Evolutionary Psychology��s Place in Evolutionary Studies: a Tale of Promise and Challenge

The Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) Consortium and the academic programs born from its creation have been wildly successful in their initial ventures. These achievements are marked by feedback from across the EvoS campuses, the resultant scholarly work produced by participating students, and faculty collaborations spurred by exposure to the organization. The success of EvoS is probably best marked by the recent National Science Foundation grant (CCLI Award #0817337), awarded jointly to SUNY New Paltz and Binghamton University, with the purpose of expanding EvoS beyond the bounds of these two institutions. A particularly noteworthy element of many EvoS programs is the role of Evolutionary Psychology (EP), a perspective in the behavioral sciences that addresses questions of human behavior from the perspective of evolution. In light of several forms of data, including analyses of a variety of disciplines drawn on from evolutionary psychologists in their work, we argue that evolutionary psychologists may well be the most naturally interdisciplinary scholars within the behavioral sciences, making them highly appropriate for inclusion in EvoS. But our research shows not only promise regarding the relationship between EP and EvoS—challenges are raised as well. We present additional data showing that EP is currently represented disproportionately within the EvoS world—a fact that clearly shows that there are currently limitations to the potential impact of EvoS in modern academia. Scholars from other disciplines, particularly within the humanities and social sciences, seem to be missing the evolution revolution. Implications regarding how EvoS can broaden its scope to be even more powerful in its integrative scope are discussed.     

Digital Tools for Bringing Evolution to Everyone

Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) programs, conceived of in the terms elaborated by David Sloan Wilson in his book Evolution for Everyone, are intrinsically interdisciplinary. They are also intended to bring individuals and organizations outside the university teaching and research environment together with academe. Internet technologies in use at present are designed for the purpose of promoting such collaboration and community building. This paper explains several such technologies, describing their best uses and the differences between them, in the context of a project management framework.     

How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples).     

The EvoS Consortium: Catalyzing Evolutionary Training in Higher Education

EvoS is a consortium of evolutionary studies programs that can catalyze evolutionary training across the curriculum in higher education. This special issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach shows how the dictum “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” can be achieved within the biological sciences and expanded to include all human-related subjects, both for undergraduate education and faculty interactions, fulfilling the ideal of a liberal arts education and turning the university into a single intellectual community.     

Challenges and opportunities of publishing supplements at <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arthritis Research &; Therapy</Emphasis>

Supplements are the cause of much debate in the world of journal publishing. Supplements are criticized for the fact that often they are funded by an external source, and journals have been known to shy away from their publication [1]. But is refusing to publish supplements the only answer? At Arthritis Research & Therapy, we feel that - if subjected to the full rigors of peer review - supplements can provide invaluable educational resources, exploring themes in a detailed and focused way that might not always be possible in the main journal.At Arthritis Research & Therapy, we have decided that the potential risk of a loss of objectivity in industry-sponsored supplements can be managed by scrupulous attention to the peer-review process. Therefore, in our experience, the benefit of publishing supplements greatly outweighs any perception of loss of objectivity. We should note that our colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry have embraced our approach with no efforts to circumvent our rules, as far as we know.We consider proceedings, review collections, and meeting abstracts for inclusion as supplements. Examples of recent supplements are easily accessed on the journal website. It will be apparent that the emphasis is on the molecular and cellular basis of immune and inflammatory mechanisms of disease. The underwriting by the sponsor of the cost of peer review and production ensures that the high-quality publication is freely available. Outlined below is the procedure that we follow when considering any potential supplements for the journal. We recognize the potential for competing interests to influence the content of articles where there is industry involvement, but we believe that by adhering to a stringent publication process we negate this risk with our supplement content.So, what is the procedure? First, in a change from the approach taken by many journals, we appoint an ''internal'' Supplement Editor (usually from the journal''s Editorial Board), whose role is to select peer reviewers and assess the suitability of the supplement articles for publication in the journal. This internal editor is selected by the Editors-in-Chief, and the sponsor''s approval is not sought in making this appointment. Before their appointment, internal editors are asked to declare any potential conflicts of interest, and full disclosures are included in both online and print versions of any supplements. In cases in which internal editors receive a stipend, this is paid for by the publisher - not the sponsor. All conflict of interest disclosures associated with supplement publications follow the National Library of Medicine policy for indexing supplement articles in MEDLINE [2].For some supplements, particularly where articles are commissioned externally, there may be an ''external'' Supplement Editor as well as the internal editor. Before their appointment, external supplement editors must be approved by the Editors-in-Chief. Their role is to identify the subject matter and propose suitable authors for the individual supplement articles, with the proviso that all content must be approved by the Editors-in-Chief. The external editor is not involved in the peer review of any of the articles once submitted. They are also asked for full conflict of interest disclosures, which are included in the supplement publication alongside those of the internal editor.One of the common criticisms levied against supplements is that the articles are not peer-reviewed to the journal''s normal standards. At Arthritis Research & Therapy, supplement articles go through the same thorough peer-review process as articles do in the main journal [3]. The Editors-in-Chief have full editorial control, including the ability to ask authors to make extensive revisions, and reserve the right to reject articles that do not meet the journal''s standards. And in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors [4], all contracts clearly include information about editorial control and the role of the internal supplement editor.In addition to disclosures from the individual editors, sources of funding for a supplement are prominently displayed on the supplement title page, and funding is also acknowledged in each individual article. We ensure that supplements can be clearly distinguished as separate from the main journal content on the journal homepage. As with all of our articles, individual authors declare their conflicts of interest. This complies with the good publication practice (GPP2) guidelines [5]. We also adhere to the guidelines of the European Medical Writers Association [6] by ensuring that the involvement of any medical writers is disclosed in an article''s acknowledgments section along with their sources of funding.We hope that by ensuring that there is full transparency of disclosures from everyone involved in supplements and following strictly the peer-review procedure described above, we avoid the potential pitfalls of supplement publishing. The guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors themselves state that supplements ''serve useful purposes'' and it is our responsibility as editors to ensure that they continue to be useful without allowing ourselves to be subject to industry influence. By publicly disclosing our policy for supplement review here, we hope that other journals will be more open about their peer-review policies for supplements and that they adopt similarly stringent practices in the future.     

