Predatory conferences: a systematic scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically map the scholarly literature on predatory conferences and describe the present state of research and the prevalent attitudes about these conferences. METHODS: This scoping review follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Four databases were searched (PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest Social Sciences Premium Collection). In addition, the included studies' reference lists were scanned for additional papers not found in the searches. Peer-reviewed publications were included irrespective of study design. Letters and commentary were included if they were peer reviewed. Editorials and literature reviews were excluded. RESULTS: From 809 initial publications, 20 papers were included in the review, from 12 countries and covered a wide range of science disciplines, from nursing/medicine to energy/technology and computer science. More than half were empirical and published after 2017. In most papers, a definition of the term predatory conferences was put forward. Spam email invitations with flattering language were the most common characteristics, and the conferences were often hosted by unknown organisations that used copied pictures without permission. High fees, lack of peer review, and a multidisciplinary scope were signal features. All papers explicitly or implicitly suggested possible reasons for participating in predatory conferences. Some reasons were related to the overall context of academic work, the nature of predatory conferences (eg, researchers falling prey to misleading information about a conference or choosing a conference based on an attractive location) and the personal characteristics of researchers. Only one paper reported empirically identified reasons for participating in predatory conferences. The three countermeasures proposed most frequently to deal with predatory conferences were increasing education, emphasising responsibilities of universities and funders, and publishing lists of predatory publishers associated with conferences. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified a scarcity of research concerning predatory conferences. Future empirical as well as fully analytical research should be encouraged by funders, journals and research institutions.

Individual moral responsibility for antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a major threat to public health and healthcare worldwide. In this article, we analyse and discuss the claim that taking actions to minimize AR is everyone's responsibility, focusing on individual moral responsibility. This should not be merely interpreted as a function of knowledge of AR and the proper use of antibiotics. Instead, we suggest a circumstantial account of individual responsibility for AR, where individuals do or do not engage in judicious antibiotic behaviour with different degrees of voluntariness. Furthermore, we suggest a notion of responsibility as a virtue, in which individuals have the opportunity to develop a sensitivity towards the AR theme and, consequently, are capable of engaging, actively and voluntarily, in judicious antibiotic behaviour. The development of such sensitivity depends on the creation of adequate circumstances, that is individual capacities and availability of resources.

Effects of Temperature on the Evolution of Yield Surface and Stress Asymmetry in A356-T7 Cast Aluminium Alloy.

As the electrification of vehicle powertrains takes prominence to meet stringent emission norms, parts of internal combustion engines like cylinder heads are subjected to an increased number of thermal load cycles. The cost-effective design of such structures subjected to cyclic thermo-mechanical loads relies on the development of accurate material models capable of describing the continuum deformation behaviour of the material. This study investigates the effect of temperature on the evolution of flow stress under cyclic loading in A356-T7 + 0.5% Cu cast aluminium alloy commonly used in modern internal combustion engine cylinder heads. The material exhibits peak stress and flow stress asymmetry with the stress response and flow stress of the material under compressive loading higher than under tension. This peak and flow stress asymmetry decrease with an increase in temperature. To compare this stress asymmetry against conventional steel, cyclic strain-controlled fatigue tests are run on fully pearlitic R260 railway steel material. To study the effect of mean strain on the cyclic mean stress evolution and fatigue behaviour of the alloy, tests with tensile and compressive mean strains of +0.2% and -0.2% are compared against fully reversed (Rε = -1) strain-controlled tests. The material exhibits greater stress asymmetry between the peak tensile and peak compressive stresses for the strain-controlled tests with a compressive mean strain than the tests with an identical magnitude tensile mean strain. The material exhibits mean stress relaxation at all temperatures. Reduced durability of the material is observed for the tests with tensile mean strains at lower test temperatures of up to 150 °C. The tensile mean strains at elevated temperatures do not exhibit such a detrimental effect on the endurance limit of the material.

An Effort Worth Making: A Qualitative Study of How Swedes Respond to Antibiotic Resistance.

Due to the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance, medically unwarranted use of antibiotics has assumed new moral significance. In this paper, a thematic content analysis of focus group discussions was conducted to explore lay people's views on the moral challenges posed by antibiotic resistance. The most important finding is that lay people are morally sensitive to the problems entailed by antibiotic resistance. Participants saw the decreasing availability of effective antibiotics as a problem of justice. This involves individual as well as collective moral responsibility. Yet, holding agents responsible for their use of antibiotics involves varying degrees of demandingness. In our discussion, these findings are related to the contemporary ethical debate on antibiotic resistance and two proposals for the preservation of antibiotic effectiveness are compared to and evaluated against participants' views.

