All posts by VPInstitute

A systematic literature review on green supply chain management: research implications and future perspectives

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

This article aims to present the Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices from a comprehensive point of view and to analyze the subject’s behaviour in the last ten years, through a systematic literature review/bibliometric analysis in articles published from 2006 to 2016. Through the research profiling method, we identified that (i) the most frequent research contexts were “GSCM financial impact” and “motivations to GSCM implementation”, (ii) the automotive, textile / manufacturing and electronic sectors were the most discussed, (iii) the most used research methods were those involving empirical procedures, iv) Web of Science and Scopus databases gathered 96.7% of the articles used in this analysis, (v) there is a high concentration of researches from countries academically established and recognized, while developing countries are also present, (vi) Journal of Cleaner Production was the most cited journal and with more publications about GSCM, (vii) Samir Srivastava’s article had the highest Citation Score, and (viii) there are 11 GSCM research clusters. In addition, we discuss the content covered in the literature review, seeking to extend the understanding of the scenario where the GSCM is inserted nowadays and helping to identify research opportunities for researchers interested in such subject.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.083

Author(s): Ualison Rébula de Oliveira, Luciano Souza Espindola, Isabele Rocha da Silva, Iaslin Nostório da Silva, Henrique Martins Rocha
Organization(s): Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
Source: Journal of Cleaner Production
Year: 2018

Mapping of Trace Elements in Coal and Ash Research Based on a Bibliometric Analysis Method Spanning 1971–2017 (full-text)

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

Coal is the most important fossil energy used in China. The environmental impact of trace elements released in coal combustion has become one of the hottest issues in recent years. Based on a software named CiteSpace, and social network analysis (SNA), a bibliometric analysis of research into trace elements in coal and ash field during 1971–2017 is presented with the information of authors, countries, institutions, journals, hot issues and research trends in the present study. The study results indicate that: (1) Shifeng Dai, Robert B Finkelman, Guijian Liu and James C Hower have a large number of publications with great influence. (2) China (29.8%) and USA (22.2%) have high productivity in total publications. China and the USA correlate closely in the cooperative web system. (3) China University of Mining and Technology and Chinese Academy of Sciences take the leading position in the quantity of publications among all research institutions. (4) Energy and fuels, engineering and environmental science are three disciplines with the most studies in this field. (5) International Journal of Coal Geology, Fuel, Energy and Fuels and Fuel Processing Technology are the top four journals with the most publications in this field. (6) The enrichment origin and modes of occurrence of trace elements are the mainstream research related to trace elements in coal and ash. The environmental problems caused by coal combustion have promoted the development of trace elements in coal research, and human health is getting more and more popular in recent years. The study findings provide a better understanding of features of trace elements in coal and ash research, which could be taken as a reference for future studies in this field.

For full-text see http://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/8/3/89/htm

Author(s): Liu Yang, Qiqi Wang, Xue Bai, Jun Deng, Yinjie Hu
Organization(s): China University of Mining and Technology, China National Institute of Standardization
Source: Minerals
Year: 2018

South-south collaboration on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment research: when birds of a feather rarely flock together (full-text)

Network analysis, Research evaluation, Research Examples, Research Type

South-south collaboration on health and development research is a critical mechanism for social and economic progress. It allows sharing and replicating experiences to find a “southern solution” to meet shared health challenges, such as access to adequate HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This study aimed to generate evidence on the dynamics of south-south collaboration in HIV/AIDS research, which could ultimately inform stakeholders on the progress and nature of collaboration towards increased research capacities in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Method
Bibliometric and social network analysis methods were used to assess the 10-year (2006–2015) scientific contribution of LMIC, through the analysis of scientific publications on HIV/AIDS prevention and/or treatment. Five dimensions oriented the study: knowledge production, co-authorship analysis, research themes mapping, research types classification and funding sources.