RECENT ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE

Recent Ornithological Literature is a cooperative, volunteer project for the benefit of ornithologists the world over. The partnership began in 1983 (Auk 100, Ibis 125) when the AOU and BOU combined their Recent Literature sections to publish a single supplement of or- mythological literature. The RAOU joined this partnership in 1987 (Emu 87). The AOU covers journals published in the Americas and the Philippines. The BOU covers journals published in Europe, Africa, and mainland Asia. The RAOU covers journals published in Australasia and other island nations of the Pacific. More than 150 volunteers scan about 650 titles and contribute abstracts regularly. Authors' addresses are included, if the journal lists them, to facilitate communication between readers and authors. Recent Ornithological Literature strives for comprehensive coverage of the world's periodical literature of interest to persons studying wild birds. Readers are encouraged to consult the “List of Journals Scanned published annually in the fourth supplement and to make recommendations for increasing journal coverage. Authors, editors, or publishers whose articles or journals are not covered by the ROL should send reprints, abstracts, or exchange issues to the editor responsible for covering the geographical area where the journal is published. Volunteer abstractors are welcomed.     

El duro peregrinaje de las revistas biomédicas españolas hacia la excelencia: ¿quién nos ayuda? Calidad,impacto y méritos de la investigación

Biomedical journals must adhere to strict standards of editorial quality. In a globalized academic scenario, biomedical journals must compete firstly to publish the most relevant original research and secondly to obtain the broadest possible visibility and the widest dissemination of their scientific contents. The cornerstone of the scientific process is still the peer-review system but additional quality criteria should be met. Recently access to medical information has been revolutionized by electronic editions.Bibliometric databases such as MEDLINE, the ISI Web of Science and Scopus offer comprehensive online information on medical literature. Classically, the prestige of biomedical journals has been measured by their impact factor but, recently, other indicators such as SCImago SJR or the Eigenfactor are emerging as alternative indices of a journal's quality. Assessing the scholarly impact of research and the merits of individual scientists remains a major challenge. Allocation of authorship credit also remains controversial.Furthermore, in our Kafkaesque world, we prefer to count rather than read the articles we judge. Quantitative publication metrics (research output) and citations analyses (scientific influence) are key determinants of the scientific success of individual investigators. However, academia is embracing new objective indicators (such as the “h” index) to evaluate scholarly merit. The present review discusses some editorial issues affecting biomedical journals, currently available bibliometric databases, bibliometric indices of journal quality and, finally, indicators of research performance and scientific success.     

