1,721,063 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
The circular building materials challenge: a case-based policy approach
Full text linkThe transition to a Circular Economy requires enabling conditions that remove existing barriers in product utilisation and material recovery operations. The adoption of circular business models is one of the key building blocks of the Circular Economy, but the viability of such businesses is often dependent on supporting policies. This contribution reviews the literature on resource efficiency policies, relevant to building materials and the construction sector, and discusses how current and new policies can support circular business models, building upon two company case studies. The companies are specialising in construction solutions, by providing highly durable, reusable and fully recyclable building components. The cases are built on semi-structured interviews with company representatives and follow-up surveys. Both companies agree that building passports and material passports, along with design for deconstruction, building modularity, durability and reuse/recycling at materials level should be established, so that reusable building materials can be efficiently salvaged and returned for further utilisation or recycling. Green public procurement can play a fundamental role in increasing the uptake and use of durable and recyclable products. Economic instruments such as tax reductions for recycled materials can boost greater utilisation of secondary materials in buildings. Given the long lifetime of buildings, it is considered essential to encourage design improvements and circular business models through appropriate policy instruments
Policy Framework for Material Resource Efficiency : Pathway Towards a Circular Economy
Full text linkThe strategic direction of the European Union (EU) over the past twenty years has focused on increasing resource productivity and innovation in the economy, aiming at the efficient use and secured supplies of resources, economic growth and job creation, with fewer environmental impacts. One of the basic premises of the new ‘Green Deal’ for Europe is the promotion of the circular economy. The aim of a circular economy is to create a more sustainable society by decoupling economic growth from resource consumption.The EU Circular Economy Action Plan contains a clear vision that businesses will play a significant role in the shift to a circular economy model, by implementing circular business models that encourage prolonged use of products, components, and materials. The Plan also stresses the importance of appropriate enabling conditions for this shift. Policies that enable the adoption and upscale of such business models play a central role within a framework for material resource efficiency.The overarching aim of this research is to identify gaps in the current EU policy landscape relating to utilisation of material resources, and to investigate appropriate policy interventions. The research uses an interdisciplinary methodology with case studies of Swedish firms adopting circular business models. A ‘bottom-up’ approach is applied, with business input forming the basis of a proposed policy framework for material resource efficiency.Eight distinct policy measures constitute the core of the policy framework, bundled together in a resource efficiency policy package: eco-design rules for product durability, repairability and recyclability; product standards for repairability and standards for secondary raw materials; circularity criteria in public procurement; quality labelling for reused products; a national reuse target; funding measures for capacity, technology and innovation development in recycling and reuse value chains; support for resource and information exchange platforms; and a ban on the incineration of recyclable waste.The analysis identifies the conditions needed to improve implementation of each individual policy measure, but also reveals instrument interdependencies within the policy mix. Possible ways to improve implementation of the suggested policy framework are discussed.Finally, based on theories of the policy process, a number of challenges are identified in the process of integrating resource efficiency policies in the current policy landscape. Potential future research directions are suggested to help remove these bottlenecks in the transition to a circular economy
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Towards a Circular Economy Taxation Framework : Expectations and Challenges of Implementation
No full textThe transition to a circular economy is a complex process requiring wide multi-level and multi-stakeholder engagement and can be facilitated by appropriate policy interventions. Taking stock of the importance of a well-balanced policy mix that includes a variety of complementing policy instruments, the circular economy action plan of the European Union (COM(2020) 98 final) includes a section about “getting the economics right” in which it encourages the application of economic instruments. This contribution presents a comprehensive taxation framework, applied across the life cycle of products. The framework includes (1) a raw material resource tax, (2) reuse/repair tax relief, and (3) a waste hierarchy tax at the end of life of products. The research is based on a mixed method approach, using different sources to analyse the different measures in the framework. More mature concepts, such as material resource taxes, are analysed by reviewing the existing literature. The analysis of tax relief on repairs is based on interviews with stakeholders in Sweden, where this economic policy instrument has been implemented since 2017. Finally, for the waste hierarchy tax, which is a novel proposition in this contribution, macroeconomic modelling is used to analyse potential impacts of future implementation. In all cases, several implementation challenges are identified, and potential solutions are discussed according to literature and empirical sources. Further research is required both at the individual instrument and at the framework level. Each of the tax proposals needs a more detailed examination for its specificities of implementation, following the results of this study
Policies for Resource Efficient and Effective Solutions : A review of concepts, current policy landscape and future policy considerations for the transition to a Circular Economy
Full text linkThis report presents basic concepts around resources, resource efficiency and the Circular Economy. The limitations and the opportunities within the Circular Economy are identified and clearly presented. The current policy landscape in the EU as well as in Sweden is thoroughly analysed and a set of policy areas with a significant untapped potential for resource efficiency is identified. The policy areas which have been underutilised so far include policies for re-use, repair and remanufacturing; green public procurement and procurement for innovation with resource savings embedded in their design; policies to facilitate waste markets and improve take-back infrastructure; economic instruments targeting resources; and policies promoting sustainable consumption. Together with these promising policy areas, a roadmap for designing such policies within policy packages is presented with the aim to facilitate the promotion of dynamic policy mixing, which is better suited for addressing the multi-level challenges of the Circular Economy. Finally, an agenda for future research in resource efficiency policies is discussed and the need for a bottom-up perspective –in par with overarching resource strategies – is emphasised
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
Full text linkWe 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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