Results
Publications involving LMIC have substantially increased overtime, despite small expression of south-south collaboration. Research themes mapping revealed that publication focus varied according to collaborating countries’ income categories, from diagnosis, opportunistic infections and laboratory-based research (LMIC single or LMIC-LMIC) to human behavior and healthcare, drug therapy and mother to child transmission (LMIC-HIC). The analysis of research types showed that south-south collaborations frequently targeted social sciences issues. Funding agencies acknowledged in south-south collaboration also showed diverse focus: LMIC-based funders tended to support basic biomedical research whereas international/HIC-based funders seem to cover predominantly social sciences-oriented research.

Conclusions
Although the global environment has fostered an increasing participation of LMIC in collaborative learning models, south-south collaboration on HIV/AIDS prevention and/or treatment research seemed to be lower than expected, stressing the need for strategies to foster these partnerships. The evidence presented in this study can be used to strengthen a knowledge platform to inform future policy, planning and funding decisions, contributing to the development of enhanced collaboration and a priority research agenda for LMICs.

For full-text see https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0341-1

Author(s): Bruna de Paula Fonseca e Fonseca, Priscila Costa Albuquerque, Ed Noyons, Fabio Zicker
Organization(s): Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz),  Leiden University
Source: Globalization and Health
Year: 2018

Measuring and visualizing research collaboration and productivity (full-text)

Interdisciplinarity, Research Examples, Science mapping

This paper presents findings of a quasi-experimental assessment to gauge the research productivity and degree of interdisciplinarity of research center outputs. Of special interest, we share an enriched visualization of research co-authoring patterns.

We compile publications by 45 researchers in each of 1) the iUTAH project, which we consider here to be analogous to a “research center,” 2) CG1— a comparison group of participants in two other Utah environmental research centers, and 3) CG2—a comparison group of Utah university environmental researchers not associated with a research center. We draw bibliometric data from Web of Science and from Google Scholar. We gather publications for a period before iUTAH had been established (2010–2012) and a period after (2014–2016). We compare these research outputs in terms of publications and citations thereto. We also measure interdisciplinarity using Integration scoring and generate science overlay maps to locate the research publications across disciplines.

We find that participation in the iUTAH project appears to increase research outputs (publications in the After period) and increase research citation rates relative to the comparison group researchers (although CG1 research remains most cited, as it was in the Before period). Most notably, participation in iUTAH markedly increases co-authoring among researchers—in general; and for junior, as well as senior, faculty; for men and women: across organizations; and across disciplines.

The quasi-experimental design necessarily generates suggestive, not definitively causal, findings because of the imperfect controls.

This study demonstrates a viable approach for research assessment of a center or program for which random assignment of control groups is not possible. It illustrates use of bibliometric indicators to inform R&D program management. New visualizations of researcher collaboration provide compelling comparisons of the extent and nature of social networking among target cohort.ings of a

For full-text DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2018-0004

Author(s): Jon Garner, Alan L. Porter, Andreas Leidolf, Michelle Baker
Organization(s): Georgia Institute of Technology, Utah State Universit
Source: Journal of Data and Information Science (JDIS)
Year: 2018

Gender distinctions in patenting: Does nanotechnology make a difference?

Data Type, Patents, Research Examples

Analyzing the domestic patent records filed with the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the 16-year time period from 1990 to 2005, this study benchmarks the collaboration patterns and gender-specific performance in patenting nanotechnology, a newly emerging field, with those in the general area across all technological fields (thereafter the overall tech area, a proxy of traditional technological fields). Going beyond what has been discovered in a previous study that women’s involvement in patenting is lower than their male peers in nanotechnology, the empirical evidence reported here suggests that the gap to women’s disadvantage was smaller in nanotechnology than in the overall tech area in the studied period. The major finding of this study is that, while more than 90% of patents across fields were from industry where patenting is least likely to be collaborative, nano-patents have more diverse origins (79% from industry and 21 from universities, government, public institutions, and cross-sectoral collaboration) and are more likely to be collaborative outcomes (including those from industry). The profile of nanotechnology patents in terms of workforce sectors has the implication that nanotechnology presents an environment where women are more able to catch collaborative opportunities and engage in patenting. Implications for future research are discussed correspondingly.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2607-4

