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Scientific retraction practices are intended to help purge the continued use of flawed research and assist in maintaining the integrity, credibility and quality of scientific literature. However, the practical effect of retraction is still vague and needs to be further explored. In this study, we analysed the citation counts and sentiments (positive/negative) of retracted articles in psychology journals from Web of Science to explore the effect of retraction. Causal inference strategies were used to measure the net effect of retractions on citation. Results show that the retraction practices induced the citation counts to reduce as expected. However, the proportion of negative citations also decreased because of retraction, indicating an unsatisfied effect. The retraction practice of high-impact factors and open access journals was more effective than other journals. The study integrated an understanding of the dissemination of erroneous publications and provided implications for liabilities involved in the whole retraction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an exploratory study that examined bilingual/multilingual university students' perspectives on how language affects their information searching and use. The study also examined instruction librarians' perspectives on information literacy instruction in general and their approaches in providing information literacy instruction to international students and English as a Second Language (ESL) students. A qualitative research approach using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews was used in the study. Nineteen (19) international and ESL students participated in the discussions while 8 instruction librarians were interviewed. Fifty-six (56%) of the students were aware of information literacy instruction as a service that was offered by the University library but only 37% had used this service. Only one of the librarians had had a significant encounter where language issues closely intersected with information literacy instruction. This study makes a connection between language and information literacy and reports on perspectives from both librarians and students' point of view. While proposing a possible working definition of Multilingual Information Literacy (MLIL), the study makes the case for MLIL as a necessary skill for the twenty-first century. The study also proposes ways in which Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals could be involved in promoting and enhancing multilingual information literacy and further suggests Specialized Information Literacy Instruction (SILI) and Personalized Information Literacy Instruction (PILI) as suitable models for providing instruction to Limited English Proficient (LEP) users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the results of an exploratory user-centered study that examined how technological advancements in natural language processing (NLP) such as the availability of multilingual information access (MLIA) tools impact the information searching behavior of bi/multilingual academic users. Thirty-one bi/multilingual students participated in a controlled lab-based user experiment in which they carried out two assigned tasks each on Google and WorldCat for a total of four tasks, and then completed a post experiment questionnaire. The captures from the experiment showed 86.7% of the participants using multilingual information access tools. Further analyses of the captures also showed that participants were more likely to use MLIA tools when the instructions for the task were stated in their native language. An independent samples t-test revealed that participants spent less time on their searches when they used MLIA tools. The study revealed considerable diversity in the information searching behavior of the participants, even within the same pair of languages, and even for the same user. Diversity was noted for instance, on which tasks MLIA tools were used and in how these tools were used. User-centered designed, personalized multilingual information retrieval (PMLIR) models could hold promise for best representing the information searching behavior of bi/multilingual users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the second of two articles that reports aspects of a study that was undertaken to assess the information industry and job market needs that the curriculum of the proposed programme must target. The first article specified the research problem and objectives, reviewed some key definitions and methodologies that were used, and the findings, lessons and conclusions obtained from the content analyses of curriculum development literature and the curricula of operational programmes in the related fields of information science, information systems, information technology, information management, library science, and library and information studies. This second article presents findings, lessons and conclusions from market surveys that were undertaken to assess curriculum and job market needs in the Nigerian setting. (Contains 6 tables.) [For Part 1, see EJ1001898.]

Training programmes for the information professions worldwide have been shifting and diversifying the scope of their claimed domains and curricula in order to empower their graduates with diverse knowledge and versatile technical skills required to compete successfully in the highly competitive job markets in the information industries. In line with this trend, and after running its flagship Master of Information Science (MInfSc) programme for more than 20 years, the Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, Nigeria, undertook a comprehensive study in order to gain new understanding of trends in curriculum design for information science and technology education. The first part of the study reviewed existing literature and curricula worldwide concerning education for information science and its related fields. The second part surveyed potential employers of information science and technology graduates in the Nigerian public and private sectors, and of graduates and current students of the MInfSc programme. This Part One of this paper reports on findings from the first part, while Part Two reports the findings from the second part. (Contains 1 figure.)

Discusses bibliometric studies of research collaboration and describes the development of a theoretical model for the distribution of authorship. The shifted Waring distribution model and 15 other probability models are tested for goodness-of-fit, and results are reported that indicate the shifted inverse Gaussian-Poisson model provides the best fitting. (24 references) (LRW)

Abstract Background The Cochrane Highly Sensitive Search Strategy (HSSS), which contains three phases, is widely used to identify Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in MEDLINE. Lefebvre and Clarke suggest that reviewers might consider using four revisions of the HSSS. The objective of this study is to validate these four revisions: combining the free text terms volunteer, crossover, versus, and the Medical Subject Heading CROSS-OVER STUDIES with the top two phases of the HSSS, respectively. Methods We replicated the subject search for 61 Cochrane reviews. The included studies of each review that were indexed in MEDLINE were pooled together by review and then combined with the subject search and each of the four proposed search strategies, the top two phases of the HSSS, and all three phases of the HSSS. These retrievals were used to calculate the sensitivity and precision of each of the six search strategies for each review. Results Across the 61 reviews, the search term versus combined with the top two phases of the HSSS was able to find 3 more included studies than the top two phases of the HSSS alone, or in combination with any of the other proposed search terms, but at the expense of missing 56 relevant articles that would be found if all three phases of the HSSS were used. The estimated time needed to finish a review is 1086 hours for all three phases of the HSSS, 823 hours for the strategy versus, 818 hours for the first two phases of the HSSS or any of the other three proposed strategies. Conclusion This study shows that compared to the first two phases of the HSSS, adding the term versus to the top two phases of the HSSS balances the sensitivity and precision in the reviews studied here to some extent but the differences are very small. It is well known that missing relevant studies may result in bias in systematic reviews. Reviewers need to weigh the trade-offs when selecting the search strategies for identifying RCTs in MEDLINE.

Abstract Background The safety and effectiveness of CAM interventions are of great relevance to pediatric health care providers. The objective of this study is to identify sources of reported randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the field of pediatric complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Methods Reports of RCTs were identified by searching Medline and 12 additional bibliographic databases and by reviewing the reference lists of previously identified pediatric CAM systematic reviews. Results We identified 908 reports of RCTs that included children under 18 and investigated a CAM therapy. Since 1965, there has been a steady growth in the number of these trials that are being published. The four journals that published the most reported RCTs are The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatrics, and Lancet. Medline, CAB Health, and Embase were the best database sources for identifying these studies; they indexed 93.2%, 58.4% and 42.2 % respectively of the journals publishing reports of pediatric CAM RCTs. Conclusions Those working or interested in the field of pediatric CAM should routinely search Medline, CAB Health and Embase for literature in the field. The four core journals identified above should be included in their collection.

Retraction of scholarly publications ensures that unqualified knowledge is purged from the scientific community. However, there appears to be little understanding about how this is practiced among library and information science (LIS) journals. Hence, this study investigated the correction and retraction practices of LIS journals. Journals included in the Web of Science's information science and library science subject category were selected for the study and the characteristics of the articles corrected or retracted in those journals between 1996 and 2016 were examined. Findings show that there were 517 corrections and five retractions in LIS journals during the period. Most of the corrections made to articles in LIS journals were minor while the reasons for article retraction included plagiarism, duplication, irreproducible results and methodological errors. Our findings also reveal that on average it took about 587 days for an article to be retracted while some of the retracted articles continued to be cited after retraction. The study concluded that the average number of errors per correction was lower than what had been observed in medical journals while some of the retracted articles continued to receive positive post-retraction citations. It also recommended the inclusion of a check on the validity of literature cited by authors at the review stage as part of the quality control mechanism by publishers of LIS journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a model for information retrieval evaluation based on the notion of total relevance, a function derived from the traditional summation of relevance ratings over the documents in a collection. The model makes explicit the perceptual underpinnings of relevance assessments while allowing for consideration of interdocument dependencies. (37 references) (Author/CLB)

Two models of library circulation, the Markov model and the mixed Poisson Model, are applied to circulation statistics from the University of Saskatchewan. Goodness-of-fit tests indicate that neither model fits the data; in both cases, the set of noncirculating items is larger than that predicted by the model. (Author/LRW)

Presents a method for measuring the quality of controlled vocabularies that involves identifying clusters of documents, searching for each document, identifying terms used to index each document, and calculating certain measures to determine indexing quality. The results of a comparison of three library and information science databases using this technique are discussed. (17 references) (Author/CLB)