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This study creates a novel inventory that characterizes factors influencing the research agendas of researchers in all fields of knowledge: the Multi-dimensional Research Agendas Inventory-Revised (MDRAI-R). The MDRAI-R optimizes an initial inventory designed for the social sciences (the MDRAI) by reducing the number of items per dimension, improving the inventory’s psychometric properties, and including new dimensions (“Academia Driven” and “Society Driven”) that reflect the greater influence of social and organizational structures on knowledge production and demands for research impact. This inventory enhances our ability to measure research activities at a time when researchers’ choices matter more than ever, and it will be of interest to researchers, policy makers, research funding agencies, and university and research organizations.

For more than a century, whether or not the research-teaching nexus exists has remained an intensely debated issue in the global academy at both the conceptual and empirical levels. Situating teaching styles within the context of teaching, conceptualizing research agendas as a dimension of research, and using academic self-efficacy as a mediator, the present study empirically investigated the research-teaching nexus. Participants were 256 academics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields from all of the eight institutions funded by the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong. In the context of participating in the "Academic Profession in the Knowledge-based Society" (APIKS) international survey between late 2017 and early 2018, the participants responded to a short version of the Multi-Dimensional Research Agendas Inventory, a short version of the Research-Teaching Efficacy Inventory, and two scales from the Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory. Results showed that academics' research agendas statistically predicted their teaching styles -- after age, gender, academic rank, and institutional ranking were considered. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy, especially research efficacy, provided a pathway from research agendas to one of the two teaching styles examined. Limitations and theoretical contributions of the research are discussed; and practical implications of the research findings are proposed for academics in STEM fields and for university senior managers.

China has become an attractive destination for international medical students, particularly those from developing countries in Asia and Africa. These students are known to face difficulties in adapting to Chinese medical universities and they tend to score poorly on subsequent examinations to enter the medical profession in their home or in a third country. To date, limited research concerning the factors that affect the academic performance of this group of students in China has been conducted. In particular, there have been very few comparisons between high and low achievers to identify the factors that high- and low-achieving international medical students in all years of study perceive as affecting their academic performance. A qualitative research approach was implemented at two medical universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 high achievers and 22 low achievers in their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and post-graduation years. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a thematic analysis approach.A few key overlapping factors were identified: social support, learning motivation and interest, exam preparation and strategies, time management, and coping. The high achievers manipulated these strategies successfully while the low achievers did not. The high achievers demonstrated efficient learning methods (efficient use of class time, good note-taking habits, preview and review strategies, expanded learning, self-study and group learning, deep learning, choosing an appropriate study location, and focusing on basics and concepts). They also achieved a good balance between studying and leisure. The low achievers mentioned learning challenges, health issues, English language barriers, and problems with online classes. This study allowed us to identify important factors that international medical students at Chinese institutions perceive to influence their performance. The findings contribute to the literature on the topic and provide a solid basis for practice and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of academic inbreeding in relation to academic research, and proposes a new conceptual framework for its analysis. We find that mobility (or lack of) at the early research career stage is decisive in influencing academic behaviors and scientific productivity. Less mobile academics have more inward oriented information exchange dynamics and lower scientific productivity. The analysis also indicates that the information exchange and scientific productivity of academics that changed institutions only once do not differ substantially from that of "mobile inbred academics". This emphasizes the need for mobility throughout scientific and academic careers and calls for policies to curtail academic inbreeding.

This article examines the effects that performing a post-doc early in the academic career have for the current scholarly practices of faculty members. Results show that performing a post-doc early in the academic career impacts positively the recent research output of academics, although not affecting the other faculty member's scholarly activities, namely teaching. The results also show that academics that did a post-doc engage in more regular information exchange dynamics with international peers than their colleagues that did not. This is particularly evident for the younger generations of scholars and for those who spent the post-doctoral period abroad. It is concluded that the post-doctoral period not only fosters a greater production of scientific outputs later in the academic career, but also leads to a greater integration into international scholarly communities. These benefits potentiate former post-docs to become key players in any scientific or higher education system.

This article provides a characterization of the internationalization of "global" European universities and discusses the role of the State in promoting greater internationalization and competitiveness levels of prominent national universities. The analysis supports previous arguments stating that global ranking of universities is strongly based on research, but reveals that the internationalization of research universities' student population is also arranged to enhance research capacity. This finding is further reinforced by a positive association between the internationalization of the academic staff and the internationalization of the student population in one of those universities, being this association particularly strong with the doctoral student population. Finally, based on the analysis of two prominent national universities with different global competitiveness levels, we discuss the role of the State as a central supporter of these universities internationalization and global competitiveness arguing that public funding and support is critical if countries want to have national prominent universities competing at global level.

Peer review remains the golden standard of scientific practice, but one that was never easily accepted, and often subjected to different criticisms. This has become more acute in recent years. Some of the challenges faced are lengthy review periods, difficulties by editors in finding willing reviewers, biased reviews, and a lack of incentive or recognition of the reviewers. What can be done to improve the journal peer review process? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]