New journal: Algorithms for Molecular Biology

This editorial announces Algorithms for Molecular Biology, a new online open access journal published by BioMed Central. By launching the first open access journal on algorithmic bioinformatics, we provide a forum for fast publication of high-quality research articles in this rapidly evolving field. Our journal will publish thoroughly peer-reviewed papers without length limitations covering all aspects of algorithmic data analysis in computatioal biology. Publications in Algorithms for Molecular Biology are easy to find, highly visible and tracked by organisations such as PubMed. An established online submission system makes a fast reviewing procedure possible and enables us to publish accepted papers without delay. All articles published in our journal are permanently archived by PubMed Central and other scientific archives. We are looking forward to receiving your contributions.     

Utilities of gossip across organizational levels

Gossip is a subject that has been studied by researchers from an array of disciplines with various foci and methods. We measured the content of language use by members of a competitive sports team across 18 months, integrating qualitative ethnographic methods with quantitative sampling and analysis. We hypothesized that the use of gossip will vary significantly depending on whether it is used for self-serving or group-serving purposes. Our results support a model of gossip derived from multilevel selection theory that expects gossip to serve group-beneficial rules when rewards are partitioned at the group level on a scale that permits mutual monitoring. We integrate our case study with earlier studies of gossip conducted by anthropologists, psychologists, and management researchers. Kevin M. Kniffin studies cooperation within and among organizations. Kniffin is presently an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Anthropology. Kniffin has consulted for a variety of clients, including community-development organizations, labor unions, and credit unions. David Sloan Wilson is an evolutionary biologist interested in a broad range of issues relevant to human behavior. He has authored numerous articles and books, including most recently Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society (University of Chicago Press, 2002). Wilson is a professor of biological sciences and anthropology and Director of Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) at SUNY-Binghamton.     

The reporting of IRB review in journal articles presenting HIV research conducted in the developing world

Objectives: We investigated how often journal articles reporting on human HIV research in four developing world countries mention any institutional review boards (IRBs) or research ethics committees (RECs), and what factors are involved. Methods: We examined all such articles published in 2007 from India, Nigeria, Thailand and Uganda, and coded these for several ethical and other characteristics. Results: Of 221 articles meeting inclusion criteria, 32.1% did not mention IRB approval. Mention of IRB approval was associated with: biomedical (versus psychosocial) research (P = 0.001), more sponsor‐country authors (P = 0.003), sponsor‐country corresponding author (P = 0.047), mention of funding (P < 0.001), particular host‐country involved (P = 0.002), journals having sponsor‐country editors (P < 0.001), and journal stated compliance with International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines (P = 0.003). Logistic regression identified 3 significant factors: mention of funding, journal having sponsor‐country editors and research being biomedical. Conclusions: One‐third of articles still do not mention IRB approval. Mention varied by country, and was associated with biomedical research, and more sponsor country involvement. Recently, some journals have required mention of IRB approval, but allow authors to do so in cover letters to editors, not in the article itself. Instead, these data suggest, journals should require that articles document adherence to ethical standards.     

A new look for TWS publications

The appearance of The Wildlife Society (TWS) publications (i.e., Journal of Wildlife Management [JWM], Wildlife Monographs [WM], Wildlife Society Bulletin [WSB]) has changed over the years. In 2021, a new journal design (NJD) will be implemented for TWS publications following months of discussion with Council and the journal editors. The scope of the articles and the mission of the journals will not change, but the format and layouts will be modified to simplify typesetting, assist with online reading, and provide a contemporary look for the publications of TWS.     

Zoom in on neurodegeneration

Despite the existence of several scientific journals that publish research papers and reviews related to neurodegenerative diseases, a journal specifically devoted to the molecular and cellular aspects of disease mechanisms is lacking. Molecular Neurodegeneration is an open-access, peer-reviewed, online journal created to publish original research articles that address i) the mechanisms of neurodegeneration at the cellular, subcellular and molecular levels and ii) potential therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases. Through publication of reviews, editorial commentaries, and meeting reports, Molecular Neurodegeneration will also provide a forum to enhance the exchange of ideas and promote debate that is essential for scientific progress. Molecular Neurodegeneration will enable scientists to rapidly communicate their important research discoveries to their colleagues around the world.     

Articles by Latin American Authors in Prestigious Journals Have Fewer Citations

Background

The journal Impact factor (IF) is generally accepted to be a good measurement of the relevance/quality of articles that a journal publishes. In spite of an, apparently, homogenous peer-review process for a given journal, we hypothesize that the country affiliation of authors from developing Latin American (LA) countries affects the IF of a journal detrimentally.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Seven prestigious international journals, one multidisciplinary journal and six serving specific branches of science, were examined in terms of their IF in the Web of Science. Two subsets of each journal were then selected to evaluate the influence of author''s affiliation on the IF. They comprised contributions (i) with authorship from four Latin American (LA) countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico) and (ii) with authorship from five developed countries (England, France, Germany, Japan and USA). Both subsets were further subdivided into two groups: articles with authorship from one country only and collaborative articles with authorship from other countries. Articles from the five developed countries had IF close to the overall IF of the journals and the influence of collaboration on this value was minor. In the case of LA articles the effect of collaboration (virtually all with developed countries) was significant. The IFs for non-collaborative articles averaged 66% of the overall IF of the journals whereas the articles in collaboration raised the IFs to values close to the overall IF.

