Benchmarking Scientific Journals from the Submitting Author’s Viewpoint

Authors of scholarly papers to a large extent base the decision on where to submit their manuscripts on the prestige of journals, taking little account of other possible factors. Information concerning such factors is in fact often not available. This paper argues for the establishment of methods for benchmarking scientific journals, taking into account a wider range of journal performance parameters than is currently available. A model for how prospective authors determine the value of submitting to a particular journal is presented. The model includes eight factors that influence an author’s decision and 21 other underlying factors. The model is a qualitative one. The method proposes to benchmark groups of journals by application of the factors. Initial testing of the method has been undertaken in one discipline.

University Students' Approaches to Learning, Self-Regulation, and Cognitive and Attributional Strategies : Connections with Well-Being and Academic Success

This dissertation empirically explores the relations among three theoretical perspectives: university students approaches to learning, self-regulated learning, as well as cognitive and attributional strategies. The relations were quantitatively studied from both variable- and person-centered perspectives. In addition, the meaning that students gave to their disciplinary choices was examined. The general research questions of the study were: 1) What kinds of relationships exist among approaches to learning, regulation of learning, and cognitive and attributional strategies? What kinds of cognitive-motivational profiles can be identified among university students, and how are such profiles related to study success and well-being? 3) How do university students explain their disciplinary choices? Four empirical studies addressed these questions. Studies I, II, and III were quantitative, applying self-report questionnaires, and Study IV was qualitative in nature. Study I explored relations among cognitive strategies, approaches to learning, regulation of learning, and study success by using correlations and a K-means cluster analysis. The participants were 366 students from various faculties at different phases of their studies. The results showed that all the measured constructs were logically related to each other in both variable- and person-centered approaches. Study II further examined what kinds of cognitive-motivational profiles could be identified among first-year university students (n=436) in arts, law, and agriculture and forestry. Differences in terms of study success, exhaustion, and stress among students with differing profiles were also looked at. By using a latent class cluster analysis (LCCA), three groups of students were identified: non-academic (34%), self-directed (35%), and helpless students (31%). Helpless students reported the highest levels of stress and exhaustion. Self-directed students received the highest grades. In Study III, cognitive-motivational profiles were identified among novice teacher students (n=213) using LCCA. Well-being, epistemological beliefs, and study success were looked at in relation to the profiles. Three groups of students were found: non-regulating (50%), self-directed (35%), and non-reflective (22%). Self-directed students again received the best grades. Non-regulating students reported the highest levels of stress and exhaustion, the lowest level of interest, and showed the strongest preference for certain and practical knowledge. Study IV, which was qualitative in nature, explored how first-year students (n = 536 ) in three fields of studies, arts, law, and veterinary medicine explained their disciplinary choices. Content analyses showed that interest appeared to be a common concept in students description of their choices across the three faculties. However, the objects of interest of the freshmen appeared rather unspecified. Veterinary medicine and law students most often referred to future work or a profession, whereas only one-fifth of the arts students did so. The dissertation showed that combining different theoretical perspectives and methodologies enabled us to build a rich picture of university students cognitive and motivational predispositions towards studying and learning. Further, cognitive-emotional aspects played a significant role in studying, not only in relation to study success, but also in terms of well-being. Keywords: approaches to learning, self-regulation, cognitive and attributional strategies, university students

Rotorcraft research in India: recent developments

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss published research in rotorcraft which has taken place in India during the last ten years The helicopter research is divided into the following parts health monitoring smart rotor design optimization control helicopter rotor dynamics active control of structural response (ACSR) and helicopter design and development Aspects of health monitoring and smart rotor are discussed in detail Further work needed and areas for international collaboration are pointed out Design/methodology/approach - The archival journal papers on helicopter engineering published from India are obtained from databases and are studied and discussed The contribution of the basic research to the state of the art in helicopter engineering science is brought out Findings - It is found that strong research capabilities have developed in rotor system health and usage monitoring rotor blade design optimization ACSR composite rotor blades and smart rotor development Furthermore rotorcraft modeling and analysis aspects are highly developed with considerable manpower available and being generated in these areas Practical implications - Two helicopter projects leading to the advanced light helicopter and light combat helicopter have been completed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd These helicopter programs have benefited from the basic research and also provide platforms for further basic research and deeper industry academic collaborations The development of well trained helicopter engineers is also attractive for international helicopter design and manufacturing companies The basic research done needs to be further developed for practical and commercial applications Originality/value - This is the first comprehensive research on rotorcraft research in India an important emerging market manufacturing and sourcing destination for the industry

