1,720,958 research outputs found
Impact factor and other metrics for evaluating science: Essentials for public health practitioners
Full text linkThe quality of scientific evidence is doubly tied with the quality of all research activities that generates it (including the "value" of the scientists involved) and is usually, but not always, reflected in the reporting quality of the scientific publication(s). Public health practitioners, either at research, academic or management levels, should be aware of the current metrics used to assess the quality value of journals, single publications, research projects, research scientists or entire research groups. However, this task is complicated by a vast variety of different metrics and assessment methods. Here we briefly review the most widely used metrics, highlighting the pros and cons of each of them. The rigid application of quantitative metrics to judge the quality of a journal, of a single publication or of a researcher suffers from many negative issues and is prone to many reasonable criticisms. A reasonable way forward could probably be the use of qualitative assessment founded on the indications coming from few but robust quantitative metrics
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
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
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
Focus sulle sigarette elettroniche
No full textThere is no clear regulation on electronic cigarettes (e-cig); their health effects are not yet fully investigated and there is insufficient standardisation and quality control of the product. Moreover, the e-cig could be a gateway for young people to nicotine addiction and traditional cigarette smoking. In Italy, the Ministry of Health banned the sale of e-cig with nicotine firstly to adolescents aged <16 years, then to people <18 years. Until further scientific evidence is available, it is mandatory to regulate the production and marketing of e-cigs, to make them less attractive, to forbid their use in enclosed areas, and prevent them from being promoted. E-cigs, however, seem to be much less dangerous than traditional cigarettes, although the few studies conducted are not sufficient to demonstrate either a clear therapeutic efficacy of e-cig or their total harmlessness. If e-cig had a known content, were made according to clear rules and in certified laboratories, without toxic substances, it could be used to help heavy smokers to quit, or at least to reduce smoking habits. There is a large proportion of smokers who are unable to quit. The revision of the European Directive (the proposal is being evaluated and we are waiting for its final approval) on tobacco recommends free sale for a minority of e-cigs only, those with a nicotine content <4 mg/ml. This will be difficult, considering that the business is just the free sale of e-cig and the much more dangerous tobacco cigarettes are still sold without any restriction
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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