Abstract

e-Research is changing practices and dynamics in social research by the incorporation of advanced e-tools to process data and increase scientific collaboration. Previous research shows a positive attitude of investigators through e-Re­search and shows a fast incorporation of e-Tools, in despite of many cultural resistances to the change. This paper examines the current state (attitudes, tools and practices) of e-Research in the field of Media and Communication Studies in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. A total of 316 researchers of the region answered an online survey during the last 2 months of 2011. Findings confirm an optimistic attitude through e-Research and an often use of e-Tools to do research. Even though, most of them informed to use basic e-Tools (e.g. e-mail, commercial videoconference, office software and social networks) instead of advanced technologies to process huge amount of data (e.g. Grid, simulation software and Internet2) or the incorporation to Virtual Research Communities. Some of the researchers said that they had an «intensive» (31%) and «often» (53%) use of e-Tools, but only 22% stated that their computer capacity was not enough to manage and process data. The paper evidences the gap between e-Research in Communications and e-Research in other disciplines; and makes recommendations for its implementation.

Abstract

The main task of a scientific documentation manager is to provide help and coverage to researchers, usually in two ways: scientific watch and visibility. The recent emergence and use of a range of technologies and trends (within the so-called Science 2.0) is helping to encourage and facilitate collaborative research between researchers in different universities and countries. This paper reviews some of these services, and reflects on possible effects of their use in scientific information production and consumption patterns.

Abstract

Actualmente los grandes experimentos científicos necesitan una gran organización en la que participan cientos de investigadores de varias instituciones. Un aspecto interesante, aunque poco estudiado, de este nuevo tipo de iniciativas científicas es la forma que toma la colaboración interna entre los miembros de las instituciones participantes. En este trabajo se investiga este tema en uno de los ejemplos más conocidos de big science: el experimento ATLAS del CERN. Mediante la aplicación de varias técnicas de análisis de redes a información proveniente de bases de datos internas del CERN, se identifican varios patrones de colaboración dentro del experimento. Se comprueba, por una parte, el alto nivel de colaboración entre las instituciones representadas en ATLAS, superior al observado usualmente en el campo de la física, y se identifican los actores principales en la red de colaboración. Por otra parte, se observa que la red de colaboración no sigue un patrón “libre de escala” o de “ley de potencia”, al contrario de lo que ocurre en otras redes de colaboración estudiadas en física y en otros campos. Finalmente, se advierte que la distancia geográfica entre dos instituciones no parece tener ningún efecto en la probabilidad de establecer relaciones de colaboración, contrastando también con lo que ocurre en otros tipos de redes de colaboración.AbstractNowadays big scientific experiments require large organizations and hundreds of researchers who participate from several institutions. An interesting, yet rarely studied aspect of this new kind of scientific enterprise is the internal collaboration between the members of the participating institutions. Here we assess this matter in one of the most well-known examples of big science: the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Applying different network analysis techniques to data from internal CERN databases, we have identified several collaboration patterns in the experiment. We observe, on the one hand, the high level of collaboration between the institutions represented in, higher than the average in the field of physics, and we identify the key institutions in the collaboration network. On the other hand, we notice that the collaboration network does not follow a scale-free or power-law model, contrary to what happens in other studied collaboration networks in physics and other areas. Finally, we observe that geographic distance between two institutions does not seem to affect the probability of establishing collaboration relationships, in contrast also to what happens in other kinds of collaboration networks.

Abstract

Background: today, the university hospital is not only a teaching and care center, but also a fundamental and irreplaceable nucleus of knowledge production in the health area. The final results of such research, both health and economic, ensure that the care process offered can be increasingly based on scientific evidence. Aim: to characterize the communication patterns and impact of scientific production in Cuban hospitals.Methods: a bibliometric study was conducted on the articles that presented authorship with affiliation to Cuban hospitals, published in journals indexed in Scopus in the period between 1996 and 2016. Co-occurrence matrices for the analysis of social networks between authors and terms were analyzed. Results: 6420 documents were identified, of which 95.90 % (6 157 documents) were citable, especially the original articles with 85.59 %. Of the publications, 65.58% were concentrated in 23 national journals, the remaining 34.42% were published in 136 foreign journals. The most productive institutions were identified, headed by the Clinical Surgical Hospital "Hermanos Ameijeiras" with 994 documents. A total of 38941 citations were accumulated, with an h-index of 80.Conclusions: Cuban hospital scientific production was mainly concentrated in local journals, sustained growth both in productivity indicators and in visibility, the latter mainly at the expense of articles in English.