Author(s): Yu Meng
Organization: Xiamen University
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2018

Emerging Networking Methods: Analyzing Funding Patterns and Their Evolution in Two Medical Research Topics

Network analysis, Research Examples, Research Type

This chapter analyzes funding patterns and their evolution in two medical research topics: breast cancer and ovarian cancer, taking into account cross-agency and cross-national co-funding. A bibliometric analysis of 355,463 papers from PubMed (273,526 on breast cancer and 81,937 on ovarian cancer) brought out 91 funding agencies involved in breast cancer and 65 in ovarian cancer. Additionally, the study examined the evolution of Medical Subject Headings (MESH) funded by agencies. An analysis of patterns in funding, co-funding, MESH, and their evolution, was carried out using Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology. The results show the importance of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in both breast and ovarian cancer. The NCI achieves its policy goals by co-funding its programs with both national and cross-national agencies. Moreover, the MESH that agencies co-funded in the two years studied coincided; however, it must be said that the number of agencies which participated in research funding also increased.

https://doi.org/10.1142/9781786344069_0014

Author(s): Blanca de-Miguel-Molina, Scott W. Cunningham, Fernando Palop
Organization(s): Universitat Politècnica de València, TU Delft
Source: Innovation Discovery: Network Analysis of Research and Invention Activity for Technology Management (Chpt 14)
Year: 2018

Bibliometrics and Social Network Analysis Supporting the Research Development of Emerging Areas: Case Studies from Thailand

Network analysis, Research Examples, Research Type

This chapter focuses on applying bibliometric analysis and text mining technique to generate technology intelligence from publication databases. The intelligence represents the research profile and landscape by highlighting active research areas and revealing professional communities along with their social networks. Professional communities are both hidden and promoted. In developing countries, such as Thailand in particular, the number of experts in science and technology is quite limited. The mobility of talent between academia, government, and industry is therefore essential for knowledge transfer and technology diffusion. The main challenge is how to identify the potential groups of experts leading to future research collaboration. In this chapter, the case analysis of two emerging research areas in Thailand are presented; Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Data Science. The findings are used as key inputs for the development of effective policies and incentives to promote the research activities as well as research collaboration among different groups of experts.

https://doi.org/10.1142/9781786344069_0010

Author(s): Nathasit Gerdsri, Alisa Kongthon
Organization(s): Mahidol University, National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC)
Source: Innovation Discovery: Network Analysis of Research and Invention Activity for Technology Management (Chpt 10)
Year: 2018

A landscape of bioinformatics patents – Garnering of IPR in the field of bioinformatics

Data Type, Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling

In the current information technology era, Bioinformatics is growing rapidly due to availability of vast database systems and the ever increasing amount of biological data. It is a flexible and creative means of storing, managing, and querying of complex biological datasets. With these rapid advancements in today’s technology-driven age, it is also imperative that protection in the form of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is sought for such research and development activity. In addition, there is a need to formulate an aggressive strategy to protect one’s IP. In fact, various companies’, universities’, institutions’ and researchers’ are into the process to protect their core invention. This landscape will give an outline of the latest technological growth, geographical distribution, and top competitors playing an important role in this field.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0172219016300746

Author(s): Neha Mago, Nishad Deshpande, Rajkumar R.Hirwani
Organization(s): CSIR-Unit for Research and Development of Information Products (CSIR-URDIP)
Source: World Patent Information
Year: 2017