Conclusion/Significance

The study shows a significantly lower IF in the group of the subsets of non-collaborative LA articles and thus that country affiliation of authors from non-developed LA countries does affect the IF of a journal detrimentally. There are no data to indicate whether the lower IFs of LA articles were due to their inherent inferior quality/relevance or psycho-social trend towards under-citation of articles from these countries. However, further study is required since there are foreseeable consequences of this trend as it may stimulate strategies by editors to turn down articles that tend to be under-cited.     

Ultrasound enhanced prehospital thrombolysis using microbubbles infusion in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction: Rationale and design of the Sonolysis study

Background

The CONSORT Statement provides recommendations for reporting randomized controlled trials. We assessed the extent to which leading medical journals that publish reports of randomized trials incorporate the CONSORT recommendations into their journal and editorial processes.

Methods

This article reports on two observational studies. Study 1: We examined the online version of 'Instructions to Authors' for 165 high impact factor medical journals and extracted all text mentioning the CONSORT Statement or CONSORT extension papers. Any mention of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) or clinical trial registration were also sought and extracted. Study 2: We surveyed the editor-in-chief, or editorial office, for each of the 165 journals about their journal's endorsement of CONSORT recommendations and its incorporation into their editorial and peer-review processes.

Results

Study 1: Thirty-eight percent (62/165) of journals mentioned the CONSORT Statement in their online 'Instructions to Authors'; of these 37% (23/62) stated this was a requirement, 63% (39/62) were less clear in their recommendations. Very few journals mentioned the CONSORT extension papers. Journals that referred to CONSORT were more likely to refer to ICMJE guidelines (RR 2.16; 95% CI 1.51 to 3.08) and clinical trial registration (RR 3.67; 95% CI 2.36 to 5.71) than those journals which did not. Study 2: Thirty-nine percent (64/165) of journals responded to the on-line survey, the majority were journal editors. Eighty-eight percent (50/57) of journals recommended authors comply with the CONSORT Statement; 62% (35/56) said they would require this. Forty-one percent (22/53) reported incorporating CONSORT into their peer-review process and 47% (25/53) into their editorial process. Eighty-one percent (47/58) reported including CONSORT in their 'Instructions to Authors' although there was some inconsistency when cross checking information on the journal's website. Sixty-nine percent (31/45) of journals recommended authors comply with the CONSORT extension for cluster trials, 60% (27/45) for harms and 42% (19/45) for non-inferiority and equivalence trials. Few journals mentioned these extensions in their 'Instructions to Authors'.

Conclusion

Journals should be more explicit in their recommendations and expectations of authors regarding the CONSORT Statement and related CONSORT extensions papers.     

Inflated impact factors? The true impact of evolutionary papers in non-evolutionary journals

Amongst the numerous problems associated with the use of impact factors as a measure of quality are the systematic differences in impact factors that exist among scientific fields. While in theory this can be circumvented by limiting comparisons to journals within the same field, for a diverse and multidisciplinary field like evolutionary biology, in which the majority of papers are published in journals that publish both evolutionary and non-evolutionary papers, this is impossible. However, a journal's overall impact factor may well be a poor predictor for the impact of its evolutionary papers. The extremely high impact factors of some multidisciplinary journals, for example, are by many believed to be driven mostly by publications from other fields. Despite plenty of speculation, however, we know as yet very little about the true impact of evolutionary papers in journals not specifically classified as evolutionary. Here I present, for a wide range of journals, an analysis of the number of evolutionary papers they publish and their average impact. I show that there are large differences in impact among evolutionary and non-evolutionary papers within journals; while the impact of evolutionary papers published in multidisciplinary journals is substantially overestimated by their overall impact factor, the impact of evolutionary papers in many of the more specialized, non-evolutionary journals is significantly underestimated. This suggests that, for evolutionary biologists, publishing in high-impact multidisciplinary journals should not receive as much weight as it does now, while evolutionary papers in more narrowly defined journals are currently undervalued. Importantly, however, their ranking remains largely unaffected. While journal impact factors may thus indeed provide a meaningful qualitative measure of impact, a fair quantitative comparison requires a more sophisticated journal classification system, together with multiple field-specific impact statistics per journal.     

