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Extended data for SERVE-Kenya study
No full textExtended data file for SERVE-Kenya study. This consists of data collection guides and tools for surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, observations and deliberative engagement process
Figure 1. Data collection plan for deliberative engagement process for SERVE-Kenya study
No full textFigure illustrating the data collection plan for the deliberative engagement process for the SERVE-Kenya study
Emerging technologies and research ethics: Developing editorial policy using a scoping review and reference panel
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Emerging technologies and societal changes create new ethical concerns and greater need for cross-disciplinary and cross-stakeholder communication on navigating ethics in research. Scholarly articles are the primary mode of communication for researchers, however there are concerns regarding the expression of research ethics in these outputs. If not in these outputs, where should researchers and stakeholders learn about the ethical considerations of research? OBJECTIVES: Drawing on a scoping review, analysis of policy in a specific disciplinary context (learning and technology), and reference group discussion, we address concerns regarding research ethics, in research involving emerging technologies through developing novel policy that aims to foster learning through the expression of ethical concepts in research. APPROACH: This paper develops new editorial policy for expression of research ethics in scholarly outputs across disciplines. These guidelines, aimed at authors, reviewers, and editors, are underpinned by: a cross-disciplinary scoping review of existing policy and adherence to these policies;a review of emerging policies, and policies in a specific discipline (learning and technology); and,a collective drafting process undertaken by a reference group of journal editors (the authors of this paper). RESULTS: Analysis arising from the scoping review indicates gaps in policy across a wide range of journals (54% have no statement regarding reporting of research ethics), and adherence (51% of papers reviewed did not refer to ethics considerations). Analysis of emerging and discipline-specific policies highlights gaps. CONCLUSION: Our collective policy development process develops novel materials suitable for cross-disciplinary transfer, to address specific issues of research involving AI, and broader challenges of emerging technologies
Impact of armed conflict on maternal and reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa
No full textBackground
Armed conflict has been described as creating a public health problem and an important contributor to the social and political determinants of health and a driver of poverty and health inequity. Of the armed conflicts that have taken place since World War II, about 90% have been in developing countries, with Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries experiencing more conflicts than any other region of the world. The impact of these conflicts on health systems often extends beyond the period of active warfare, working its way through specific diseases and conditions, thus indirectly affecting the health of women and children severely. Health systems in conflict and post-conflict countries are therefore faced with huge challenges. One major challenge has been the neglect of MRH resulting in increased maternal mortality; lack of information about and limited access to family planning services; and increased incidence of sexual violence, rape, complications of abortion, sexually transmitted infections, and unwanted pregnancies among others.
Aim of the study
The aim of this study is to assess the impact of armed conflict on maternal and reproductive health (MRH) in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the study seeks to assess the impact of armed conflict on maternal mortality and fertility levels, and stakeholders’ perceptions of the effects of armed conflict on MRH services and outcomes. Additionally, the study seeks to explore the determinants of women’s utilisation of MRH services as well as the barriers to the effective delivery of emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC) services in post-conflict Burundi and Northern Uganda.
Methods
This study is multidisciplinary in nature and uses a multi-method strategy, utilising both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Quantitatively, a cross-national time-series regression analysis using armed conflict, total fertility, and maternal mortality datasets from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), the United Nations Population Division, and World health Organization respectively was undertaken to determine the relationship between armed conflict intensity (independent variable) and maternal mortality ratio and total fertility rate (dependent variables). The qualitative data includes 63 semi-structured in-depth interviews and eight focus group discussions among 115 key stakeholders involved in the provision and utilization of MRH services to qualitatively explore the perceived effects of armed conflicts on MRH and the current state of MRH in Burundi and Northern Uganda vis-à-vis the past armed conflicts.
Results
Using two global cross-national time-series studies covering 1970–2005 (fertility rates) and 1990 – 2005 (maternal mortality rates) along with the UCDP/PRIO armed conflict dataset, the following findings were observed: Armed conflict does not affect overall total fertility rates, whether it takes place in the country in question or in a neighbouring country. However, in low income countries, armed conflict intensity is positively associated with the total fertility rate (TFR), where increase in battlerelated deaths is associated with increase in TFR. Armed conflict is moderately associated with increased maternal mortality rates; an armed conflict of median intensity (2,500 battle-related deaths) is associated with a 10% increase in the maternal mortality rate. Finally, armed conflict in a neighbouring country is associated with a lower maternal mortality rate.
The findings from the qualitative study revealed the following: With respect to the perceived effects of armed conflict on MRH, the main themes that emerged from the study were: armed conflict as a cause of limited access to and poor quality of MRH services; armed conflict as a cause of poor MRH outcomes; and armed conflict as a route to improved access to health care. The main mechanisms through which armed conflict led to limited access to and poor quality of MRH services varied across the sites and included: attacks on health facilities and looting of medical supplies across the sites; targeted killing of health personnel and favouritism in the provision of healthcare in Burundi; and abduction of health providers in Northern Uganda. Overall, there was disruption of infrastructural development and the training of health personnel, and poor retention of health personnel. The perceived effects of the conflict on MRH outcomes included: increased maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality; high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and SGBV; increased levels of prostitution, teenage pregnancy and clandestine abortion; and high fertility levels. Relocation to government recognized IDP camps improved access to health services for many women.
Furthermore, regarding the determinants of women’s utilization of MRH services, a complex and interrelated set of factors cutting across the individual, socio-cultural, and political and health system spheres were observed. The main determinants include women’s fear of developing pregnancy-related complications, status of women empowerment and support at the household and community levels, removal of user-fees, proximity to the health facility, and attitude of health providers. Additionally, exposure to armed conflict affects women’s utilisation of these services mainly through impeding women’s health seeking behaviour and community perception of health services.
Finally, with respect to the barriers in the delivery of EmONC services, the barriers in the delivery of quality EmONC services were categorised into two major themes; human resources-related challenges, and systemic and institutional failures. While some of the barriers were similar, others were unique to specific sites. The common barriers included shortage of qualified staff; lack of essential installations, supplies and medications; increasing workload, burn-out and high turnover; and poor data collection and monitoring systems. Barriers unique to Northern Uganda were demoralised personnel and lack of recognition; poor referral system; inefficient drug supply system; staff absenteeism in rural areas; and poor coordination among key personnel. In Burundi, weak curriculum; poor harmonisation and coordination of training; and inefficient allocation of resources were the unique challenges. To improve the situation across the sites, efforts are ongoing to improve the training and recruitment of more staff; harmonise and strengthen the curriculum and training; increase the number of EmONC facilities; and improve staff supervision, monitoring and support.
Conclusions
The study illustrates that armed conflicts have a substantial negative impact on MRH, including health services and health outcomes that linger well into the post-conflict phase. Additionally, in post-conflict settings women’s utilization of MRH services is affected by a complex set of factors cutting across the socio-cultural and political and health system domains. Finally, the delivery of EmONC services postconflict health systems is hampered by a series of human resources-related challenges, and systemic and institutional failures. Therefore, MRH in conflict and post-conflict countries requires more global attention. The needs and challenges vary from one setting to another and will require context-specific interventions to effectively address them
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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