPA (?)], BF% [sedentary time (+), VPA (?), MVPA (?)], waist circumference [sedentary time (+), LPA (?)] and cardiorespiratory fitness [sedentary time (?), MPA (+), VPA (+), MVPA (+)]. Whilst sedentary time and MVPA were not related to health outcomes independent of one another, associations with markers of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness were stronger for sedentary time. Sedentary time was also significantly positively related to waist circumference independent of VPA. Results demonstrate inter-participant variability in habitual PA and sedentary time among youth sport participants which holds implications for their health. Thus, promoting PA and, in particular, reducing sedentary time may contribute towards the prevention of adverse health consequences associated with a physically inactive lifestyle for children and adolescents active in the youth sport context.     

Multivariate analyses of individual variation in soccer skill as a tool for talent identification and development: utilising evolutionary theory in sports science

The development of a comprehensive protocol for quantifying soccer-specific skill could markedly improve both talent identification and development. Surprisingly, most protocols for talent identification in soccer still focus on the more generic athletic attributes of team sports, such as speed, strength, agility and endurance, rather than on a player’s technical skills. We used a multivariate methodology borrowed from evolutionary analyses of adaptation to develop our quantitative assessment of individual soccer-specific skill. We tested the performance of 40 individual academy-level players in eight different soccer-specific tasks across an age range of 13–18 years old. We first quantified the repeatability of each skill performance then explored the effects of age on soccer-specific skill, correlations between each of the pairs of skill tasks independent of age, and finally developed an individual metric of overall skill performance that could be easily used by coaches. All of our measured traits were highly repeatable when assessed over a short period and we found that an individual’s overall skill – as well as their performance in their best task – was strongly positively correlated with age. Most importantly, our study established a simple but comprehensive methodology for assessing skill performance in soccer players, thus allowing coaches to rapidly assess the relative abilities of their players, identify promising youths and work on eliminating skill deficits in players.     

Mapping the literature of hospital pharmacy

Objectives

This study describes the literature of hospital pharmacy and identifies the journals most commonly cited by authors in the field, the publication types most frequently cited, the age of citations, and the indexing access to core journals. The study also looks at differing citation practices between journals with a wide audience compared to a national journal with a focus on regional issues and trends in the field.

Method

Cited references from five discipline-specific source journals were collected and analyzed for publication type and age. Two sets were created for comparison. Bradford''s Law of Scattering was applied to both sets to determine the most frequently cited journals.

Results

Three-quarters of all cited items were published within the last 10 years (71%), and journal articles were the most heavily cited publication type (n=65,760, 87%). Citation analysis revealed 26 journal titles in Zone 1, 177 journal titles in Zone 2, and the remaining were scattered across 3,886 titles. Analysis of a national journal revealed Zone 1 comprised 9 titles. Comparison of the 2 sets revealed that Zone 1 titles overlapped, with the exception of 2 titles that were geographically focused in the national title.

Conclusion

Hospital pharmacy literature draws heavily from its own discipline-specific sources but equally from core general and specialty medical journals. Indexing of cited journals is complete in PubMed and EMBASE but lacking in International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. Gray literature is a significant information source in the field.     

Academic socialization,parental educational expectations,and academic self‐efficacy among Latino adolescents

This study examined the direct association between parental educational expectations and adolescents’ academic self‐efficacy, as well as the moderating influence of parental academic socialization messages. Participants were 148 Latino parent–adolescent dyads with the majority of Mexican origin (80.4%). Most of the parent participants were mothers (85.8%). Adolescents were 13 (46%) or 14 (54%) years of age, and 53% identified as female. Adolescents reported their academic self‐efficacy and perceptions of their parents’ educational expectations; parents reported on their academic socialization messages of shame/pressure and effort regarding academics. The results suggest that, after accounting for parents’ level of education and immigrant status, parental educational expectations were positively associated with adolescent academic self‐efficacy. This association was stronger among adolescents whose parents reported transmitting fewer messages of shame/pressure and academic effort. These results point to the importance of nuances in the content and type of academic socialization messages within Latino families.     

Beyond educational attainment: The importance of skills and lifelong learning for social outcomes. Evidence for Europe from PIAAC

Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures people's social outcomes and promotes active participation in society and stability. However, it is unclear to what extent other types of human capital also correlate with social outcomes. Hence, we explored the opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey through its provision of information on educational attainment, observed individual key skills proficiency, and participation in adult education and training (adult lifelong learning). We therefore studied the association between these human capital variables and social outcomes, and more specifically interpersonal trust and participation in volunteering activities. Results revealed that these social outcomes were affected not only by the formal qualification obtained, determined by the education variable, but also throughout the life‐cycle. Indeed, education and training when undertaken during adult life have a significant impact, especially on volunteering. The fact that the skill proficiency also plays a significant role is extremely relevant, as skills are more likely to change over the life‐cycle, either in a positive or negative way. Whilst the formal education received is constant after exiting the educational system, skills reflect competences more accurately: first, because those with the same level of education may have different skill levels because of differences in the quality of education or ability; second, because skills can vary over time. For example, they may increase with work experience or informal education, or decrease as a result of depreciation and ageing. These findings suggest that social outcomes are prone to be affected by many factors other than formal education, suggesting that policy makers can implement recommendations even after formal education has been completed.     

Adjustment scales for preschool intervention: Extending validity and relevance across multiple perspectives

A series of studies extended psychometric research on the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI). The ASPI is a multidimensional measure of preschool emotional and behavioral adjustment for use within formal early childhood educational programs. These studies used a multiple method, multisource approach to provide additional evidence for the reliability and validity of the ASPI. Findings documented inter‐rater reliability of the ASPI across key informants within early childhood educational programs—teachers and teacher assistants. Findings supported concurrent validity of the ASPI with direct observations of preschool classroom adjustment problems and the developmentally salient constructs of temperament and emotion regulation. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 725–736, 2004.