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A number of new metrics based on social media platforms—grouped under the term “altmetrics”—have recently been introduced as potential indicators of research impact. Despite their current popularity, there is a lack of information regarding the determinants of these metrics. Using publication and citation data from 1.3 million papers published in 2012 and covered in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science as well as social media counts from Altmetric.com, this paper analyses the main patterns of five social media metrics as a function of document characteristics (i.e., discipline, document type, title length, number of pages and references) and collaborative practices and compares them to patterns known for citations. Results show that the presence of papers on social media is low, with 21.5% of papers receiving at least one tweet, 4.7% being shared on Facebook, 1.9% mentioned on blogs, 0.8% found on Google+ and 0.7% discussed in mainstream media. By contrast, 66.8% of papers have received at least one citation. Our findings show that both citations and social media metrics increase with the extent of collaboration and the length of the references list. On the other hand, while editorials and news items are seldom cited, it is these types of document that are the most popular on Twitter. Similarly, while longer papers typically attract more citations, an opposite trend is seen on social media platforms. Finally, contrary to what is observed for citations, it is papers in the Social Sciences and humanities that are the most often found on social media platforms. On the whole, these findings suggest that factors driving social media and citations are different. Therefore, social media metrics cannot actually be seen as alternatives to citations; at most, they may function as complements to other type of indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the relevance of communication studies for human sciences. Communication studies is often proposed as a synthetic approach to the human sciences outright, an interdisciplinary inquiry capable of linking the researches of specialized human sciences to the philosophical foundations of the project of human scientific inquiry itself. The author says that from the standpoint of the relation between philosophy and the human sciences, the constitution of perception, institutions and thought by media of communication is the thesis proper to communication studies, the thesis from which its larger significance derives. According to the author, by describing the precise point at which a theory of communication diverges from a theory of scientific meaning, it is possible to note a significant convergence between phenomenology and a Marxist critique of a semiotic theory of language.

This paper provides an introduction to the history of the concept of "emerging infectious diseases" (EID) and reflects on how humanities and social science scholars have interacted with it. It starts with a chronological outline of the coinage of the concept in the early 1990s in the wake of the shocks provoked by Ebola and HIV/AIDS, which disrupted the idea that the West was transitioning from a period of infectious diseases to one of chronic diseases. We argue that humanities and social science scholars in disciplines such as history, anthropology, STS, and literature studies have critically explored the concept, showing how entrenched it was in the perceptions of the US and Europe about threats posed by the rest of the globe. Moreover, we explore how scholars in the humanities have used the EID concept to comment on contemporary realities and mobilized it to create dialogues with scientists, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, we explore how the growing contemporary interest in EID has pushed historians to research the ontological and epistemological factors that enabled the "emergence" of diseases long before the invention of the EID concept, such as plague, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness, as well as the factors that transformed these and other emerging diseases into pandemics. We conclude by outlining a few neglected factors in the EID literature that could be addressed: the circulation and reception of the concept outside of the West, the examination of EID as a problem for wild animals and not just for humans, and global histories of disease emergence as an epistemological and social process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a systematic review of tourism certification, labelling and branding research. To review the scientific literature, we followed the PRISMA methodological approach. We started by outlining the spatial and temporal distribution of research linked to certification, labelling and branding, carried out in the social sciences and humanities. In the second step, we extracted the theoretical definitions and characteristics of these three processes in tourism from a selected body of literature. We continued by analysing hierarchical and non-hierarchical relations between certification and branding, and by drawing conclusions linked to duality, or even contradictions that are emerging in this field of tourism research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the concept of adequacy central for Pertażycki's methodology. According to Petrażycki any valuable scientific theory should be adequate, that is, neither limping (to broad with respect its actual scope) nor jumping (too narrow with respect to its actual scope). Consequently, adequacy of a theory is a stronger condition than its truth. Every adequacy theory is true, but not conversely. However, there is problem, because scientific laws are conditionals (implications). This suggests that adequacy is too strong conditions, because the consequence of an implication has a wider scope than its antecedent. Thus, laws should have the form of equivalence. The paper shows how modeltheoretic characterization of theories allows to recognize truth and adequacy, consistently with Petrażycki's claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The paper aims to investigate image data sharing within social science and humanities. While data sharing is encouraged as a part of the open science movement, little is known about the approaches and factors influencing the sharing of image data. This information is evident as the use of image data in these fields of research is increasing, and data sharing is context dependent. Method. The study analyses qualitative semi-structured interviews with 14 scholars who incorporate digital images as a core component of their research data. Analysis. Content analysis is conducted to gather information about