Archives des mots-clés : case study

Knowledge Sharing Behaviour of Academics in The Polytechnic Ibadan

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The study was designed to investigate the factors driving the academics to engage in work-related knowledge sharing activity using a conceptual model adapted from Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) of Ajzen (1991) and the two affective components (affective commitment and affect-based trust). A descriptive survey research design covering academics in all departments of the five faculties in The Polytechnic, Ibadan was employed.

The literature review covered knowledge management KM, knowledge sharing KS and knowledge sharing behaviour KSB. Self-structured questionnaire based on the adapted model were administered as data collection instrument. Complete enumeration survey study was carried out because the total study population was about 346 lecturers and the same copies of questionnaire were distributed to the academics across the five faculties of the polytechnic of which 235 copies were returned.

The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Academics of The Polytechnic, Ibadan will be willing to share their work-related knowledge if both the factors encouraging and inhibiting sharing of knowledge with their colleagues are adequately addressed.

The result shows, on one hand, that perceived behavioural control (.000) and affective commitment (.000) were significant predictors of intention to share knowledge while attitude (.066), subjective norm (.308) and affect-based trust (.694)are not.On the other hand, academics’ intention to share knowledge (.000) significantly predicted academics’ knowledge sharing behaviour.

The study further concludes and recommends that more group activities should be encouraged and collaborative teaching and research should be emphasized to further promote knowledge sharing among academics.Further studies could focus on a comparative study between or across two or more federal, state and/or private polytechnics.

URL : http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1287/

Review times in peer review: quantitative analysis of editorial workflows

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We examine selected aspects of peer review and suggest possible improvements. To this end, we analyse a dataset containing information about 300 papers submitted to the Biochemistry and Biotechnology section of the Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society. After separating the peer review process into stages that each review has to go through, we use a weighted directed graph to describe it in a probabilistic manner and test the impact of some modifications of the editorial policy on the efficiency of the whole process.

URL : http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.01134

Identifying Open Access Articles within the Top Ten Closed Access LIS Journals: A Global Perspective

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Librarians have embraced the open access movement. They work to raise awareness of issues surrounding scholarly communication, to educate faculty about authors’ rights, and to help implement and maintain institutional repositories (IRs). But for all of the research and commentary from librarians about the importance of IRs and of making research freely available, there still exists the glaring contradiction that few librarians and Library and Information Science (LIS) authors provide free access to their own research publications.

In this study, we will look at the open access availability of articles from the top 20 closed access LIS journals and discuss some factors that may explain the discrepancies between LIS authors’ attitudes towards open access and their own self-archiving practices.

URL : http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1245/

Research Data Practices in Veterinary Medicine: A Case Study

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Objective
To determine trends in research data output, reuse, and sharing of the college of veterinary medicine faculty members at a large academic research institution.
Methods
This bibliographic study was conducted by examining original research articles for indication of the types of data produced, as well as evidence that the authors reused data or made provision for sharing their own data. Findings were recorded in the categories of research type, data type, data reuse, data sharing, author collaboration, and grants/funding and were analyzed to determine trends.
Results
A variety of different data types were encountered in this study, even within a single article, resulting primarily from clinical and laboratory animal studies. All of the articles resulted from author collaboration, both within the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, as well as with researchers outside the institution. There was little indication that data was reused, except some instances where the authors acknowledged that data was obtained directly from a colleague. There was even less indication that the research data was shared, either as a supplementary file on the publisher’s website or by submission to a repository, except in the case of genetic data.
Conclusions
Veterinary researchers are prolific producers and users of a wide variety of data. Despite the large amount of collaborative research occurring in veterinary medicine, this study provided little evidence that veterinary researchers are reusing or sharing their data, except in an informal manner. Wider adoption of data management plans may serve to improve researchers’ data management practices.

In an Age of Open Access to Research Policies: Physician and Public Health NGO Staff Research Use and Policy Awareness

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“Introduction

Through funding agency and publisher policies, an increasing proportion of the health sciences literature is being made open access. Such an increase in access raises questions about the awareness and potential utilization of this literature by those working in health fields.

Methods

A sample of physicians (N=336) and public health non-governmental organization (NGO) staff (N=92) were provided with relatively complete access to the research literature indexed in PubMed, as well as access to the point-of-care service UpToDate, for up to one year, with their usage monitored through the tracking of web-log data. The physicians also participated in a one-month trial of relatively complete or limited access.

Results

The study found that participants’ research interests were not satisfied by article abstracts alone nor, in the case of the physicians, by a clinical summary service such as UpToDate. On average, a third of the physicians viewed research a little more frequently than once a week, while two-thirds of the public health NGO staff viewed more than three articles a week. Those articles were published since the 2008 adoption of the NIH Public Access Policy, as well as prior to 2008 and during the maximum 12-month embargo period. A portion of the articles in each period was already open access, but complete access encouraged a viewing of more research articles.

Conclusion

Those working in health fields will utilize more research in the course of their work as a result of (a) increasing open access to research, (b) improving awareness of and preparation for this access, and (c) adjusting public and open access policies to maximize the extent of potential access, through reduction in embargo periods and access to pre-policy literature.”

URL : In an Age of Open Access to Research Policies: Physician and Public Health NGO Staff Research Use and Policy Awareness

DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0129708

From Concerned to Cautiously Optimistic: Assessing Faculty Perceptions and Knowledge of Open Access in a Campus-Wide Study

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“INTRODUCTION : Though open access publishing has many advantages for scholars, very few are interested in learning about and pursuing open access publishing. This article discusses the results of a survey administered to faculty across disciplines at a single university to assess their perceptions, knowledge, and perceived knowledge of open access publishing and related topics.

METHODS : Anonymous electronic survey of 240 faculty members with a response rate of 23%.

RESULTS : Although many respondents considered themselves familiar with open access, very few had practical knowledge of open access publishing. Faculty were uncertain about the value and reliability of open access publishing and were particularly concerned about its applicability in the promotion and tenure process.

CONCLUSION:  Misinformation, lack of motivation, and fear appear to be the main causes of negative perceptions of open access among faculty surveyed. Though science faculty had the highest overall perceived knowledge of open access, they were also most likely to view open access negatively and to believe that the current publishing model works well. Education faculty were more likely to think highly of open access publishing, in part due to a lack of funding for that discipline. Librarians and information professionals should take a tailored approach to discussing open access with faculty by working within the knowledge of the discipline if possible.”

URL : From Concerned to Cautiously Optimistic: Assessing Faculty Perceptions and Knowledge of Open Access in a Campus-Wide Study

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1212

A Triangulation Method to Dismantling a Disciplinary “Big Deal”

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“In late 2012, it appeared that the University Library, University of Saskatchewan would likely no longer be able to afford to subscribe to the entire American Chemical Society “Big Deal” of 36 journals. Difficult choices would need to be made regarding which titles to retain as individual subscriptions. In an effort to arrive at the most conscientious and evidence-based decisions possible, three discrete sources of data were collected and compared: full-text downloads, citation analysis of faculty publications, and user feedback.

This case study will describe the triangulation method developed — including the unconventional approach of applying a citation analysis technique to usage data and survey responses. Such a thorough, labor-intensive, method is likely not practical for analyzing larger, multidisciplinary journal bundles. When it becomes necessary to break up a smaller collection important to researchers in a particular discipline, this technique may provide strong evidence to support librarian decisions as well as involve faculty in the process.”

URL : http://www.istl.org/15-spring/refereed3.html