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Journals that adopt open peer review (OPR), where review reports of published articles are publicly available, provide an opportunity to study both review content characteristics and quantitative aspects of the overall review process. This study investigates two areas relevant to the quality assessment of manuscript reviews. First, do journal policies for reviewers to identify themselves influence how reviewers evaluate the merits of a manuscript based on the relative frequency of hedging terms and research-related terms appearing in their reviews? Second, is there an association between the number of reviews/reviewers and the manuscript's research impact once published as measured by citations? We selected reviews for articles published in 17 OPR journals from 2017 to 2018 to examine the incidence of reviewers' uses of hedging terms and research-related terms. The results suggest that there was little difference in the relative use of hedging term usage regardless of whether reviewers were required to identify themselves or if this was optional, indicating that the use of hedging in review contents was not influenced by journal requirements for reviewers to identify themselves. There was a larger difference observed for research-related terminology. We compared the total number of reviews for a manuscript, rounds of revisions, and the number of reviewers with the number of Web of Science citations the article received since publication. The findings reveal that scrutiny by more reviewers or conducting more reviews or rounds of review do not result in more impactful papers for most of the journals studied. Implications for peer review practice are discussed.

This report discusses the Overcoming Barriers to Information Access (B2A) program. This is a doctoral cohort program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The program has focused on educating the next generation of doctoral graduates in library and information science with an emphasis on the theme of overcoming barriers to information access. Fellows were provided resources to support their educational activities, research and instructional experiences. In this paper the principal investigator for the program and the B2A Fellows reflect on the challenges and the rewards of their experiences in the program. Key findings that emerged include the importance of building community throughout the program and exposure to diverse perspectives. This initiative shows that although funding packages provide important resources to students, they do not buy extra time. The reflections in this paper provide insights into the doctoral student experience that can benefit other library and information science doctoral programs.

This article aims to contribute to the discussion on authorship in contemporary science from Foucauldian and Kuhnian perspectives, highlighting the social aspects of science and the role of authorship in scientific revolutions. Thus, it describes the functions of the 'author' discussed by Foucault that can assist to reveal the characteristics of the scientific practice and examples of how theories are materialized. As a result, it identifies the ways in which modern science is developed and how knowledge is construed by multiple authors, group authors, the merit that is attributed by citations, etc. This article highlights the complexity of authorship attribution and the need to rethink generalized bibliometric techniques to evaluate science considering other aspects that go beyond the mere listing of the authors.

Discusses the emergence of general audience digital libraries (GADLs), a context that represents a hybrid of both traditional information retrieval, using primarily bibliographic resources provided by database vendors, and popular information retrieval such as public search systems on the Web. Reports findings of a study investigating end-user searching and response to a GADL. (Author/LRW)

Examines contributing factors for the organizational usability of state digital libraries through evidence from usage statistics of Internet-based database services available through a state digital library, a statewide-administered library survey, and a Web-based survey of users. Presents an organizational usability model for state digital libraries. Identifies three modes of interaction and challenges each presents. Includes six tables and two figures. (Author/AEF)

Investigates the influence of index term distributions and indexing exhaustivity on the document space within a visual information retrieval environment called DARE (Distance Angle Retrieval Environment). Discusses results that demonstrate the importance of term distribution and exhaustivity on the density of document spaces and their implications for retrieval, particularly with different term weighting schemes. (Author/LRW)

Reports findings from a study of searching behavior by over 200,000 users of the Excite search engine. Analysis of over one million queries revealed most people use few search terms, few modified queries, view few Web pages, and rarely use advanced search features. Concludes that Web searching by the public differs significantly from searching of other information retrieval systems. (Contains 16 references.) (AEF)

Discusses information visualization techniques and introduces a visual term discrimination value analysis method using a document density space within a distance-angle-based visual information retrieval environment. Explains that applications of these methods facilitate more effective assignment of term weights to index terms within documents and may assist searchers in selecting search terms. (Author/LRW)

Investigated the impact of term frequencies, term distributions, and indexing exhaustivity on the representation of document spaces in a visual, vector-based retrieval environment. Compares document-space densities and discusses visualization techniques, term weights, and implications for automatic indexing in information retrieval systems. (Author/LRW)

Analyzed queries submitted to the Excite search engine for subject content based on the cooccurrence of terms within multiterm queries; categorized the most frequently cooccurring term pairs into subject areas; used hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling to tally subject area frequencies; and discusses implications for Internet searchers. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that compared a hypertext-based bibliographic retrieval system with a traditional Boolean-based system. Results, conducted with novice and experienced searchers, revealed that the Boolean system performed better for tasks with a large number of relevant items, and that searcher experience level did not play a significant role. (Author/LRW)

Although hypertext system usage has been studied, little research has examined the relationship of searcher performance and perception of performance, particularly for hypertext-based information retrieval systems for bibliographic data. This article reports preliminary findings of a study at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in which 83 subjects using HyperLynx, a prototype hypertext bibliographic retrieval system. (PEN)

Compares the efficacy of different approaches to introducing urban adults to Internet resources. Models tested included two training period lengths and two computer interfaces (text-based and graphical). Findings suggest that the interface used does not significantly affect users' ability to find information on the Internet; user confidence in using a range of tools varied for each resource. (Author/AEF)

Outlines the file structure requirements for a microcomputer-based information retrieval system using FoxPro, a relational database management system (DBMS). Issues relating to the design and implementation of such systems are discussed, and two possible designs are examined in terms of space economy and practicality of implementation. (15 references) (LRW)

This second report on a two-part study on the application of informetrics to information retrieval (IR) system design used models of database contents in a factorial simulation study at the University of Western Ontario. The study explored whether different file structures were better suited for different informetric environments. (32 references) (LRW)

Examines how informetric characteristics of information retrieval (IR) system databases can be used to help system designers decide what type of file structures would provide the best performance. The development of appropriate models describing database contents is highlighted in this first part of a two-part study. (30 references) (LRW)

Describes a technique for statistically comparing bibliometric models and illustrates its use with two examples using Lotka's hypothesis of author productivity and one example using library circulation frequencies. Topics discussed include nested statistical models, analysis of variance, regression, log-linear models, and the likelihood ratio chi-square statistic. (31 references) (LRW)

Compares and contrasts results from two previous studies of Excite queries' data sets and examines how public Web searching changed during that period. Results show shorter queries; fewer queries per user; viewing fewer pages of results per query; an increase in Boolean operators; and more commercial searching topics. (LRW)