scholars' image data sharing and motivating and impeding factors related to it. Results. The findings show that image data sharing is not an established research practice, and when it happens it is mostly done via informal means by sharing data through personal contacts. Supporting the scientific community, the open science agenda and fulfilling research funders' requirements motivate scholars to share their data. Impeding factors relate to the qualities of data, ownership of data, data stewardship, and research integrity. Conclusion. Advancing image data sharing requires the development of research infrastructures and providing support and guidelines. Better understanding of the scholars' image data practices is also needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past half century, how we conceive of design research has changed significantly, as indeed have the boundaries of influence of the design profession. This paper takes an entirely personal perspective of the author and will discuss the change in the nature of design research through the lens of a career in design education and, especially, in the author's endeavours to develop design research as a respected discipline working with and alongside, science, social sciences and the arts and humanities. It will look at the social, economic and political drivers that have influenced design research in the UK but also globally, and at where this has taken design, in terms of research both within and beyond the design profession. • Traces developmental moves in design research. • Design research has moved from process and methods to systems and services. • Design research has moved from disciplines to challenges. • Design research can help us address complex global and local challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early and modern scholars have deliberated extensively on the principle of wasatiyyah with its various interpretations. Yet, the term has not been perceived through the Sharī'ah point of view, and there is no study which directly relates it with the objectives of the Sharī'ah. This paper, therefore, examines the necessity of wasatiyyah from the perspective of the Sharī'ah. It aims at highlighting the principle of wasatiyyah as one of the objectives of Sharī'ah. In doing so, the Qur'ānic and prophetic texts dealing with the principle of wasatiyyah along with the views of early and modern scholars are examined. In addition, this paper also examines some approaches of wasatiyyah by Muslim reformists. They demonstrated the different manifestations of wasatiyyah and its signifi cance in accordance with the needs and circumstances of the society. Based on the signifi cance of wasatiyyah, this paper concludes that it can be considered as one of the fundamental principles of the Sharī'ah. In other words, the principle of wasatiyyah should be acknowledged as a higher objective of the Sharī'ah which must be obtained at both the individual as well as the collective level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the outline of an interdisciplinary undergraduate course entitled: "Islands: Models for our Planet - Metaphors for our World", and will reflect on insights gained during its development and teaching in two consecutive academic years (2014-2015; 2015-2016). The main challenge faced during the development and teaching of this interdisciplinary course was to introduce a wide range of topics in a coherent way. For this reason, a theoretical framework was developed to guide students throughout their learning process and to structure the content of the course. The developed course materials are shared in the supplementary materials of this paper to facilitate colleagues around the world who are teaching a course in island studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is a key concept in long‐term human adjustments to climate change. Despite the centrality of human decisions and actions in adaptation, much of the climate change literature is thin on humanities and social science which are the primary approaches for understanding human activity. This situation is particularly pronounced in Louisiana's discussions about its disappearing coast line where research has concentrated in understanding biophysical processes and solutions prioritize short‐term adaptations. This paper reviews the relationship of adaptation and long‐term transitions in the global change discussion and traces how disjointed adaptations in coastal Louisiana have contributed to a perilous environmental situation there. It proposes a shift from discrete adaptations to efforts that incorporate interrelated biophysical and human adaptations that can sustain long‐term transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Information Seeking Behavior (ISB) of the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) undergraduates of the University of Colombo with three objectives; to study the information resource usage of the undergraduates, to study the barriers they encounter in seeking and using the information and to study the information seeking process of the undergraduates. A questionnaire and Focus Group Meetings (FGMs) were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Convenient Sampling method was used and the response rate was 82% out of 550 questionnaires while 95 attended the FGMs. SPSS (ver. 22) and manual analysis were used to analyze data. Most respondents use Internet instead of library resources and do not use standard criteria to evaluate information. The majority consult their batch mates for help in using information resources. At the same time, most of them have not received any training in using the library resources or Internet. They face several barriers related to library resources, facilities, services and training which prevent them from reaching the library first for their information needs. The processes they follow to search and use information correspond to some other information seeking models. It is recommended that additional research is required to substantiate the gravity of this issue and librarians need to collaborate with the faculty to improve their ISB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books and their reviews are considered to be central to knowledge dissemination in the social sciences and humanities. Despite this perceive importance, few studies have assessed the relative importance of these document types in the dissemination of knowledge. This paper aims at better understanding the place of book reviews in the scholarly communication system and to shed light--through the analysis of books on Canada, United Kingdom and United States and their reviewers--on the international circulation of ideas in the social sciences and humanities. Based on 1,675,999 book reviews indexed in the Social Science Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index over the 1975- 2016 period, our results show that book reviews are decreasing in importance in all disciplines-especially those where books have historically been peripheral. We also observe a high rate of homophily between reviewers and reviewed books, with researchers being primarily interested in the books that have been written by someone from their own country. Hence, despite the now widely held assumptions of the globalization of science, social science and humanities remains a highly localized activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on nuclear technologies has been largely driven by a detachment of the 'technical content' from the 'social context'. However, social studies of science and technology - also for the nuclear domain – emphasize that 'the social' and 'the technical' dimensions of technology development are inter-related and co-produced. In an effort to create links between nuclear research and innovation and society in mutually beneficial ways, the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre started fifteen years ago a ‘Programme of Integration of Social Aspects into nuclear research’ (PISA). In line with broader science-policy agendas (responsible research and innovation and technology assessment), this paper argues that the importance of such programmes is threefold. First, their multi-disciplinary basis and participatory character contribute to a better understanding of the interactions between science, technology and society, in general, and the complexity of nuclear technology assessment in particular. Second, their functioning as (self -)critical policy supportive research with outreach to society is an essential prerequisite for policies aiming at generating societal trust in the context of controversial issues related to nuclear technologies and exposure to ionising radiation. Third, such programmes create an enriching dynamic in the organisation itself, stimulating collective learning and transdisciplinarity. The paper illustrates with concrete examples these claims and concludes by discussing some key challenges that researchers face while engaging in work of this kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expenditure on research and experimental development in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in South Africa has almost doubled over the past decade. However, fine-grained analysis of patterns of R&D expenditure in SSH research fields over the period 2005/2006-2014/2015 reveals a number of critical issues for both institutional planning and national policymaking. We demonstrate that most SSH R&D expenditure in the 10-year reference period was targeted predominantly within just a few research fields: finance, economics, education, accounting and political science and public policy. By contrast, investment in SSH research fields such as architecture and habitat, media and communication studies, psychology, and transportation studies was strikingly low in the same period, with some research fields, such as dance or tourism, appearing to be at risk of decline. Using these R&D data as a proxy, we argue, principally, that institutional R&D planners and national policymakers need to find a greater balance between current priorities and future needs, if SSH R&D is to be 'leveraged' for larger socio-economic impacts, as is being envisaged in a new draft White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation. Significance: • R&D expenditure in the social sciences and humanities between 2005 and 2014 was concentrated in just a few research fields, such as finance, economics and education. By contrast, R&D expenditure was comparatively low in research fields such as media and communication studies, technology management, architecture and habitat, and dance. • In an era of rapid global technological change, but also deepening local societal challenges, South Africa's national and institutional policymakers face strategic R&D choices. This article contributes to national debate about the status and perceived role(s) of the social sciences and humanities in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper submits the philosophical case for establishing ‘technosphere science’ that draws on results of many other disciplines, reaching from physics to the social sciences and humanities. I present claims about the type of entities that are studied by technosphere science and their causal relationships, and introduce central organizing concepts, such as ‘information’ and ‘function’. Agency is no longer seen as a property exclusive to humans, but as being distributed in networks of ontologically diverse entities. Technosphere science draws on various uses of the concept of ‘networks’ across disciplines, such as scaling laws and builds on a universal evolutionary framework that generalizes over biological evolution. In this perspective, the economy is the medium by which human action becomes functional relative to the reproduction and growth of the technosphere. I conclude with showing how human autonomy and ethical commitments remain possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have investigated factors thought to affect the total number of citations in various academic disciplines, and some general trends have emerged. However, there are still limited data for many fields, including aquatic sciences. Using papers published in 2003–2005 (n = 785), we investigated marine and freshwater biology articles to identify factors that may contribute to the probability of citation and for cumulative citation counts over 10 years. We found no relationships with probability of citation; however, we found evidence that for those that were cited at least once, cumulative citations were related to several factors. Articles cited by books received more citations than those never cited by books, which we hypothesized to be indicative of the impact an article may have in the field. We also found that articles first cited within 2 years of publication received more cumulative citations than those first cited after 2 years. We found no evidence that self‐citation (as the first citation) had a significant effect on total citations. Our findings were compared with previous studies in other disciplines, and it was found that aquatic science citation patterns are comparable to fields in science and technology but less so to humanities and social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) increasingly absorb knowledge from Hard Sciences, i.e., Science, Technology, Agriculture and Medicine (STAM), as testified by a growing number of citations. However, whether citing more Hard Sciences brings more citations to HSS remains to be investigated. Based on China’s HSS articles indexed by the Web of Science during 1998–2014, this paper estimated two-way fixed effects negative binomial models, with journal effects and year effects. Findings include: (1) An inverse U-shaped curve was observed between the percentage of STAM references to the HSS articles and the number of citations they received; (2) STAM contributed increasing knowledge to China’s HSS, while Science and Technology knowledge contributed more citations to HSS articles. It is recommended that research policy should be adjusted to encourage HSS researchers to adequately integrate STAM knowledge when conducting interdisciplinary research, as over-cited STAM knowledge may jeopardize the readability of HSS articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main questions in the humanities is how cultures and artistic expressions change over time. While a number of researchers have used quantitative computational methods to study historical changes in literature, music, and cinema, our paper offers the first quantitative analysis of historical changes in visual art created by users of a social online network. We propose a number of computational methods for the analysis of temporal development of art images. We then apply these methods to a sample of 270,000 artworks created between 2001 and 2010 by users of the largest social network for art—DeviantArt (). We investigate changes in subjects, techniques, sizes, proportions and also selected visual characteristics of images. Because these artworks are classified by their creators into two general categories—Traditional Art and Digital Art—we are also able to investigate if the use of digital tools has had a significant effect on the content and form of artworks. Our analysis reveals a number of gradual and systematic changes over a ten-year period in artworks belonging to both categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we apply an Environmental Extended Input–Output (EEIO) model to calculate the Carbon Footprint (CF) of the Norwegian University of Technology and Science (NTNU). Results show that the CF of NTNU is very significant with an average contribution of 4.6 tonnes per student. In particular, the purchase of large amounts of equipment and consumables for scientific use is found to be an important contributor to this. In the paper we also derive per-department CFs, enabled by the standardized structure of the financial accounting system used by the university. Results show large variations in the CF of the different faculties. Social Science and Humanities have a significantly lower CF per student compared to Natural Science, Engineering, and, in particular, the Faculty of Medicine. The single most important CF contributing input to the university is, however, allocated to the property department regarding the use of energy and other building related activities. Also, the CF structures of the departments/faculties show large differences that indicate that different mitigation strategies are needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Knowledge translation (KT) is a buzzword in modern medical science. However, there has been little theoretical reflection on translation as a process of meaning production in KT. In this paper, we argue that KT will benefit from the incorporation of a more theoretical notion of translation as an entangled material, textual and cultural process.Discussion: We discuss and challenge fundamental assumptions in KT, drawing on theories of translation from the human sciences. We show that the current construal of KT as separate from and secondary to the original scientific message is close to the now deeply compromised literary view of translation as the simple act of copying the original. Inspired by recent theories of translation, we claim that KT can be more adequately understood in terms of a 'double supplement' - on the one hand, KT offers new approaches to the communication of scientific knowledge to different groups in the healthcare system with the aim of supplementing a lack of knowledge among clinicians (and patients). On the other, it demonstrates that a textual and cultural supplement, namely a concern with target audiences (clinicians and patients), is inevitable in the creation of an 'autonomous' science. Hence, the division between science and its translation is unproductive and impossible to maintain. We discuss some possible implications of our suggested shift in concept by drawing on pharmaceutical interventions for the prevention of HIV as a case. We argue that such interventions are based on a supplementary and paradoxical relation to the target audiences, both presupposing and denying their existence. More sophisticated theories of translation can lay the foundation for an expanded model of KT that incorporates a more adequate and reflective description of the interdependency of scientific, cultural, textual and material practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how and why academics in different parts of the academy collaborate. In this paper we argue that: (1) There is a useful analytical distinction to be made between collaboration (fluid and expressive) and Collaboration (concrete and instrumental); (2) These two are not mutually exclusive and their use varies between disciplines; and (3) This distinction is an informative one for policy making that aims to encourage collaboration. Two interview based studies were used to explore the differences in collaborative practices across disciplines. The first was small and confined to a single university (n = 36) and the second was a larger study conducted in three countries (n = 274). Cross tabulations and analysis of open ended questions demonstrated many differences across the humanities, sciences and social sciences in collaboration. The C/collaboration distinction proves useful in understanding different disciplinary approaches to research, and in pointing to implications for research policy and funding. Attempts to increase collaborative research through Collaboration only, may well have deleterious effects on both collaboration and Collaboration. Research policy and funding should bear these differences in mind when seeking to stimulate collaborative research, so as to gain better outcomes across a range of disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics is a fundamental tool of research. Although potentially applicable in every discipline, the amount of training in mathematics that students typically receive varies greatly between different disciplines. In those disciplines where most researchers do not master mathematics, the use of mathematics may be held in too much awe. To demonstrate this I conducted an online experiment with 200 participants, all of which had experience of reading research reports and a postgraduate degree (in any subject). Participants were presented with the abstracts from two published papers (one in evolutionary anthropology and one in sociology). Based on these abstracts, participants were asked to judge the quality of the research. Either one or the other of the two abstracts was manipulated through the inclusion of an extra sentence taken from a completely unrelated paper and presenting an equation that made no sense in the context. The that included the meaningless mathematics tended to be judged of higher quality. However, this "nonsense math effect" was not found among participants with degrees in mathematics, science, technology or medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain limitations arise from the persistent consideration of two common relations of islands in the humanities and social sciences: land and sea, and island and continent/mainland. What remains largely absent or silent are ways of being, knowing and doing—ontologies, epistemologies and methods—that illuminate island spaces as inter-related, mutually constituted and co-constructed: as island and island. Therefore, this paper seeks to map out and justify a research agenda proposing a robust and comprehensive exploration of this third and comparatively neglected nexus of relations. In advancing these aims, the paper's goal is to (re)inscribe the theoretical, metaphorical, real and empirical power and potential of the archipelago: of seas studded with islands; island chains; relations that may embrace equivalence, mutual relation and difference in signification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the widest elaborations of generativity today is the theoretical model proposed by McAdams and de St. Aubin. This model has not yet been tested completely, that is only some of its components and their relations have been tested. The main reasons for such an empirical status of the model are inadequately clear operationalizations of the components of the model. After our previous research, which include adaptation of scales for measuring of some key components of model, generative care and generative action (Lacković-Grgin et al., Suvremena Psihologija, 5, 9, 2002; Lacković-Grgin, Zbirka psihologijskih skala i upitnika, Zadar: University of Zadar, 2004; Tucak et al., Generativna briga i generativno djelovanje u odraslih osoba u Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji, XVII Dani Ramira i Zorana Bujasa, Summaries, 98, 2005), as well as operationalization of so called belief in species component (which is a component of Philosophy about human nature) (Ćubela Adorić et al., Philosophies of Human Nature in Adolescents and Adults, 7th Alps-Adria Conference in Psychology, Abstracts, 167, 2005), in this paper we have tried to evaluate life goals questionnaire. This questionnaire tried to measure the other component of the model—inner desire. In that way we could realize the main goal of this paper, research of how important are the evaluations in the prediction of generative action in Croatian and Slovenian adults. Generative action is under the strong influence of cultural demands and inner desires. There are more sociological and economical indications about the differences in expected social development in countries like Croatia and Slovenia. Because of the fact that in the last decade Slovenia has been developed more than Croatia, we could expect that this could also be manifested in assessment of importance of some areas of life, which are relevant for generative action (e.g., work, marriage, free time), for life goals of agency and communion, as well as for generative care as a possible predictor of generative action. The greater differences were obtained in some predictors of generative action (e.g. importance of job, importance of free time, goals of agency and communion), as well as in their predictive importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to communicate some of the value commitments that characterize my approach to formal model building in theoretical sociology. It does this through a narrative method, an autobiographical account of shifts in intellectual interests through various phases of my career: from history to philosophy, from philosophy to sociology, from sociology to mathematics and back, followed by several long-term formal theoretical research programs. One of these, pertaining to the formal representation of institutionalized social action systems, is described in terms of its linkage to interpretive sociology, while also noting its limitations from a theoretical science point of view. By interweaving intellectual biography and intellectual history, the paper also provides some contextual background for appreciating the work of the other contributors to this symposium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotechnology as a natural continuation of microtechnology introduced a new way of building molecular structures through bottom-up methods. The approach provides numerous new opportunities in information technology, medicine and new materials; however, it also brings new risks. In the paper we summarize a brief history of nanoscience and nanotechnology by documenting the main milestones on the roadmap of this branch since the beginning of the 20th century. We discuss new properties of materials and structures appearing in the nanoworld. We highlight the role of social sciences and humanities in nanoscience. Attention is paid to new threats originating in this field, as well as to the code of conduct of responsible nanoscientist. The issues represent subjects of nanoethics - a discipline that opens up a new chapter in the ethical studies. In this context we summarize the basic problems of the contemporary nanoethics, which deal with human enhancement and related religious and theological aspects, nanotoxicology, regulations and specifics of intellectual property rights in nanotechnology. Economic implications, especially the possibility of bridging the nanodivide currently appearing between developed and developing world, are discussed as well. We conclude by arguing that nanoscience and nanotechnology open up new horizons in the field of philosophy. There is a need to overcome the ambivalence of public opinion towards nanoscience and nanotechnology by the means of providing correct and opened information and continuous technology assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few years have brought a surge in re-conceptualizations of the North in the humanities and social sciences. Bringing together history, environment, geography, politics and culture, these re-conceptualizations offer frameworks, terminology and perspectives designed to situate the North in its complex modern context. They are linked by the authors' shared interest in what the North has looked like and what it will look like in the future. This paper engages with a few of these re-conceptualizations in order to understand what agendas they put forward, explicitly and implicitly, and how they are situated within historical contexts. In this context, I ask what the North encompasses: which narratives, identities and connections merge with latitude, climate and physical environment to create new (and not-so-new) ways of thinking about northern spaces? Ultimately, I argue that these re-conceptualizations of the North are in fact themselves articulations of the future: developed and presented to tell particular stories, they are part of a larger story, one that reaches into the past and one which will continue to evolve and change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International collaboration is one of the effective ways to enhance the impact of scientific research papers. In this research, international research collaboration papers published by world-class universities in the field of humanities and social sciences from 2015 to 2019 were selected as the research object, and the effective enhancement of the impact of international research collaboration papers was found to not be dependent on expanding the scale of international research collaboration, but rather on selecting researchers with different international backgrounds and from high-level institutions for collaboration. It was also discovered that, in the field of humanities and social sciences, despite a relatively low proportion of international research collaboration papers being led by Chinese scholars, the Chinese research is characterized by a higher impact compared with the research led by non-Chinese scholars. In light of this, a series of proactive measures should be taken by China's world-class universities, such as actively participating in and initiating international collaboration, selecting high-level research collaborators, and attracting scholars from different countries to engage in research collaboration in the field of humanities and social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal we offer here (and in the more extensive 'white paper' proposal on which this article is based) tackles head-on the open access (OA) business models that have proven particularly problematic for implementation of OA in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). Our proposal suggests all tertiary institutions contribute to systemic support of the research process itself, including its entire scholarly output. A bold rethinking of the economics of OA by way of partnerships among scholarly societies and academic libraries funded by an institutional fee structure based on a student-and-faculty per-capita sliding scale, our plan is nevertheless intentionally incremental. Our proposal focuses first on HSS and primarily in the United States, but just as research and scholarship are increasingly global and collaborative, our plan is not bound by discipline or national borders, but can be adopted by all those looking for a more equitable and sustainable OA model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of research in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) is a thorny problem as the bibliometric measures designed for the life sciences simply do not apply. While current research has explored a number of methods to assess quality, this paper presents an innovative and potentially more neutral assessment of our academic productions, based on published book reviews. This pilot study uses corpus linguistics methodologies within a genre analysis framework to look at reviews in French literature studies, using a small collection of articles from the field of corpus linguistics as a control sample. It demonstrates that, unlike in English language scientific journals, where the aim is to evaluate research, the reviews published in the Revue d'Histoire Littéraire de la France are more descriptive and are rarely negatively critical. This limits their use as a self-evaluation system for this academic community and raises the question about distinguishing the good and the mediocre in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether in Homer or Plato, Shakespeare or Huxley, throughout history, thinking about islands has shaped how we think about human nature and our place in the world. However, to date archipelagos have received far less attention. This is problematic because we live, increasingly, in a world of island-island movements and not static forms. Not only in the more obvious cases of the Caribbean, Hawaii or the Philippines but, as Stratford et al (2011) say, many 'continental forms' like Canada and Australia are in fact archipelagos composed of thousands of island movements. To this list we can add more manufactured archipelagos: wind turbine arrays, industrial oil and military constellations. The key question therefore arises: what does it mean to think with the archipelago? This paper argues firstly that archipelagic thinking denaturalizes the conceptual basis of space and place, and therefore engages 'the spatial turn' presently sweeping the social sciences and humanities. Secondly, such thinking highlights the trope of what I call 'metamorphosis', of the adaptation and transformation of material, cultural and political practices through island movements. In both cases, I argue that thinking with the archipelago requires an important shift in how we frame analysis and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the ways in which the 2012 Elsevier boycott and resultant call for open access scholarship known as the 'academic spring' have been taken up by scholars in the humanities and social sciences. I begin by reviewing the current state of affairs with regards to publishing and the academy, explicating the movement's reasons for demanding change. From this, I identify two moral principles which emerge from its critique, and then I show how implementing the recommendations which have been circulated as alternatives to the status quo do not necessarily support the academic spring's foundational principles. I conclude by suggesting a possible alternative direction of productive action and sounding a final word of caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper establishes the foundation of new systems’ Consolidity Theory using the Arithmetic Fuzzy Logic-Based Representation approach for investigating the internal behavior of systems operating in fully fuzzy environment. Consolidated systems are defined as being stable at the original state, but due to fuzzy variations in their inputs or parameters tend to react accordingly in a manner leading to maintaining their consolidity and strength, or vice versa. Under the new theory, systems are classified into consolidated, neutrally consolidated or unconsolidated type based on their output fuzziness reaction to combined input and parameters fuzziness action. The systems’ Consolidity Theory is demonstrated by several examples of mathematical functions of different dimensionalities, control theory and Predator-Prey populations’ dynamics. The suggested Consolidity Theory is illustrated to be an effective tool for revealing the inner property of systems and predicting their hidden behavior when operating in fully fuzzy environment. Monitoring and control of systems’ consolidity through forward and backward fuzziness tracking are suggested during systems’ operation, for avoiding their drifting to possible unwanted unconsolidated domains. It is shown that the analysis will lead at the end to determining the system’s consolidity index that could be regarded as a general basic internal property of the system. Such systems’ consolidity concept can also be defined far from fuzzy logic, and is applicable to the analysis and design of various types of linear, nonlinear, multivariable, dynamic, etc., systems in real life in the fields of basic sciences, evolutionary systems, engineering, biology, medicine, economics, finance, political and management sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Contemporary sociosemiotics is a way to transcend borderlines between trends inside semiotics, and also other disciplines. Whereas semiotics has been considered as an interdisciplinary field of research par excellence, sociosemio tics can point directions at transdisciplinary research. The present article will try to conjoin the structural and the processual views on culture and society, binding them together with the notion of signification. The signification of space will illustrate the dynamic between both cultures and metacultures, and cultural mainstreams and subcultures. This paper pays attention to the practice of sociocultural semiotisation of space and territorialisation by diverse examples and different sociocultural levels that imply semiotic cooperation between several members of groups that can be characterised as socii. We analyse territorialisation by graffiti, by furnishing spatial environment through artistic manners, by shaping the semiotic essence of cities through naming, renaming and translating street names, by pinning and structuring territories with monuments, by landmarking and mapping cultural space through individualisation of cities. We will see how principles of semiotisation of space are valid on different levels (individual and social, formal and informal, democratic and hegemonic, cultural and subcultural) and how these principles form a transdisciplinary object of study as 'semiotisation of space', and how space can be regarded as a genuinely transdisciplinary research object. Individual, culture, and society are connected in such an object both as constituents and as a background of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

shared problem across the sciences is to make sense of correlational data coming from observations and/or from experiments. Arguably, this means establishing when correlations are causal and when they are not. This is an old problem in philosophy. This paper, narrowing down the scope to quantitative causal analysis in social science, reformulates the problem in terms of the validity of statistical models. Two strategies to make sense of correlational data are presented: first, a 'structural strategy', the goal of which is to model and test causal structures that explain correlational data; second, a 'manipulationist or interventionist strategy', that hinges upon the notion of invariance under intervention. It is argued that while the former can offer a solution the latter cannot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper lays the groundwork for developing a thorough-going phenomenological description of different phenomena of violence such as physical, psychic and structural violence. The overall aim is to provide subject-centered approaches to violence within the social sciences and the humanities with an integrative theoretical framework. To do so, I will draw primarily on the phenomenological accounts of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Alfred Schutz, and thereby present guiding clues for a phenomenologically grounded theory of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on interviews with peer-review panelists from five multidisciplinary fellowship competitions, this paper analyzes one of the main criteria used to evaluate scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences: originality. Whereas the literature in the sociology of science focuses on the natural sciences and defines originality as the production of new findings and new theories, we show that in the context of fellowship competitions, peer reviewers in the social sciences and humanities define originality much more broadly: as using a new approach, theory, method, or data; studying a new topic; doing research in an understudied area; or producing new findings. Whereas the literature has not considered disciplinary variation in the definition of originality, we identified significant differences. Humanists and historians clearly privilege originality in approach, and humanists also emphasize originality in the data used. Social scientists most often mention originality in method, but they also appreciate a more diverse range of types of originality. Whereas the literature tends to equate originality with substantive innovation and to consider the personal attributes of the researcher as irrelevant to the evaluation process, we show that panelists often view the originality of a proposal as an indication of the researcher's moral character especially of his/her authenticity and integrity. These contributions constitute a new approach to the study of peer review and originality that focuses on the meaning of criteria of evaluation and their distribution across clusters of disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connections between ethnicity and sexuality. Racial, ethnic, and national boundaries are also sexual boundaries. The borderlands dividing racial, ethnic, and national identities and communities constitute ethnosexual frontiers, erotic intersections that are heavily patrolled, policed, and protected, yet regularly are penetrated by individuals forging sexual links with ethnic "others." Normative heterosexuality is a central component of racial, ethnic, and nationalist