Representation of herpetofauna in wildlife research journals

Two groups of wildlife species that are critical for the maintenance of biological diversity in a variety of habitats and who fill a number of functional roles in these habitats are reptiles (Gibbons et al. 2000, Ernst and Lovich 2009) and amphibians (Semlitsch 2003). Globally, reptiles and amphibians (i.e., herpetofauna) make up 46% of species richness of terrestrial vertebrates, but the prevalence of herpetofauna investigations in wildlife research and management journals has not been explored. Our objective was to review representation of herpetofauna in 6 wildlife research journals from 1980 to 2009 to examine whether their representation parallels their contribution to global terrestrial vertebrate species richness, whether their representation has changed over time and how, and whether subsets of herpetofauna garner disproportionate coverage relative to one another. We ran a keyword search in Web of Science database (formerly ISI Web of Science) within the Web of Knowledge search engine published by Thomson Reuters (2010) on 6 wildlife research journals (European Journal of Wildlife Research [formerly Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft], Journal of Wildlife Management, South African Journal of Wildlife Research, Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Research, and Wildlife Society Bulletin) from 1980 to 2009. We searched for 17 terms relevant to herpetofauna (e.g., toad, tortoise). Our search yielded 315 articles that focused on herpetofauna. Over the 30-year period, we found the number of articles and pages and percentage of journal space devoted to herpetofauna increased. However, at best, <6% of journal space was devoted to herpetofauna, indicating that these species are greatly under-represented in wildlife literature given their contributions to species richness and diversity and ecosystem function. Although absolute number of articles and pages has increased, little progress has been made in terms of relative representation of herpetofauna as compared to birds and mammals. Although percentage of pages in wildlife journals dedicated to herpetofauna has increased in the past 30 years, they must garner greater representation to enable us to adequately manage for biological diversity and ecosystem function and integrity. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

EvoS: A Prescription for What Ails Pre-Medical Education?

Pre-medical students are certainly a widely varied group, with different motivations and experiences, different skills sets and interests. However, they often tend to approach their undergraduate education as a necessary evil that they must endure in order to achieve their ultimate goals. This article summarizes recent literature addressing some of the questions that have been raised regarding pre-medical education programs. Are students prepared for the intellectual, emotional, and even physical challenges of medical training? What deficiencies are commonly seen in entering medical students? What are students’ perceptions of how well their pre-medical studies helped them? Many of these studies have resulted in a call for more science training, while some have advocated for less, but with an enhanced focus on humanistic studies. We supply a brief outline of our Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) program and reflect upon how participation in this program can enhance pre-medical students’ education. Importantly, we argue that EvoS can expand students’ depth of understanding of science, as well as nurture their ability to think about the needs of their patients and the context of their medical practice.     

THE JOURNAL OF THE LIMNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA: APPRAISAL,ANALYSIS, APPROACH AND APPLICATION

SUMMARY

In accordance with the Silver Jubilee theme of ‘reminisce and assess’, the editorial takes a critical look at the Journal of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa with the objective of examining its raison d'etre. After briefly examining the need for a journal in the context of southern African limnology and oceanography, an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the Journal is conducted. As a result of this analysis, a mission statement and action plan for the continued development of a useful and relevant publication, reflecting the needs and concerns of the total membership of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa, are presented. This approach places the Journal on a sound strategic footing and gives substance to the extended scope of the Journal which, since 1986, has included contributions from freshwater, estuarine and coastal marine scientists. A change in title to the Southern African Journal of Aquatic Sciences is announced - the change will take effect in 1989 with volume 15.     

RECENT ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE

Beginning in 1983 (Auk 100, Ibis 125) the AOU and BOU combined their Recent Literature sections, to publish a single supplement of ornithological literature to which members of both unions contribute. The RAOU joined this partnership in 1987 (Emu 87). The AOU covers journals published in the Americas and The Philippines. The BOU covers journals published in Europe, Africa, and mainland Asia. The RAOU covers journals published in Australasia and other island nations of the Pacific. More than 150 volunteers scan about 650 titles and contribute abstracts regularly. Authors' addresses are included, if the journal lists them, to facilitate communication between readers and authors Recent Ornithological Literature strives for comprehensive coverage of the world's periodical literature of interest to persons studying wild birds. Readers are encouraged to consult the “List of Journals Scanned” published annually in the October supplement and to make recommendations for increasing journal coverage.