Predatory nursing journals: A case study of author prevalence and characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Predatory publishing poses a fundamental threat to the development of nursing knowledge. Previous research has suggested that authors of papers published in predatory journals are mainly inexperienced researchers from low- and middle-income countries. Less attention has been paid to contributors from high-income countries. AIM: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of Swedish authors publishing in predatory nursing journals. DESIGN: Quantitative descriptive case study. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the academic positions and academic affiliations of the authors of 39 papers published in predatory nursing journals during 2018 and 2019. Predatory nursing journals with Swedish contributors were identified by searching public listings of papers and applying a set of criteria. Journal site archives were used to identify additional papers with Swedish authors. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was conducted in accordance with national regulations and ethical principles of research. RESULTS: Almost two-thirds of Swedish authors publishing in predatory nursing journals hold senior academic positions. A small group of higher education institutions account for a majority of academic affiliations. Findings suggest that higher education institutions and experienced nursing researchers from Sweden make substantial contributions to predatory nursing journals, but that predatory publication habits might be concentrated in a limited number of academics and research milieus. A year-to-year comparison indicates that the prevalence of publishing in predatory journals might be diminishing. DISCUSSION: Swedish nurse researchers help legitimize predatory journals, thus jeopardizing the trustworthiness of academic nursing knowledge. Substandard papers in predatory journals may pass as legitimate and be used to further academic careers. Experienced researchers are misleading junior colleagues, as joint publications might become embarrassments and liabilities. CONCLUSION: While the academic nursing community needs to address the problem of predatory publishing, there is some hope that educational efforts might have an effect on combating predatory publishing in nursing.

Why unethical papers should be retracted.

The purpose of retracting published papers is to maintain the integrity of academic research. Recent work in research ethics has devoted important attention to how to improve the system of paper retraction. In this context, the focus has primarily been on how to handle fraudulent or flawed research papers and how to encourage the retraction of papers based on honest mistakes. Less attention has been paid to whether papers that report unethical research-for example, research performed without appropriate concern for the moral rights and interests of the research participants-should be retracted. The aim of this paper is to examine to what extent retraction policies of academic journals and publishers address retractions of unethical research and to discuss critically various policy options and the reasons for accepting them. The paper starts by reviewing retraction policies of academic publishers. The results show that many journals do not have explicit policies for how to handle unethical research. Against this background, we then discuss four normative arguments for why unethical research should be retracted. In conclusion, we suggest a retraction policy in light of our empirical and normative investigations.

Effects of Dwell Time on the Deformation and Fatigue Behaviour of A356-T7 Cast Aluminium Alloys Used in High Specific Power IC Engine Cylinder Heads.

The electrification of automotive powertrains in recent years has been driving the development of internal combustion engines towards reduced volumes with higher power outputs. These changes place extreme demands on engine materials. Engineers employ the computer-aided engineering approach to design reliable and cost-effective engines. However, this approach relies on accurate knowledge of the material deformation and fatigue characteristics during service-like loading. The present study seeks to investigate the effect of dwell times on the deformation and fatigue behaviour of the A356-T7 + 0.5 wt.% Cu alloy used to cast cylinder heads. In particular, we study the effect of dwell time duration at various temperatures. A combined fatigue-dwell testing procedure, with the dwell at the maximum compressive strain, replicates the service conditions. It is found that the material exhibits a stress relaxation behaviour with a decreasing relaxation rate. At lower temperatures, the load level influences the relaxation more than at elevated temperatures. However, the dwell does not significantly affect the hardening behaviour or the life of the tested alloy. Finally, we model the time-dependent material behaviour numerically. The Chaboche model, combined with a Cowper-Symonds power-law, is found to capture the visco-plastic deformation behaviour accurately.

Are cancer patients better off if they participate in clinical trials? A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Research and cancer care are closely intertwined; however, it is not clear whether physicians and nurses believe that clinical trials offer the best treatment for patients and, if so, whether this belief is justified. The aim of this study was therefore: (i) to explore how physicians and nurses perceive the benefits of clinical trial participation compared with standard care and (ii) whether it is justified to claim that clinical trial participation improves outcomes for cancer patients. METHODS: A mixed methods approach was used employing semi-structured interviews with 57 physicians and nurses in oncology and haematology and a literature review of the evidence for trial superiority, i.e. the idea that receiving treatment in a clinical trial leads to a better outcome compared with standard care. Inductive thematic analysis was used to examine the interview data. A literature review comprising nine articles was conducted according to a conceptual framework developed by Peppercorn et al. and evaluated recent evidence on trial superiority. RESULTS: Our findings show that many physicians and nurses make claims supporting trial superiority, however very little evidence is available in the literature comparing outcomes for trial participants and non-participants that supports their assertions. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the recent rapid development and use of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, we find no support for trial participation to provide better outcomes for cancer patients than standard care. Hence, our present results are in line with previous results from Peppercorn et al. A weaker version of the superiority claim is that even if a trial does not bring about a direct positive effect, it brings about indirect positive effects. However, as the value of such indirect effects is dependent on the individual's specific circumstances and preferences, their existence cannot establish the general claim that treatment in trials is superior. Belief in trial superiority is therefore unfounded. Hence, if such beliefs are communicated to patients in a trial recruitment context, it would provide misleading information. Instead emphasis should be on patients volunteering to give an altruistic contribution to the furthering of knowledge and to the potential benefit of future patients.

