The purpose of this paper is to convey to authors that, by avoiding passive constructions in scholarly writing, academics can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to convey to authors that, by avoiding passive constructions in scholarly writing, academics can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of materials, thus strengthening arguments and presenting articles with clarity.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 12 years' experience in academic publishing, the author has worked directly with major scholars and global publishing houses to shape and craft scholarly content to meet the needs of customers, namely, academics and students in higher education. The article responds to the complaint that passive voice weakens and muddles scholarly arguments.
Findings
The paper provides sound advice on how to structure one's writing in active voice in order to provide a solid, cogent argument that focuses on clarity and precision. It recognises that many scholars bog down their writing with passive voice and offers alternatives to combat passive voice.
Research limitations/implications
The paper suggests that scholars utilise active voice in scholarly writing, but it does not imply that one cannot implement passive voice construction in the appropriate context.
Practical implications
The study is a very useful guide for academics to help them hone their writing skills in order to produce quality articles that will clearly and cogently convey their scholarly arguments and allow them to stand out in an already crowded market.
Originality/value
The paper fulfils an identified information need and offers practical writing advice to academics who will be submitting articles for journal publication, as well as book chapters to academic presses.
Details
Keywords
In the last few years, signs of material excess by organizational and political leaders have often evoked public outcry. The paper aims to argue that there is insight to be…
Abstract
Purpose
In the last few years, signs of material excess by organizational and political leaders have often evoked public outcry. The paper aims to argue that there is insight to be gleaned from drawing together strands from the leadership literature with the literatures on moral economy and conspicuous consumption. The premise is that views of leader conspicuous consumption are shaped by their moral economy, the interplay between moral attitudes and economic activities. The paper seeks to juxtapose tales of Cleopatra and Antony's display of wealth with current media accounts to contribute to the leadership literature on ethics, specifically its intersection with power and narrative representation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts an analytic approach, with an international orientation and an interdisciplinary perspective. It acknowledges the role of narrative representation in shaping leadership and the psychological ambivalence with which societies approach their leaders' practices, focus here on desire-disdain and discipline-decadence. Cleopatra and Antony's conspicuous consumption generated a legacy of condemnation for millennia. Drawing from the retellings of their story, four moralizing representations – by Plutarch, Shakespeare, Sarah Fielding and Hollywood – are analyzed and juxtaposed with current media accounts. Altogether, the paper combines the interest in leadership across history with moralizing perspectives on the display of wealth by leaders.
Findings
The intersection of the literatures on leadership, moral economy and conspicuous consumption draws together several dynamics of relevance to leadership. First, evaluations of the display of wealth on the part of a leader are contextual: they change across time and place. Second, interpretations of conspicuous consumption involve aesthetic judgment and so sit at the nexus of morality and taste. Third, following tragedies, tales of leader conspicuous consumption offer critics another knife to dig into the fallen tragic hero. Fourth, views of conspicuous consumption are gendered. Last, conspicuous consumption by leaders attracts condemnation through support for social responsibility and sustainability.
Originality/value
The paper establishes a novel articulation between the literatures on leadership, moral economy and conspicuous consumption.
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Keywords
The work covers three major sections: introduction, literature review, and methodology. In the first section, the problem, objectives, and rationale of the proposed study are…
Abstract
The work covers three major sections: introduction, literature review, and methodology. In the first section, the problem, objectives, and rationale of the proposed study are stated. In the literature review, the history, categorization, and issues related to electronic publishing are summarized. The likely impact of electronic publishing on print publishing is also discussed. Finally, research questions, null hypotheses, research design, and data collection are covered in the section of methodology. In addition, the schedule and budget for the study are also roughly planned.
Developments in the technology of electronic transmission of information are rapidly transforming the tools available to the general public for gathering information about current…
Abstract
Developments in the technology of electronic transmission of information are rapidly transforming the tools available to the general public for gathering information about current events. Direct access to news and retrieval of bibliographic information pertaining to traditional printed news sources are a daily reality for a growing number of individuals, on the job, at home, through personal computer terminals or at libraries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of electronic databases providing access to news, as well as applications of these tools to various library settings.
