Credit and authorship practices: educational and environmental influences

A survey on credit issues of academic chemists in U.S. Ph.D.-granting institutions was conducted. The respondents rated 15 criteria for authorship of scientific publications; core intellectual contributions received the highest ratings although making a single suggestion that was essential to the successful completion of the project was rated very low. Acquisition of data was also rated highly. The respondents rated eight potential influences on their own "policy" toward giving credit; doing what "seems to be the right thing" was the highest rated influence followed by graduate educational experiences; professional society or other responsible conduct of research (RCR) institutional policies were rated, by far, the lowest.     

Backing Barack Because He's Black: Racially Motivated Voting in the 2008 Election*

Objective. If racial considerations influenced the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, then how did they shape the campaign, why did race matter, and for whom were such considerations important? I hypothesize that various racial attitudes exert unique influences on voters' support of Obama and that the effects of these attitudes differ by race. Methods. Using a Time Magazine poll, I distinguish between “attitudes regarding Obama's ‘Blackness’” and “opinions about race relations,” and I examine such sentiments among White and African‐American respondents. Results. Regardless of race, Obama support was highest among voters who were “comfortable” with Black candidates. However, increased optimism with racial progress had no effect on Blacks' voting intentions, and it actually lowered Obama support among Whites. Conclusion. The conventional wisdom is that African Americans “backed Barack because he is Black”; I demonstrate that Obama's race mattered more to White voters than it did to Blacks.     

Trust,Capitalism and Contract in English Economic History: 1500-1750

As most market transactions involved the extension of informal credit because of a lack of ready cash, this meant that interpersonal trust was of central importance, and, as a result, a reputation for honesty and fair dealing in the community was vital to being successful. Money was used only in a limited number of exchanges, and credit, in the form of household reputation, was a “cultural currency” of trust used to transact most business. Trust, belief, and credit all went together, and no distinction was made between economic and social credit, as credit produced wealth and status of the middling sort. As the market expanded in the late sixteenth century, networks of credit became more intertwined over longer geographical distances, and thus trust became more problematic, and disputes over debts led to contention. These produced an enormous amount of litigation as the common law was increasingly used to enforce contracts. This led to much downward mobility through over-indebtedness, which reinforced the social importance of having good credit, and consequently the culture of credit became increasingly legalised. Although competition for credit together with the need to maintain household profitability put stress on the social maintenance of trust in the market, the economy could not work without it. As a result, the increase in commerce was seen as an essentially sociable activity because it required trust. Trust gradually came to be interpreted as the basis of justice, and the necessity of keeping promises, as the foundation of all social organisation. But by 1750 litigation had collapsed to a very low level, and self- control and politeness on the part of rational individuals came to play a more important role in dispute settlement than legal means. Whereas in the early modern period conflict occurred and was dealt with after its occurrence, self-control aimed to prevent inter-personal conflict and litigation before they happened. As a result, the concepts of “capital” and “savings” developed in the eighteenth century, and the structure of credit networks was changed.     

Aberration of the Citation

Multiple inherent biases related to different citation practices (for e.g., self-citations, negative citations, wrong citations, multi-authorship-biased citations, honorary citations, circumstantial citations, discriminatory citations, selective and arbitrary citations, etc.) make citation-based bibliometrics strongly flawed and defective measures. A paper can be highly cited for a while (for e.g., under circumstantial or transitional knowledge), but years later it may appear that its findings, paradigms, or theories were untrue or invalid anymore. By contrast, a paper may remain shelved or overlooked for years or decades, but new studies or discoveries may actualize its subject at any moment. As citation-based metrics are transformed into “commercial activities,” the “citation credit” should be considered on a commercial basis too, in the sense that “citation credit” should be shared out as a “citation dividend” by shareholders (coauthors) averagely or proportionally to their contributions but not fully appropriated by each of them. At equal numbers of citations, the greater number of authors, the lower “citation credit” should be and vice versa. Overlooking the presence of distorted and subjective citation practices makes many people and administrators “obsessed” with the number of citations to such an extent to run after “highly cited” authors and to create specialized citation databases for commercial purposes. Citation-based bibliometrics, however, are unreliable and unscientific measures; citation counts do not mean that a more cited work is of a higher quality or accuracy than a less cited work because citations do not measure the quality or accuracy. Citations do not mean that a highly cited author or journal is more commendable than a less cited author or journal. Citations are not more than countable numbers: no more, no less.     

Determinants of stated willingness to pay for public goods: A study in the headline method

Respondents were shown brief statements (“headlines”) referring to various threats to the environment or to public health, and other public issues. An intervention to deal with each problem was also introduced by a single sentence. Some respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to pay for the interventions by voluntary contributions. Others indicated their opinion of the intervention on a conventional rating scale, rated the personal satisfaction of contributing to it, or rated the importance of the problem. Group averages of these response measures were obtained for a large set of issues. Computed over issues, the rank-order correlations between the different measures were very high, suggesting that group averages of WTP and of other opinion statements are measures of the same public attitudes. Observed preference reversals and violations of monotonicity in contributions are better explained by a concept of attitude than by the notion of economic value that underlies the contingent valuation method. Contributions and purchases do not follow the same logic. Possible implications for the contingent valuation method are discussed.     

Transmission of monetary policy in the US and EU in times of expansion and crisis

In this work, the effectiveness of monetary policy and its transmission channels are analyzed before and after the 2007 economic crisis in the United States and the Eurozone by using a VAR model. We find that, in the United States, monetary policy before and after the crisis have been effective, with special emphasis on the “risk channel”. In the Eurozone, monetary policy was also effective before the crisis, being transmitted through the “credit channel”. Once the crisis erupted, unconventional monetary policy remained effective only at the start of the crisis; the risk channel then became the effective transmission mechanism.     

Managing the Family: Productivity, Scheduling and the Male Veto

This paper argues that research, analysis and policy innovations focused on how households combine paid work with care responsibilities are driven to too great a degree by preconceptions of “the problem” that do not take sufficient account of how families themselves understand their work and care roles and the choices they are making. The evidence of 246 SOCCARE interviews across five European countries (Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK) is that the variables that are conventionally accepted as having fundamental significance (family‐friendly policies and generous care services, flexible working hours, women's work–life preferences, family type, national labour markets, cultural differences) are less important than is often suggested. More important are time pressures and the idiosyncratic factors that constrain the work and care timetables that families are able to construct. We characterize these as “scheduling problems”. They occupied a large part of the accounts of their lives provided by our respondents and are a primary dimension within which their combinations of paid work and care responsibilities need to be understood. The difficulties our respondents faced in coordinating the work and care activities of their families bear a striking similarity to the problems described in the operations research literature on small businesses. Within the context of these scheduling problems a second important factor emerged: the preferences and behaviour of men who played a critical, though often passive, part in the construction of work and care timetables of the families. We characterize this effect as the “the male veto”.     

Influences on Authorship Issues: An Evaluation of Giving Credit

A survey on authorship issues was conducted with academic chemists in Ph.D.-granting institutions in the United States. Six hundred faculty members responded. The respondents reported a wide range in their attitudes and behavior regarding giving credit in a publication. The various guidelines for authorship are independent of academic background factors such as the relationship between the senior author and the contributor-potential author. However, the survey data reveal significant context-dependency by the respondents. Many respondents would give more credit to their own student than to another professor's student for the exact same contribution to a research project. The survey data further shows that the faculty who received their Ph.D. in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s are the most likely to provide authorship, while those who received their Ph.D. in the 1990s and 2000s would most likely give either no credit or acknowledgments.     

“知者乐水”与“上善若水”--论柳诗“枯澹”之美

苏轼评柳宗元诗,好用“澹泊”“枯澹”等语,意指其诗歌创作形貌朴实而情韵丰满。所谓“枯澹”之美实与儒家所倡“中和之美”、道家所倡“法天贵真”本质相同。柳诗中具有“枯澹”之美的作品,集中创作于元和五年至元和十年之间。在此期间,柳宗元深受儒、道两家“知者乐水”“上善若水”等观点的影响,力求改变“躁进”心态,愤懑之意减淡,内心日趋平和,诗歌创作讲求自然,故这一时期的作品呈现“枯澹”之貌。此外,移居愚溪也是造成柳宗元诗歌风格变化的原因之一,而苏轼的个人处境和遭遇,也使他格外看重柳诗的平淡自然之作。     

A Multi-Dimensional Conceptual Framework for Trauma-Informed Practice in Addictions Programming

Previous research has conceptualized trauma-informed practice in relation to five key values: safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. This research identifies key organizational, programmatic, and interpersonal characteristics in community-based residential addictions treatment programming that exemplify each of these principles. Utilizing qualitative research methods, involving open-ended, one to one interviews with clients in residential substance misuse treatment (n = 41), respondents identified the importance of experiencing “safety” in relation to physical safety, confidentiality, reassurance, rule enforcement, and peer relationships. “Trust” was manifested in sharing, staff availability, nonjudgmental interactions, positive relationship dynamics, and caring. “Choice” was articulated in relation to individual needs, participation, opportunities, and focus of efforts. “Collaboration” was characterized in relation to opportunities for feedback, planning, goal setting, specificity, and support. Finally, “empowerment” was characterized by comfort in sharing, trigger management, trauma awareness, and understanding. The findings provide a conceptual framework for a trauma-informed social services organizational practice environment. Findings can inform adaptations to social service delivery processes and programs to become aligned with the values of trauma-informed practice. Future research can build on this framework by testing the study findings with quantitative methods along with replicating current methods in other social service delivery sectors.     

Credit access,macroprudential rules and policy interventions: Lessons for potential first time buyers

Given the increased popularity of macroprudential measures in the aftermath of the great financial crisis (GFC), a key policy question to arise in certain mortgage markets is whether a significant access to credit issue exists amongst prospective homeowners because of these new policies. In this paper we assess whether such a problem arises in the context of the Irish mortgage market – a market particularly adversely impacted by the GFC. We use a microsimulation model to estimate the level of latent credit demand that could be serviced by the market given prudent credit risk assessment and the current macroprudential regulations. We then compare this demand to current market provision to explore whether a credit gap exists. Finally, we simulate how a public mortgage credit scheme or equity “help-to-buy” type instrument may help credit access. We find both instruments to be effective but would lead to somewhat higher house prices.     

Nonprofit Governance Quality: Concept and Measurement

ABSTRACT

A nonprofit “governance quality index” was developed to enable verification and falsification of contemporary theoretical insights on social service organizations. Indicators were generated based on an extensive qualitative exploration. For the quantitative validation, a data set was composed of 526 respondents from 52 organizations. Five subdimensions of governance quality are introduced and are recommended to be used as separate scales, rather than combined into a single score on governance quality. Furthermore, the recommendation is made to rely on multiple raters per organization to assess governance quality or related concepts, given the substantial within-organization variance found.     

Attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory study was to measure attitudes towards various applications of real and hypothetical reproductive technologies for humans, including prenatal gender selection. A total of 121 undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire measuring knowledge, interest, trust, risks and benefits, and attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans. An exploratory factor analysis showed that participants rated the use of these technologies as unacceptable if it was for personal enhancement but acceptable for “medically useful” applications. Participants also reported not having a gender preference for their (hypothetical) unborn child, were they to use prenatal gender selection, an application very few approved of. Results failed to support a general desire to use prenatal gender selection or to hypothetically favour one gender over the other. Attitudes towards reproductive technologies cannot be simply summarised in a “pro or against” manner as they heavily depend on the context.     