Interruption and Uncooperativeness in Academic ELF Group Work : An Application of Linear Unit Grammar

This study addresses the challenge of analyzing interruption in spoken interaction. It begins with my observation of eight hours of academic group work among speakers of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in a university course. Unlike the common findings of ELF research which underscore the cooperative orientation of ELF users, this particular group gave strong impressions of interruption and uncooperativeness as they prepared a scientific group presentation. In the effort to investigate these impressions, I found that no satisfactory method exists for systematically identifying and analyzing interruptions. A useful tool was found in Linear Unit Grammar or LUG (Sinclair & Mauranen 2006), which analyzes spoken interaction prospectively as linear text. In the course of transcribing one of the early group work meetings, I developed a model of LUG-based criteria for identifying individual instances of interruption. With this system in place, I was then able to evaluate the aggregate occurrences of interruption in the group work and identify co-occurring interactive features which further influenced the perception of uncooperativeness. Finally, these aggregate statistics directed a return to the data and a contextually sensitive, qualitative analysis. This research cycle illuminates the interactive features which contributed to my own impressions of uncooperativeness, as well as the group members orientations to their own interruptive practice.

The Untouchable Soldier: Caste, Politics, and the Indian Army

Military establishments are omnipresent if not everywhere omnipotent. While these costly bureaucracies are the bane of finance ministers around the world, they do provide an important opportunity for comparative analysis. This paper examines a military system—the Indian one—through time, and attempts to demonstrate the changing relationship of that system to Indian politics and society in general, and to the low-caste communities of India in particular. We select the low-caste untouchables because they represent an extreme challenge to the integrative capacity of both political and social systems, and because they have recently been the subject of intensive political and academic concern.Stephen P. Cohen is Assistant Professor of Political Science in Asian Studies at the University of Illinois. Research for this paper was supported by a fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies in 1964–65.

Neighborhoods attributes as determinants of children's academic achievement

Resumen: Los estudios sobre los efectos del vecindario sobre los logros educativos han confirmado la existencia de estos efectos particularmente en la adolescencia. Una deficiencia común de la investigación empírica hasta la fecha, la falta de información en múltiples contextos, se aborda en este trabajo mediante el uso de encuestas escolares de datos para obtener una mayor comprensión sobre el efecto de la pobreza en los niños que cursan el nivel primario de enseñanza en los EE.UU. Este trabajo propone la utilización de un modelo jerárquico lineal de clasificación cruzada para tomar en cuenta en forma apropiada la estructura anidada de la información ya que los niños pertenecen simultáneamente a los dos grupos, el barrio y la escuela. Los resultados que se presentan, basados en la encuesta ECLS-K, una muestra de más de 20000 niños en aproximadamente 1.000 vecindarios y 1200 escuelas 1200, pone de manifiesto la asociación entre la composición socioeconómica del vecindario y los resultados académicos de los estudiantes. Este estudio proporciona evidencia a favor de las teorías de la socialización y epidémica. La presencia de adultos con buen nivel educativo en el vecindario así como la mediana de ingresos tienen impacto positivo en el logro del estudiante. De la misma forma, elevados niveles de pobreza tienen una influencia significativa, pero negativa en los resultados académicos. Sin embargo, el impacto se produce cuando se supera el umbral de 30% de hogares pobres en el vecindario. Los resultados agregados son invariantes a distintas especificaciones en términos de variables, esto no sucede cuando se analizan subgrupos clasificados según su origen étnico, género y estatus socio-económico.

Intensive Program ERASMUS: TOPCART. Geometric Documentation of the Heritage (administrative and academic documentation)

[EN] This academic activity has been the origin of other work that are also located in this repository. The first one is the dataset of information about the geometry of the Monastery recorded during the two years of fieldwork, then some bachelor thesis and papers are listed: