1,720,962 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
“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
We 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
doctors' knowledge, attitudes and prescriptions
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between guideline recommendations on asthma management, and the performance of doctors in five different European health care contexts. Knowledge, attitudes and prescribing behaviour of doctors recruited to an educational project was investigated. A total of 698 general practitioners from Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and 94 specialists from the Slovak Republic participated. A questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and attitudes. Antiasthmatic drugs dispensed to their patients reflected their prescribing behaviour. In response to questions on how to treat chronic asthma, most doctors were in agreement with guideline recommendations. In practice, however, the proportion of asthma patients receiving inhaled steroids varied almost twofold, ranging 31% in Germany to 58% in The Netherlands. On questions related to exacerbation of asthma, German and Slovakian doctors often preferred treatment with antibiotics to steroids. They also more often associated yellow-green sputum with bacterial infection. In conclusion, although many doctors in different health care contexts have accepted the recommendations given in guidelines, the proportion of their patients treated accordingly differed. German and Slovakian doctors seem to attach less importance to the inflammatory features of asthma than the doctors from the other three European countries
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We 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
Evaluating an educational intervention to improve the treatment of asthma in four European countries. Drug Education Project Group
In the international Drug Education Project, a new educational program for peer groups of doctors was developed and tested to improve the treatment of asthma patients in The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Slovakia. Individualized feedback on prescribing and the underlying decision strategy was presented and discussed within the group of doctors, in relation to existing guidelines. In a parallel, randomized controlled design the effect on competence and actual prescribing was tested. Results were related to national guidelines. In general, the program improved the doctors' attitudes as well as some of their prescribing behavior. The proportion of patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids significantly improved in The Netherlands (effect size 1.27), and the proportion of oral corticosteroid use for exacerbation treatment increased both in The Netherlands and in Norway (effect sizes 1.99 and 0.87, respectively). Overall attitudes of Dutch and Norwegian doctors also improved significantly (effect sizes 1.06 and 0.87, respectively), as did both knowledge (effect size 1.06) and attitudes (effect size 1.49) concerning exacerbation treatment in Slovakia. In Sweden no significant improvements could be measured. Conclusively, improvements in asthma treatment are possible with an educational program based on self-learning in small peer groups, although effects in one health care setting may not occur in another health care setting. Possible explaining factors may be different attitudes to and experiences with guidelines as well as with continuing medical education programs, and differences in the opportunities for change, including prevailing trends in prescribing behavior
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Variations in asthma treatment in five European countries - judgement analysis of case simulations
Objective. The aim of this study was to explore and compare treatment decisions and the influence of specific patient characteristics on asthma management in five European countries, and to relate this to existing guidelines. Methods. Using the technique of clinical judgement analysis, doctors in The Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Slovak Republic ( 40 - 100 doctors per country) were presented with sets of written simulated cases on asthma treatment. Patient characteristics were varied to determine their influence on the doctors' decisions. Decisions indicating over- and under-prescribing in relation to a gold standard derived from guidelines were also determined. Results. Doctors in The Netherlands prescribed more oral steroid courses and fewer antibiotics than doctors in Norway and Sweden, whereas doctors in Germany and the Slovak Republic prescribed the least oral steroids and the most antibiotics. Partially, this variation could be explained by differences in the underlying propensity to prescribe, but differences in the use of patient characteristics also contributed to the variation. Norwegian doctors were most inclined to increase the maintenance treatment of inhaled corticosteroids, which could best be explained by their relatively high focus on the patient's peak expiratory flow value. Compared with the gold standard, there was 25 - 56% under- prescribing of oral steroids, and 21 - 45% over- prescribing of antibiotics. Conclusions. The variation in treatment of asthma patients between doctors in different countries may, in part, be attributed to variations in the underlying propensity to prescribe, and in part to different use of clinical patient characteristics. These findings can be used in tailoring educational programmes to improve treatment practices
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