The Alzheimer's Solution: How Today's Care Is Failing Millions and How We Can Do Better,by Kenneth S. Kosick and Ellen Clegg

Abstract

Marital literature has identified partner intimacy and autonomy as important determinants of marital satisfaction. However, little is known about how the balance of intimacy and autonomy affects the success of long term marriages among older couples. The author surveyed 88 men and 92 women in long term stable marriages to examine the effects of partner intimacy and autonomy on marital satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that intimacy was positively related, and hostile control was negatively related to marital satisfaction. Older respondents rated their partners higher in intimacy than middle aged respondents, and husbands were rated higher in providing autonomy than were wives. Intimacy and avoidance of hostile control were more important than autonomy to long term married couples. Social workers can draw upon a number of approaches to marital therapy that enhance couple intimacy.     

Changing Ethical Attitudes: The Case of the Enron and ImClone Scandals*

Objective. We analyze the process of changing ethical attitudes over time by focusing on a specific set of “natural experiments” that occurred over an 18‐month period, namely, the accounting scandals that occurred involving Enron/Arthur Andersen and insider‐trader allegations related to ImClone. Methods. Given the amount of media attention devoted to these ethical scandals, we test whether respondents in a cross‐sectional sample taken over 18 months become less accepting of ethically charged vignettes dealing with “accounting tricks” and “insider trading” over time. Results. We find a significant and gradual decline in the acceptance of the vignettes over the 18‐month period. Conclusions. Findings presented here may provide valuable insight into potential triggers of changing ethical attitudes. An intriguing implication of these results is that recent highly publicized ethical breaches may not be only a symptom, but also a cause of changing attitudes.     

Alternative Methods to Enumerate Data on Race in Puerto Rico*

Nationalist discourse concerning race in Puerto Rico generally states that residents are of the same racially mixed heritage—a combination of Spanish, West African, and indigenous ancestry of various degrees. However, literature and casual observations suggest that the population is characterized by greater variation in physical appearances than what is posited by “admixture” discourse. Moreover, and further complicating the understanding of race, 2010 U.S. Census data show that over 75 percent of Puerto Ricans self‐identified as “White, alone,” and that only 3.3 percent of respondents indicated “Two or More Races.” Researchers, employers, and governmental agencies attempting to address issues of inequality, discrimination, and residential segregation have had to rely on existing U.S. Census data for analysis. Thus, the need for an alternative data collection process that can be used for various forms of socioeconomic analysis has become evident. The objective of this study was to develop two alternative instruments that emphasized a locally suited, culturally grounded, and standardizable conceptual foundation for the purpose of establishing more representative racial statistics in Puerto Rico. Methods included the administration of 248 copies of these alternative forms, in addition to a replica of the current U.S. Census form, to residents in Bayamón, a city located within the greater San Juan metropolitan area. Results showed that participants were less inclined to self‐identify as “White, alone” when given these alternative instruments, and that fewer individuals resorted to the selection of “Other” for race. In addition, observer‐reported data indicated that the sample was less white when compared to participant‐reported results. The conclusion was that both alternative instruments were considerably more effective in gauging racial composition than the 2010 U.S. Census form.     

More on plurality and authorship in science: A reply to Tang

Understanding the “political economy” of the research environment is at the core of getting clear on the ethical aspects of authorship. Questions about who should be an author on a scientific paper are complicated by the fact that authorship is used to determine credit inside science and by outside institutions whose interests and standards often differ dramatically. Much of the research ethics community seeks to impose an elite ethical consensus on scientific fields. I argue that this approach undermines the scientific autonomy of research communities. In contrast, we should develop bottom-up strategies that empower local communities and associations.     