Effect of Temperature on Deformation and Fatigue Behaviour of A356-T7 Cast Aluminium Alloys Used in High Specific Power IC Engine Cylinder Heads.

Aggressive downsizing of the internal combustion engines used as part of electrified powertrains in recent years have resulted in increasing thermal loads on the cylinder heads and consequently, the susceptibility to premature thermo-mechanical fatigue failures. To enable a reliable computer aided engineering (CAE) prediction of the component lives, we need more reliable material deformation and fatigue performance data. Material for testing was extracted from the highly loaded valve bridge area of specially cast cylinder heads to study the monotonic and cyclic deformation behaviour of the A356-T7 + 0.5% Cu alloy at various temperatures. Monotonic tensile tests performed at different temperatures indicate decreasing strength from 211 MPa at room temperature to 73 MPa at 300 °C and a corresponding increase in ductility. Completely reversed, strain controlled, uniaxial fatigue tests were carried out at 150, 200 and 250 °C. A dilatometric study carried out to study the thermal expansion behaviour of the alloy in the temperature range 25-360 °C shows a thermal expansion coefficient of (25-30) × 10-6 °C-1. Under cyclic loading, increasing plastic strains are observed with increasing temperatures for similar load levels. The experimental data of the cyclic deformation behaviour are calibrated against a nonlinear combined kinematic-isotropic hardening model with both a linear and non-linear backstress.

Deformation and Fatigue Behaviour of A356-T7 Cast Aluminium Alloys Used in High Specific Power IC Engines.

The continuous drive towards higher specific power and lower displacement engines in recent years place increasingly higher loads on the internal combustion engine materials. This necessitates a more robust collection of reliable material data for computational fatigue life prediction to develop reliable engines and reduce developmental costs. Monotonic tensile testing and cyclic stress and strain-controlled testing of A356-T7 + 0.5 wt.% Cu cast aluminium alloys have been performed. The uniaxial tests were performed on polished test bars extracted from highly loaded areas of cast cylinder heads. The monotonic deformation tests indicate that the material has an elastic-plastic monotonic response with plastic hardening. The strain controlled uniaxial low cycle fatigue tests were run at multiple load levels to capture the cyclic deformation behaviour and the corresponding fatigue lives. The equivalent stress-controlled fatigue tests were performed to study the influence of the loading mode on the cyclic deformation and fatigue lives. The two types of tests exhibit similar fatigue lives and stress-strain responses indicating minimal influence of the mode of loading in fatigue testing of A356 + T7 alloys. The material exhibits a non-linear deformation behaviour with a mixed isotropic and kinematic hardening behaviour that saturates after the initial few cycles. There exists significant scatter in the tested replicas for both monotonic and cyclic loading.

Should the deceased be listed as authors?

Sometimes participants in research collaboration die before the paper is accepted for publication. The question we raise in this paper is how authorship should be handled in such situations. First, the outcome of a literature survey is presented. Taking this as our starting point, we then go on to discuss authorship of the dead in relation to the requirements of the Vancouver rules. We argue that in principle the deceased can meet the requirements laid down in these authorship guidelines. However, to include a deceased researcher as author requires a strong justification. The more the person has been involved in the research and writing process before he or she passes away, the stronger the justification for inclusion.

Quality of online information about phase I clinical cancer trials in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Patients increasingly search for online information about clinical trials. Little is known about the quality and readability of the information in these databases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the quality and readability of online information available to the public on phase I clinical cancer trials in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. A qualitative content analysis was made of 19 online trial descriptions from three public websites in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and the readability of the documents was tested. Both the quality of the content and the readability scores were best for the Danish information. The Swedish texts were very short and were the least readable. Overall, the quality of the information was highly variable and nearly all the documents were misleading in part. Furthermore, the descriptions provided almost no information about possible adverse effects or disadvantages of study participation. This study highlights a communication problem and proposes new ways of presenting studies that are less suggestive of positive outcomes, arguing that we should be more careful to include information about adverse effects, and that the use of simple measures like readability testing can be useful as an indicator of text quality.