Isabella Maria Weber and Gregor Semieniuk
American radical economists in the 1960s perceived China under Maoism as an important experiment in creating a new society, aspects of which they hoped could serve as a model for…
Abstract
American radical economists in the 1960s perceived China under Maoism as an important experiment in creating a new society, aspects of which they hoped could serve as a model for the developing world. But the knowledge of “actually existing Maoism” was very limited due to the mutual isolation between China and the US. This chapter analyses the First Friendship Delegation of American Radical Political Economists (FFDARPE) to the People’s Republic of China in 1972, consisting mainly of Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) members, which was the first visit of a group of American economists to China since 1949. Based on interviews with trip participants as well as archival and published material, this chapter studies what we can learn about the engagement with Maoism by American radical economists from their dialogues with Chinese hosts, from their on-the-ground observations, and their reflection upon return. We show how the visitors’ own ideas conflicted and intersected with their perception of the Maoist practice on gender relations, workers’ management, and life in the communes. We also shed light on the diverging conceptions of the role for economic expertise between URPE and late Maoism. As the first in-depth study on the FFDARPE, we provide rich empirical insights into an ice-breaking event in the larger process of normalization in the Sino-US relations, which ultimately led to the disillusionment of the Left with China.
Details
Keywords
Viewdata was a British invention. The inventor, Sam Fedida, came to work at the Post Office research centre in 1970, on a “viewphone” project. Apart from providing television…
Abstract
Viewdata was a British invention. The inventor, Sam Fedida, came to work at the Post Office research centre in 1970, on a “viewphone” project. Apart from providing television pictures of the caller and recipient involved in a telephone conversation, the viewphone was also to allow transmission of computer data. Such a piece of equipment would, it was hoped, increase telephone network use during off‐peak periods.
A sociology of human rights is a modern challenge, and this study draws on the universalizing codification in the history of human rights documents from ancient societies to the…
Abstract
A sociology of human rights is a modern challenge, and this study draws on the universalizing codification in the history of human rights documents from ancient societies to the present challenges of modern society. Power contradictions and conflicts are analyzed in the case study of historic inequalities and the modern deprivation of human rights of the People of Indian Origin in their diaspora in the modern world. Insider perspectives are posed to increase awareness and knowledge to the forming of community identity and to challenge others to study these complex social conditions. A public sociology is assumed in this chapter, derived from the author's public speech to further the development of a sociology of human rights, one that will reflect the complexity, universality, and inclusiveness protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Established methods and theories may be augmented by challenging their bases and working collaboratively to research contemporary human rights.
This exhibition was primarily intended to show something of the variety of bibliographies and abstracting journals in the English language. It was not intended to be…
Abstract
This exhibition was primarily intended to show something of the variety of bibliographies and abstracting journals in the English language. It was not intended to be comprehensive; and although an effort was made to include the most authorative works in each field, in some cases the works shown could claim to be little more than representative.
The purpose of this paper is to describe how systems automating the local document supply process (such as integrated library systems and ILL management systems) can be integrated…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how systems automating the local document supply process (such as integrated library systems and ILL management systems) can be integrated with systems automating regional document requesting (interlending). This is illustrated with a case study of DocFlow, an ILL management system developed in-house at Karolinska Institutet and its integration with Libris, the national interlending system in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
The present paper describes how system integration between Libris and DocFlow was accomplished in practice. It also discusses various aspects of integration between systems offering automation of document supply.
Findings
Integration between local document supply workflows and regional document request flows may involve techniques such as import of outgoing and incoming interlending requests, synchronization of status values between systems, exchange of messages between systems and quick links to the native interfaces of external systems.
Practical implications
The paper brings up various aspects to consider when developing or procuring a system for the local management of ILL workflows.
Originality/value
The paper may provide a deeper understanding of system integration, as it applies to the document supply process.