Price framing literature: Past, present, and future

Research Examples

Price framing helps businesses communicate utility and price to consumers in an attractive manner. The extant research shows that the price framing greatly impacts consumers’ choices of price. Various scholars have analysed it with varying perspectives. This review revisits and analyses each research work on price framing in the marketing domain from the time when the price framing concept was formally introduced in academic literature. The purpose of this review is to set a future research agenda for academicians and practitioners based on the gaps in the literature. This review applies a systematic review approach to achieve the objectives. It uses a funnel approach for arriving at the review time period, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and keywords of the study. This review conducts a co-word analysis using bibliometric software to categorise the major literature on price framing from 1980 to 2015 into major themes and subthemes. Twelve distinct categories of price framing research emerge after the analysis. The findings highlight how price framing was understood as a concept, discipline, and practice in the past and the present business world.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/westburn/tmr/2017/00000017/00000003/art00004

Author(s): Avinash Tripathi; Neeraj Pandey
Organization(s): National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)
Source: The Marketing Review
Year: 2017

Collaboration LineStrings for Google Earth and Google Maps

VP Macros

LineStrings sript useful for viewing collaborations in Google Earth and Google Maps. LineString widths are assigned sizes proportional to the number of records associated with a given collaboration (i.e. an LineString affiliated with 10 records would be twice as thick as one affiliated with 5 records).  The following instructions provide guidance for installing and using this tool.

Installing the Script

  1. If you have not done so already, install Google Earth on your personal computer (it can be downloaded free of charge at: http://earth.google.com/). [It is advisable to disable the “show tips at startup” pop up box (which is set to appear by default when Google Earth is first launched)]
  2.  Save these 3 files to an empty folder on your computer:
    1. LineStrings.xlsm
    2. Download LineStrings.vpm
    3. Download WorldTour.kml
  3. Excel macros need to be enabled to use this program.
    1. Open the macro security settings dialog box from the Developer tab in the Ribbon. If the Developer tab is not visible, click the Microsoft Office Button, then click Excel Options. Under the Popular option select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box. Once the Developer tab is visible, click the Macro Security icon:
    2. Select: “Enable all macros,” then click “OK” (note: this allows Excel to run potentially harmful scripts on your computer. If you are not familiar with, or do not trust the source of a given Excel file, scan it for viruses and/or disable macros before opening it).

Using the LineStrings Script

  1. Copy the files for this script to the same directory containing the .vpt file whose collaborations you want to visualize.
  2. Open your .vpt file and create a matrix of collaborations – an ideal matrix for this script has one row (for a given individual or affiliation) and multiple columns (for collaborators).
  3. Run the .vpm with the matrix as your activesheet in VP. You’ll be prompted for a maximum altitude. A good selection is 600,000, but if you select ‘no’ your linestrings will be clamped to the ground. You’ll also be prompted for linestring width (linestring widths are set proportional to record counts). 3.0 or less would be a relatively thin width, and vice versa. You’ll also be prompted for linestring color and a filename.
  4. After making your selections a .kml file is generated (in the same directory housing your .vpt file), which can be viewed not only in Google Earth but also in Google Maps–if you upload this file to gpsvisualizer.com you can render your map Google Maps (or 2D format). As was the case with VP_to_GE.xlsm, if any list items don’t map you can add affiliation names (from your VantagePoint file) and their latitude/longitude coordinates to the Coordinates sheet (in LineStrings.xlsm). You’ll know if any list items do not map because their names will appear in the LIST ITEMS NOT MAPPED sheet of LineStrings.xlsm.

Navigating Google Earth

Google Earth is easy to navigate.  For a detailed list of all navigation techniques visit:

http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/tutorials/navigating.html

An abbreviated set of basic navigational instructions appear below:

– Use the arrow keys to scroll up, down, right or left (or click & drag your mouse).
– Scroll the mouse wheel up or down to zoom in or out.
– Press “N” to reorient the globe due-north.
– To make the globe spin about its vertical axis open World Tour.kml in Google Earth

Created by: Stephen Carley (stephen.carley@searchtech.com)