Public awareness and individual responsibility needed for judicious use of antibiotics: a qualitative study of public beliefs and perceptions.

BACKGROUND: High consumption of antibiotics has been identified as an important driver for the increasing antibiotic resistance, considered to be one of the greatest threats to public health globally. Simply informing the public about this consequence is insufficient to induce behavioral change. This study explored beliefs and perceptions among Swedes, with the aim of identifying factors promoting and hindering a judicious approach to antibiotics use. The study focused primarily on the medical use of antibiotics, also considering other aspects connected with antibiotic resistance, such as travelling and food consumption. METHODS: Data were collected through focus group discussions at the end of 2016. Twenty-three Swedes were recruited using an area-based approach and purposive sampling, aiming for as heterogeneous groups as possible regarding gender (13 women, 10 men), age (range 20-81, mean 38), and education level. Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The Health Belief Model was used as a theoretical framework. RESULTS: Antibiotic resistance was identified by participants as a health threat with the potential for terrible consequences. The severity of the problem was perceived more strongly than the actual likelihood of being affected by it. Metaphors such as climate change were abundantly employed to describe antibiotic resistance as a slowly emerging problem. There was a tension between individual (egoistic) and collective (altruistic) reasons for engaging in judicious behavior. The individual effort needed and antibiotics overprescribing were considered major barriers to such behavior. In their discussions, participants stressed the need for empowerment, achieved through good health communication from authorities and family physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge about antibiotic consumption and resistance, as well as values such as altruism and trust in the health care system, has significant influence on both perceptions of individual responsibility and on behavior. This suggests that these factors should be emphasized in health education and health promotion. To instead frame antibiotic resistance as a slowly emerging disaster, risks diminish the public perception of being susceptible to it.

When Nursing Care and Clinical Trials Coincide: A Qualitative Study of the Views of Nordic Oncology and Hematology Nurses on Ethical Work Challenges.

This study investigated the kinds of ethical challenges experienced by nurses in oncology and hematology when nursing care and research overlap in clinical trials, and how the nurses handle such challenges. Individual interviews with 39 nurses from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland indicated that all nurses were positive about research, considering it essential for developing the best care. Ethical challenges exist, however; the most difficult were associated with the end-of-life patients, no longer responsive to standard therapy, who eagerly volunteer for cutting-edge drug trials in the hope of gaining therapeutic benefit. Many nurses lacked systematic strategies for addressing such challenges but found support from their nursing colleagues and relied on the research protocols to guide them.

Responsibility for scientific misconduct in collaborative papers.

This paper concerns the responsibility of co-authors in cases of scientific misconduct. Arguments in research integrity guidelines and in the bioethics literature concerning authorship responsibilities are discussed. It is argued that it is unreasonable to claim that for every case where a research paper is found to be fraudulent, each author is morally responsible for all aspects of that paper, or that one particular author has such a responsibility. It is further argued that it is more constructive to specify what task responsibilities come with different roles in a project and describe what kinds of situations or events call for some kind of action, and what the appropriate actions might be.

Uncritical and unbalanced coverage of synthetic biology in the Nordic press.

Synthetic biology will probably have a high impact on a variety of fields, such as healthcare, environment, biofuels, agriculture, and so on. A driving theme in European research policy is the importance of maintaining public legitimacy and support. Media can influence public attitudes and are therefore an important object of study. Through qualitative content analysis, this study investigates the press coverage of synthetic biology in the major Nordic countries between 2009 and 2014. The press coverage was found to be event-driven and there were striking similarities between countries when it comes to framing, language use, and treated themes. Reporters showed a marked dependence on their sources, mainly scientists and stakeholders, who thus drives the media agenda. The media portrayal was very positive, with an optimistic look at future benefits and very little discussion of possible risks.

The false academy: predatory publishing in science and bioethics.

This paper describes and discusses the phenomenon 'predatory publishing', in relation to both academic journals and books, and suggests a list of characteristics by which to identify predatory journals. It also raises the question whether traditional publishing houses have accompanied rogue publishers upon this path. It is noted that bioethics as a discipline does not stand unaffected by this trend. Towards the end of the paper it is discussed what can and should be done to eliminate or reduce the effects of this development. The paper concludes that predatory publishing is a growing phenomenon that has the potential to greatly affect both bioethics and science at large. Publishing papers and books for profit, without any genuine concern for content, but with the pretence of applying authentic academic procedures of critical scrutiny, brings about a worrying erosion of trust in scientific publishing.