ideologies; both adherence to and deviation from approved sexual identities and behaviors define and reinforce racial, ethnic, and nationalist regimes. To illustrate the ethnicity/sexuality nexus and to show the utility of revealing this intimate bond for understanding ethnic relations, I review constructionist models of ethnicity and sexuality in the social sciences and humanities, and I discuss ethnosexual boundary processes in several historical and contemporary settings: the sexual policing of nationalism, sexual aspects of US-American Indian relations, and the sexualization of the black-white color line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the value-added character of sociology? In an era of change and unease in higher education, can a case be made for sociology in terms of intellectual and scholarly substance rather than in terms of bureaucratic and political considerations? As a scholarly and instructional activity, what is the value of sociology beyond what other disciplines have to offer? I address these questions affirmatively in this paper by identifying and elaborating four distinctive foci of the sociological eye that together frame the window onto the world that sociology provides. These distinctive features are a focus on the relational connections among the constituent elements of the objects of sociological analysis; a focus on the socially contextual embeddedness of those objects of analysis; a focus on vexing social conditions and processes construed as social problems; and an ironic perspective, that is, a penchant for discerning and illuminating the incongruous, unexpected, discrepant aspects of social life. I argue that these foci are more pronounced in sociology than in other social sciences and that together they congeal into a window onto the social world that is unique among the social sciences and humanities, thus accounting for the value-added character of sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic and environmental aspects of civil engineering have attracted the greatest attention among contemporary academy, its social side has frequently been set aside. However, the social impact that infrastructures have is huge and its analysis and understanding are fundamental. At the same time, social aspects such as culture or human behaviour can have significant effects during the different stages of the lifecycle of infrastructures. Therefore, a better understanding of the connections between civil engineering and society can help to better adapt infrastructures to their contexts, as well as minimise their negative impacts; as a result, this understanding can bring about infrastructures that are more socially sustainable. The scarce studies that have assessed the connection between society and civil engineering have considered this relationship as unidirectional. The real scenario is not so simple. The analysis of this relationship needs to be interdisciplinary, and it is in this context that this paper addresses the analysis of infrastructures and of social sciences from a sociotechnical point of view. We draw on the interrelationships found to propose a conceptual framework with the main objective of providing both practitioners and academics with tools to carry out more sustainable and context-adapted decisions. We classify the fields of civil engineering and social sciences into several different subfields, namely six for infrastructures (transport, water, energy, environment, urban planning and buildings) and twelve for social sciences (culture and history, behaviour and mind, communication and interaction, socioeconomics, juridical sciences, life and health, politics, social problems, social groups, ethics and philosophy, arts and education and innovation). Afterwards, we review the existing literature at the intersection between the various categories. We conclude proposing a framework that can support decisions and actions made at different levels and working areas. The framework includes guidelines for a more holistic consideration of the interaction between infrastructures and society in key activities whereby an improved understanding of the effect of this relationship is often required. The guidelines provide a description of different key areas and can be applied to a wide variety of actions ranging from the development of university curricula to the social impact assessment of projects. Image 1 • The dual relationship between civil engineering and social sciences is studied. • Politics and vulnerability are the most studied social areas in civil engineering. • Transport is the most studied civil engineering area from a social perspective. • Infrastructure projects should consider social aspects during all their lifecycles. • A framework and future research directions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers insights on issues related to open-access publishing. For the author, open access is not a free publication system, however, it incurs costs just as on-paper traditional journal publishing does; the model used by many open-access publishers, whereby the author pays a fee on publication, derives from STM grants and awards practice and disadvantages social science and humanities authors who typically receive no costs of publication elements in their grants, or researchers who self-fund. The move to open-access publication may harm the publication business of many learned societies, large and small, to the detriment of their scholarly activities and thus cause their members disbenefit. The author believed that open access is a useful model whereby researchers, primarily in the sciences and predominantly in the Anglo-American publishing, can communicate their research results to their peers. He also accepted that self-archiving is one method of storing and allowing retrieval of published papers, or works in progress. In several disciplines and in many countries, electronic publishing of research papers whether in open-access formats or in subscription or other paid-on-publication models will not be desirable, convenient or effective.

The author presents an overview of the key aims and innovations for the journal over the next five years. It aims to develop the range of papers published in the journal across the spectrum of geographical scholarship and research, spanning approaches and setting agendas across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

Provides information on papers and artwork sought by periodicals that relate to feminist scholarship, the humanities and social sciences. Inclusion of "The NWSA Journal," the scholarly publication of the National Women's Studies Association; "The Asian Journal of Women's Studies"; "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society."