Analysis and Implications of Retraction Period and Coauthorship of Fraudulent Publications

Studies have indicated that the number and frequency of fraudulent publications being retracted are not subsiding even with greater awareness of such incidents in the recent decades. In this study, the trends of retraction period, number of citations and coauthors of 5 selected researchers who had ≥ 15 fraudulent publications retracted were analyzed. The obtained results shows that the retraction period is 48.96 ± 32.16 months for the 113 publications affiliated to the 5 studied researchers. There are a total of 180 coauthors with 6.40 ± 3.26 coauthors per researcher's retracted publication. The linear regression analysis indicates that there is limited correlation (R² = .008) between the citation counts and retraction period. The p value for multiple F-tests to assess the number of coauthors to a fraudulent publication on an interresearcher basis is found to be ranging from < .001 to .458. It is also found that a better correlation (R² = .592) exists between the likelihood of a researcher to involve different individuals for isolated fraudulent publications while only selecting very few to be their frequent coauthors of their mischievous acts. With this study, the possible use of coauthors as a strategy for publishing fraudulent work and a potential approach to tighten coauthorship are discussed.     

The level and uncertainty of inflation: results from OECD forecasts

There is considerable evidence that inflation variability and the level of inflation are positively related across countries. Evidence of a within-country relation is mixed. Evidence for a significant positive relation comes mostly from studies using some survey measure; contrary evidence comes mostly from studies using regression errors. Our measure of uncertainty is the squared forecast-error from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development inflation forecasts. Most countries do not exhibit a positive and significant relation. The greatest number of positive coefficients is for relative uncertainty regressed on contemporaneous inflation.     

Unemployment classifications and subjective well-being

Further research on the impact of unemployment on workers and their families requires greater refinement and more precise measurement of the concept. While previous studies have indicated the effects of unemployment on a wide range of variables, such as health and well-being, many of these studies suffer from imprecision by conceptualizing unemployment too narrowly and by using too strict a dichotomy between currently employed and currently unemployed workers. This research effort attempts to broaden and refine the concept of unemployment by defining it in terms of two job dimensions: current employment status and previous job loss. Using this conceptualization, the authors find that current unemployment after other job losses may have more devastating effects on well-being than losing one's job for the first time. Similarly, among the currently employed, those who have lost jobs in the past may experience more emotional difficulties than those who have never lost their jobs.     

Perceived Expectations and Role Behavior of Socialization Agents: the Case of the School Counselor and SES Areas*

The defining and, where appropriate, modeling of supervisors, co-workers, parents, teachers, and counselors were correlated with a particular counseling activity. School counselors (N=81) reported these perceived influences and the amount of time they devoted to talking with youths about the ways to avoid past mistakes. In low socioeconomic (SES) areas, counselors and teachers showed the strongest relationship with this behavior; while in high SES groups, parents provided the dominant association.     

School Failure as an Adolescent Turning Point

Abstract

Recently, researchers have devoted significant attention to the influence of turning points such as marriage, employment, and military service on criminal desistance in adulthood. Because offending peaks in adolescence, the relative lack of research on influential adolescent turning points is notable. Given the extensive research linking school failure to deleterious adult development, we propose that school failure (late grade retention and school dropout) is a marked transition in adolescence, with the potential to operate as a turning point in the life course. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), we first examine structural, relational, and individual predictors of school failure in adolescence. Second, we assess whether school failure amplifies delinquency in late adolescence. We find evidence supporting our contention that school failure operates as an adolescent turning point, and we confirm that school failure is significantly predicted by structural, relational, and individual factors. Although school failure may be thought of as the end result of a long-term process of academic disengagement, our research suggests that it is also a pivotal, negative turning point in the life course.     

Marriage and Offending: Examining the Significance of Marriage among the Children of Immigrants

Although research shows that involvement in crime varies across immigrant generations, less is known about why this is so. Using 13 waves of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data, we examine the influence of marriage—a key correlate of desistance from crime—to understand more fully patterns of offending across immigrant generations during the transition to adulthood. Results indicate a lower prevalence of offending among first‐generation immigrants compared with their second‐generation and third‐plus‐generation peers; however, among active offenders, rates of offending are similar across groups. Notably, marriage exerts a significantly stronger effect on offending for second‐generation immigrants, suggesting that, while assimilation may be associated with more offending, it is also associated with a greater potency of marriage in promoting desistance from crime.     

Mental Retardation as a Western Sociological Construct: A Cross-cultural Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to examine the sociological processes evidenced by Western and non-Western cultures in defining and labeling persons as mentally retarded. Societal perceptions of individuals with mental impairments have meaning only within a specific cultural milieu. Regardless of any existence in an absolute sense, 'mental retardation' is also a sociological construct. Cross-cultural, sociological studies may yield alternative strategies for assessing mental retardation in 'advanced' industrialised societies, making treatment of individuals labeled retarded more effective and more humane. The knowledge gained from such studies will provide insights into the relationship which exists between the perceptions and definitions of mental retardation and the various levels of sociocultural and socioeconomic integration evidenced by humankind.     

Child neglect and adolescent violence: examining the effects of self-control and peer rejection

Child maltreatment researchers have often suggested that experiences with child neglect have long-term, negative effects. Child neglect is thought to have particularly adverse effects on self-control, peer relations, and delinquency. In this research, we examine the relationship of child neglect with adolescent violence via self-control and peer rejection. Using prospective, longitudinal data from a community sample, we find that child neglect adversely affects peer rejection and violence. Neglected children were more likely to be rejected by their peers in early adolescence and were more likely to be violent later in adolescence. Contrary to theoretical predictions, child neglect was not a significant predictor of self-control. Implications for delinquency and child maltreatment researchers are discussed.