Influences on Authorship Issues: An Evaluation of Receiving,Not Receiving,and Rejecting Credit

A survey on credit issues was conducted of academic chemists in Ph.D. granting institutions in the United States. Six-hundred faculty members responded representing 16% of the survey recipients. Fifty percent of the respondents reported not receiving appropriate credit for contributions they had made to published projects. Neither the number of years after receiving their Ph.D., their fields of expertise, their total number of publications, nor their total number of single-author publications showed any significant relationship with the perception of not receiving appropriate credit. Twenty percent of the respondents had discovered that they were an author of a paper, after that paper had been submitted to a journal. Forty-nine percent reported that they had asked to have their name deleted as an author. Relationships between these perceptions and academic background factors were examined. For example, respondents who had asked to be removed from authorship were more likely to give authorship or an acknowledgement to others and were also more likely to have had an authorship problem with others, both of these factors being related to longevity as a publishing scientist.     

The Intrinsic Influence of the Poetics of Yanzhi on Modern Chinese Literature

否定与批判“言志”诗学, 曾是中国现代文学转型的标志。但从五四新文学开 始, “言志”诗学不仅没有被剔出中国现代文学的审美范畴, 相反, 却借助于西方 话语得到合理的传承。“言”救亡图存的启蒙之“志”, 与“抒”忧国忧民的个人 之“情”, 中国现代文学都未摆脱“志”者“大情”、“情”者“小志”的传统思 维, 具体表现在: 主“思”派提倡文学创作的功利意识, 进而以“志”代“情”回归 “道”统; 主“情”派则提倡文学创作的真情实感, 进而以“情”传“志”, 回归 “道”统。中国现代文学的理论与实践, 虽然涂抹着光怪陆离的“西化”色彩, 但 其重新“释道”与巧妙“言志”的本质特征, 恰恰表明了它对传统文化的价值认同, 而不是简单地抛弃“传统”后走向了“西方”。

关键词: “言志”诗学 “志”与“道” “志”与“情” 古典主义

Rejection and denunciation of the poetics of “yanzhi” (literally “expressing one’s thought or ideals”) was once a marker of Chinese literature’s modern transformation. However, right from the beginning of May Fourth new literature, the poetics of “yanzhi” was not only not cast out of the aesthetic canon of modern Chinese literature but was, on the contrary, legitimately transmitted via Western discourse. Whether modern Chinese writers were expressing enlightenment ideas of saving the nation or voicing their personal feelings for their country and their people, they remained convinced that “zhi” was “feelings” writ large and “feelings” were a lesser form of “zhi.” Specifically, the school stressing the idea that “literature expresses thought” advocated utilitarian literary creation and returned to the traditional Chinese poetics of “yanzhi” by replacing “feelings” with “zhi.” Those stressing the idea that “literature expresses feelings” advocated writing with genuine emotion; they went on to express “zhi” via “feelings,” thus returning to the traditional Chinese way of thought. Both the theory and practice of modern Chinese literature have a strange “Western” tint. Nevertheless, this literature’s essential character of “reinterpreting the ‘dao’ (way)” and sophisticated “expression of thought” or “yanzhi” indicate its value identification with traditional culture rather than the simple abandonment of “tradition” in pursuit of “the West.”     

Adolescents' disclosure to best and good friends: The effects of gender and topic intimacy

The disclosure of 227 7th- through 12th-grade adolescents to four other persons – their closest same- and cross-sex best friends, and lesser-but-good same- and cross-sex friends – about 40 topics varying widely in intimacy was examined; in addition, each subject rated every topic's intimacy. A (2) gender × (2) friend's gender × (2) closeness × (3) age × (3) intimacy level ANOVA yielded two large main effects (partial ω² > .15), closeness and topic intimacy. Three large interaction effects – gender by friend's gender, friend's gender by intimacy, and gender by closeness by intimacy – were also found, as was a moderate-sized closeness by gender by friend's gender interaction (partial co₂= .08). A number of other effects were statistically significant but of only small magnitude. The perceived intimacy of 6 of the studied topics varied across age groups, and one topic, “your weight” was rated differently by males and females. The data are discussed in relation to previous research on adolescent gender differences in friendship and disclosure.