Awareness of publication guidelines and the responsible conduct of research

We have conducted a longitudinal survey of NIH-funded F32 postdoctoral fellows to determine if mandated instruction in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) has measurable effects on awareness of, attentiveness to, and behavioral judgments about research ethics and authorship and publication. Of 418 F32 fellows participating in the study, 50% were aware of and had referred to guidelines on authorship and publication practices while 50% were either unaware of or had not referred to guidelines. Groups were similar with regard to total number of peer-reviewed publications and total number of first author publications, years of research experience, years since completing their doctoral degree, and receipt of RCR training. The equal distribution of guideline awareness and use, and group similarities with regard to career development and achievement provided us with an opportunity to consider whether awareness of and use of guidelines is associated with broader judgments about author roles and responsibilities. The findings suggest that awareness and utilization of guidelines are, at best, only modestly associated with more ethically appropriate judgments and attitudes about author roles and responsibilities among novice F32's.     

Potential effects of antidepressant agents on the growth and development of children and adolescents

The regulatory bodies of both the United States and United Kingdom have issued cautionary statements about prescribing antidepressant medications to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) in children younger than age 18. Despite these cautions, antidepressant agents, particularly SSRIs and serotonin activators, are regularly used to treat MDD in this age group, and increasingly so in very young children. This article considers the possible effects of antidepressant agents on the growth and development of children younger than age 18 and provides recommendations for the use and careful monitoring of these medications, including screening for physiological effects, selfinjurious behavior, and suicidal ideation. Guidelines for use of antidepressant agents with these populations include incorporating medications into comprehensive, holistic treatment, assessing for onset of severe akathesia as a marker of increased risk for self-harm, and advocating for more clinical trials of these medications in different childhood age groupings.     

Stability and Change in an Urban Homeless Population

Few studies have produced the over-time observational data needed to draw valid conclusions about changes in urban homeless populations during the 1980s. One place for which such data exist is Nashville, Tennessee. An ongoing series of enumerations lends little support to Nashvillians' perception that the number of homeless in their city is growing rapidly. Enumeration results also (1) contradict expectations regarding the rise of "new homeless" groups and (2) show two types of spatial redistribution--from indoor to outdoor and core to peripheral locations--to be under way. The applicability of the enumeration methodology to other communities is discussed, as are the discrepancies between purported and measured demographic changes in homelessness.     

The influence of exurban landscapes and local site characteristics on riparian vegetation

The southern Appalachian Mountains have experienced large population growth and a change in land use in the past 30 years. The majority of development has been low density, suburban land, known as exurban development. The long-term effects of exurbanization on riparian vegetative communities in the southeastern Appalachian Mountains are not well known. We sought to determine if vegetative community composition and structure change as a function of watershed–level variables such as time since neighborhood development or percent impervious surface within the watershed. We also assessed local–scale measures of disturbance such as canopy cover and basal area. Over two years we sampled a total of 27 streams in exurban watersheds ranging in age from four to forty-four years, along with eight forested streams. Watershed–scale variables such as neighborhood age and impervious surface cover did not influence the aspects of riparian vegetation community we measured. Canopy cover, a measure of local habitat disturbance, offered better predictions of vegetation community metrics. Exurban neighborhoods and their landowners may have the potential to manage for riparian vegetation through the use of maintained stream buffer zones along the entire length of the stream.     

Strategic Action Fields in US Higher Education: The 1939 Mercer University Heresy Trial

This paper uses Fligstein and McAdam's (2012, 2011) theory of the strategic action field, or “SAF,” to highlight the ways in which individuals can act within cultural and material constraints to shape social processes. It applies these concepts to the Mercer University heresy trial of 1939, in which a group of students backed by fundamentalists from the conservative Protestant movement accused members of the University's faculty of unbelief. By understanding the organization, the social movement, and the higher education industry as “SAFs,” the theory explains how the trial reached its unusual outcome, and suggests implications for broader understandings of organizational change.     

“Off balance sheet law”: Globalisation,accounting and democracy

Abstract

National governments commonly facilitate neo‐liberal globalisation by permitting private bodies to apply global commercial rules locally. The recent legislating of international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) in New Zealand is an important example of privatised lawmaking. IFRSs can be described as “off balance sheet law” because they do not appear on the statute books, yet have legal effects. This article draws on a broad conception of discursive democracy to demonstrate the fundamentally antidemocratic nature of privatised lawmaking that the legislating of IFRSs exemplifies. First, an outline is given of the organisations and processes involved in the legislation of IFRSs in New Zealand to demonstrate how privatised lawmaking works. Second, the importance of IFRSs is considered in the light of basic principles of discursive democracy. Finally, alternatives to standardisation are considered.