Aliakbar Haghdoost, Morteza Zare and Azam Bazrafshan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the variability of the impact factor (IF) and additional metrics in biomedical journals to provide some clues to the reliability of journal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the variability of the impact factor (IF) and additional metrics in biomedical journals to provide some clues to the reliability of journal citation indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
Having used ISI Journal Citation Reports, from 2005 to 2011, the authors extracted 62 subject categories related to biomedical sciences. The category lists and citation profile for each journal were then downloaded and extracted. Coefficient of variation was applied to estimate the overall variability of the journal citation indicators.
Findings
Total citation indicators for 3,411 journals were extracted and examined. The overall variability of IFs and other journal citation measures in basic, clinical or translational, open access or subscription journals decreased while the quality and prestige of those journals developed. Interestingly, journal citation measures produced dissimilar variability trends and thus highlighted the importance of using multiple instead of just one measure in evaluating the performance and influence of biomedical journals. Eigenfactor™, Article's Influence and Cited Half Life proposed as more reliable indicators.
Originality/value
The relative variability of the journal citation measures in biomedical journals would decrease with a development in the impact and quality of journals. Eigenfactor™ and Cited Half Life are suggested as more reliable measures indicating few changes during the study period and across different impact level journals. These findings will be useful for librarians, researchers and decision makers who need to use citation measures as evaluative tools.
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Morteza Karami and Talieh Saeidi Rezvani
It is important to understand professors’ beliefs to promote better teacher preparation and professional development, as well as to understand the potential discrepancy between…
Abstract
Purpose
It is important to understand professors’ beliefs to promote better teacher preparation and professional development, as well as to understand the potential discrepancy between stated versus observed beliefs. The purpose of this study was to describe the faculty members' beliefs about the teaching-learning process.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative method was used to study the professors’ beliefs by selecting the faculty participants via a purposeful sampling strategy. The study was conducted at one of the biggest universities in Iran. In total, 20 professors were interviewed.
Findings
Analysis of the interviews indicates that professors’ beliefs about teaching and learning activities fall under four main themes (beliefs about teaching methods, beliefs about curriculum design, beliefs about students and beliefs about evaluation) and nine sub-themes.
Originality/value
Our findings reveal that professors have a deductive approach to teaching and learning, and due to the centralized educational system, they do not play a significant role in effectively presenting the curriculum. It seems necessary to direct professional development programs in rebuilding the professors' professional beliefs and identity.
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Maryam philsoophian, Peyman Akhavan and Morteza Namvar
Sharing knowledge with business partners is a challenging issue as firms need to share their valuable know-how assets with individuals or other companies out of their…
Abstract
Purpose
Sharing knowledge with business partners is a challenging issue as firms need to share their valuable know-how assets with individuals or other companies out of their organizational boundaries. As supply chain management (SCM) deals with various stakeholders, firms face difficulties with privacy and ownership when they share their know-how with suppliers or business partners. This study introduces blockchain technology as a mediator in improving knowledge sharing (KS) practices in supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The data have been collected from surveys with 116 experts working in blockchain start-ups and organizations, and the authors used structural equation modeling for its analysis.
Findings
The results show that two features of blockchain technology, namely transparency and security, have the highest impacts on mediating knowledge sharing impacts on supply chain performance. The authors’ findings also highlight that among the performance metrics of SCM, speed is highly improved when blockchain technology is used for knowledge sharing. Their study provides guidance for managers on how to improve SCM performance through KS, which is empowered by a blockchain system.
Originality/value
The authors’ findings help organizations to improve supply chain actions, improve innovation, enhance competitive advantage and increase the speed of relationships in the supply chain. The research also contributes literature by analyzing the key factors showing how knowledge sharing structure may be improved by blockchain technology which would be helpful for both academics and practitioners.
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Aziz Rezapour, Seyyed Mostafa Hakimzadeh, Sirous Panahi, Ehsan Teymourzadeh, Mohammadkarim Bahadori, Peivand Bastani and Ali Tahernezhad
The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important factors for strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important factors for strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to provide an applicable model for other similar organizations in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The present qualitative study was conducted in 2017 to identify the factors affecting the implementation of strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to provide an indigenous and practical model through two phases: semi-structured interview followed by a Delphi process.
Findings
According to the findings of this study, Ministry of Welfare, Labor and Social Security plays a central role in the strategic purchasing. In addition, this was also approved by the representatives of citizens in communities concerning professional associations, insurance agencies and representative of the Council of Ministers. Model development explored 9 themes and 54 sub-themes.
Research limitations/implications
Based on the model, most attention has been paid to consumer role and inter-sector leadership of the company with other relevant organizations and systems including other insurance organizations and the welfare ministry. More importantly, the health insurance company should be able to communicate with providers and to choose the best providers, receiving price information through competition in the most appropriate mechanism. Guided by this model, it can strategically buy the best and the most effective services for its insured population.
Social implications
It might help developing societies to promote their health systems based on targeting the health budgeting and financial constraints so that it is prioritized according to the strategic purchasing criteria and consequently, economic evaluation.
Originality/value
The linchpins of the present study are as follow: first, the pragmatic model presented in the paper could help developing health systems to overcome the impediment in the implementation progress of strategic purchasing. Second, the model satisfies the need of enough knowledge to apply strategic purchasing in the health system. Third, the indigents have long been given special protection and consideration in the model that has continued to capture the attention of every policy-maker, in particular, developing countries, the portion of which is significant. Fourth, based on this model, attention has been paid to consumer role and inter-sector leadership of organization with other relevant organizations and systems. Fifth, this model could be correspondent for every insurance company in countries with similar developing conditions.