Laura Sinay, Maria Cristina Fogliatti de Sinay, Rodney William (Bill) Carter and Aurea Martins
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the influence of the algorithm used on scholarly search engines (Garfield’s algorithm) and propose metrics to improve it so that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the influence of the algorithm used on scholarly search engines (Garfield’s algorithm) and propose metrics to improve it so that science could be based on a more democratic way.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used a snow-ball approach to collect data that allowed identifying the history and the logic behind the Garfield’s algorithm. It follows on excerpting the foundation of existing algorithm and databases of major scholarly search engine. It concluded proposing new metrics so as to surpass restraints and to democratize the scientific discourse.
Findings
This paper finds that the studied algorithm currently biases the scientific discourse toward a narrow perspective, while it should take into consideration several researchers’ characteristics. It proposes the substitution of the h-index by the number of times the scholar’s most cited work has been cited. Finally, it proposes that works in languages different than English should be included.
Research limitations/implications
The broad comprehension of any phenomena should be based on multiple perspectives; therefore, the inclusion of diverse metrics will extend the scientific discourse.
Practical implications
The improvement of the existing algorithm will increase the chances of contact among different cultures, which stimulate rapid progress on the development of knowledge.
Originality/value
The value of this paper resides in demonstrating that the algorithm used in scholarly search engines biases the development of science. If updated as proposed here, science will be unbiased and bias aware.
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Looks at the problem of endowment assurances that do not meet their targets to repay residential mortgages. By analysing the present value of payments under different inflation…
Abstract
Looks at the problem of endowment assurances that do not meet their targets to repay residential mortgages. By analysing the present value of payments under different inflation and interest‐rate regimes, we conclude that the perceived problems with endowment policies may simply be a manifestation of “money illusion”. Nevertheless, there could be frictional problems and other problems arising from the use of endowment assurances to repay mortgages which we identify but do not analyse in detail. The failure of such a major method of repaying mortgages to perform in line with expectations will have implications for the residential housing market.
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The British North American colonies were the first western economies to rely on legislature-issued paper monies as an important internal media of exchange. This system arose…
Abstract
The British North American colonies were the first western economies to rely on legislature-issued paper monies as an important internal media of exchange. This system arose piecemeal. In the absence of banks and treasuries that exchanged paper monies at face value for specie monies on demand, colonial governments experimented with other ways to anchor their paper monies to real values in the economy. These mechanisms included tax-redemption, land-backed loans, sinking funds, interest-bearing notes, and legal tender laws. I assess and explain the structure and performance of these mechanisms. This was monetary experimentation on a grand scale.
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Biennial budgeting and appropriations cycles have been a popular idea among many members of Congress for the past twenty years. Despite widespread bipartisan support for biennial…
Abstract
Biennial budgeting and appropriations cycles have been a popular idea among many members of Congress for the past twenty years. Despite widespread bipartisan support for biennial budgeting in the 1980s, the first House vote on the subject, in 2000, resulted in a narrow defeat for biennial budgeting. This article analyzes the merits of biennial budgeting and the reasons for its defeat, arguing that during the 1990s biennial budgeting lost its sense of urgency because of the erasure of the federal deficit and became a more partisan issue than it previously had been.
On 12 November 2018, New Zealand's Land Transfer Act 2017 came into force. The purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some of the significant changes in the Act that challenge the…
Abstract
Purpose
On 12 November 2018, New Zealand's Land Transfer Act 2017 came into force. The purpose of this paper is to pinpoint some of the significant changes in the Act that challenge the fundamental concepts of the Torrens system of registration.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper addresses three significant reforms: a definition of land transfer fraud; the concept of immediate indefeasibility with limited judicial discretion and its impact on volunteers and the Gibbs v. Messer anomaly; and the compensation regime. Case studies illustrate the effect of these changes.
Findings
The limited legislative definition of fraud reflects the common law and allows for any necessary flexibility. The new Act reiterates the principle of immediate indefeasibility but qualifies it with the introduction of some judicial discretion. This is a novel concept for the courts and will undoubtedly be dealt with cautiously. The author voices some disquiet with regard to some of the guidelines set out in s 55(4) of the Act. The compensation provisions introduce an element of an owner's culpability. An owner now runs the risk of reduced compensation if there has been a lack of proper care.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of this research are fundamental for New Zealand's land transfer system.
Practical implications
The limited judicial discretion will challenge the courts of New Zealand. The new compensation provisions will ensure that an owner's carelessness will be accountable.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to analyse the Land Transfer Act 2017 (New Zealand). Its value extends beyond New Zealand shores as it has implications for global land transfer systems.
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This essay weds conceptions of justice within Public Administration to the theme of revenge in the Hollywood Western, arguing that the revival of the genre in the 1990s reflects…
Abstract
This essay weds conceptions of justice within Public Administration to the theme of revenge in the Hollywood Western, arguing that the revival of the genre in the 1990s reflects changes in the public conception of due process and equality before the law. The Western genre’s evolution is illustrative of the way definitions of justice are socially, contextually specific. Unforgiven illustrates this shift because the violence in the film symbolizes the vengeance culture so anathema to American notions of procedural justice and explores shifting conceptions of justice through a 19th century allegory of injustice, the heart of which is the treatment of a person as property. This fantasy of the violent resolution of conflict is examined against Public Administration's insistence upon resolving competing conceptions of the good through peaceful, deliberative modalities.
Purpose – To assess labeling and social control of clients in contemporary mental health care organizations.Methodology/approach – Fifteen months of observation in two…
Abstract
Purpose – To assess labeling and social control of clients in contemporary mental health care organizations.
Methodology/approach – Fifteen months of observation in two multiservice mental health care organizations, interviews with workers and clients, and analysis of organizational documents.
Findings – The organizations used a variety of organizational labels, both official and informal, which served distinct purposes in organizational life and which did not always agree in their construction of the client. Official mental illness diagnosis was a bureaucratic label, while informal labels determined the types of social control to which clients were subjected. Clients who were informally labeled severely mentally ill were subject to integrative social control, while exclusionary social control was applied to those informally seen as not being severely mentally ill. Unlike in classic studies of mental health care, looping processes, in which client behaviors are viewed as symptoms, do not reliably predict the types of labels or social control applied to clients.
Implications – It is important for a sociology of diagnosis to contextualize official diagnosis in the repertoire of organizational labels applied to clients in mental health care, recognizing that it plays a limited but important role in organizational life. Informal labels, which at time conflict with official diagnosis, play a more prominent role in the management of everyday organizational life.
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School library media specialists (SLMSs) often struggle with assuming leadership roles. Discrepancies existed in perceptions of SLMSs of their leadership preparedness, their…
Abstract
School library media specialists (SLMSs) often struggle with assuming leadership roles. Discrepancies existed in perceptions of SLMSs of their leadership preparedness, their opportunities to exert leadership, and their assumption of leadership roles. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the perceptions of SLMSs regarding their instructional leadership and to examine the extent to which they practiced instructional leadership. The study was designed to determine whether there were differences between SLMSs perceptions of the importance of their leadership roles and their opportunities to practice those roles. The results of the study indicated that SLMSs perceived all of the leadership roles to be more important than they were able to carry out in practice and that supportive administrators were the most essential factor in providing SLMSs the opportunity to practice and expand their roles as instructional leaders.