Scientific journals ask authors to put their manuscripts, at the submission stage, sometimes in a complex style and a specific pagination format that are time consuming while it is unclear yet that the submitted manuscripts will be accepted. In the case of rejections, authors need to submit to another journal most likely with a different style and formatting that require additional work and time. To save authors’ time, publishers should allow authors to submit their manuscripts in any format and to (...) comply with the style required by the targeted journal only in revised versions, but not at the submission step when the manuscripts are not yet approved for publication. (shrink)

Reflective capacity is integral to core healthcare professional practice competencies. Reflection plays a central role in teacher education as reflecting on teaching behaviours with critical analysis can potentially improve teaching practice. The humanities including narrative and the visual arts can serve as a valuable tool for fostering reflection. We conducted a multinational faculty development workshop aiming to enhance reflective capacity in medical educators by using a combination of abstract paintings and narratives. Twenty-three family physicians or physicians-in-training from 10 countries participated (...) in the workshop. Qualitative assessment of the workshop showed that the combined use of art and narrative was well received and perceived as contributing to the reflective exercise. Participants generally felt that viewing abstract paintings had facilitated a valuable mood transformation and prepared them emotionally for the reflective writing. Our analysis found that the following themes emerged from participants’ responses: narratives from different countries are similar; the use of art helped access feelings; viewing abstract paintings facilitated next steps; writing reflective narratives promoted examination of educational challenges, compassion for self and other, and building an action plan; and sharing of narrative was helpful for fostering active listening and appreciating multiple perspectives. Future research might include comparing outcomes for a group participating in arts–narrative-based workshops with those of a control group using only reflective narrative or in combination with figurative art, and implementing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment. (shrink)

Journal impact factor is a value calculated annually based on the number of times articles published in a journal are cited in two, or more, of the preceding years. At the time of its inception in 1955 , the inventor of the impact factor did not imagine that 1 day his tool would become a controversial and abusive measure, as he confessed 44 years later . The impact factor became a major detrimental factor of quality, creating huge pressures on authors, (...) editors, stakeholders and funders. More tragically, in some countries the number of publications in journals with “high impact factors” condition the allocation of government funding for entire institutions . Based on the assumption that IF reflects scientific quality, the impact factor produces a widespread impression of prestige and reputation, though no experimental data support this hypothesis .The impact factor was originally conceived as a bibliome .. (shrink)

High percentages of submitted papers are rejected at editorial levels without offering a second chance to authors by sending their papers for further peer-reviews. In most cases, the rejections are typical quick answers without helpful argumentations related to the content of the rejected material. More surprisingly, some journals vaunt their high rejection rates as a “mark of prestige”!However, journals that reject high percentages of submitted papers have built their prominent positions based on a flawed measure, the impact factor, and from (...) a long and favorable historical context. Their shareholders may think that they are allowed to have a large margin of rejection rates without affecting their sponsorship or funding sources thanks to an extended anchorage since tens, or in some cases hundreds, of years compared to unknown or new journals that struggle to pave a way in the scientific publication world. Historical anchorage of some journals also makes it unfair to compare old and new .. (shrink)

We prove that in a nilpotent-by-finite stable group an equation that holds generically holds everywhere. Combining this result with results of Wagner and Bryant, we conclude that a soluble-by-finite stable group of generic exponent n has exponent n.

RésuméOn prouve que dans un groupe stable, nilpotent par fini, une équation générìquement satisfaite y est partout satisfaite. En combinant ce résultat avec des résultats de Wagner et Bryant, on déduit qu'un groupe stable résoluble-par-fini d'exposant généríquenest d'exposantn.

In contrast to the conventional fund management industry with a profit-oriented logic based on risk and return, ethical and faith-based funds should follow the religious principles of their investment-style philosophy. Islamic funds should obey the theological teachings of the primary sources of Islam, the Quran and Sunnah, as stakeholders expect these religious teachings to influence the investment decisions of fund managers. In practice, Islamic fund managers use Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions ’s screening criteria, based on secondary (...) sources of Islam, which allow investments that are only partially halal to be included in their portfolios. This study finds that a more religious logic in screening practices, although impairing diversification, does not necessarily harm performance. Thus, Islamic investment funds, and the wider ethical fund management industry, should, and could, adopt stricter screening criteria that match their investment mandates and bring more ethical business practices to the industry. (shrink)

There is a serious problem with arguing that God intended to lock the epistemology of the 7th century into the immutable text of the Qur’an, and then intended to hold Muslims hostage to this epistemological framework for all ages to come. Among other things, this would limit the dynamism and effectiveness of Divine text because the Qur’an would be for ever locked within a knowledge paradigm that is very difficult to retrieve or re-create. The author argues for the recognition of (...) three critical categories in Islamic theology: haqq, hikma and ma‘arifa. While haqq connotes the objective and constant truth, it is not reachable without hikma. Hikma is the balance [mizan] of truths in every historical moment with all of its contingencies. Ma‘arifa is the epistemology or the way to searching the objective and constant truth as well as the search for the hikma appropriate for each stage in human consciousness. The author contends that it is contrary to the very nature of a merciful and compassionate God to leave Muslims with a Revelation that is not fully equipped to deal with the altered states of consciousness and perceptions that are inevitable in every stage of human development. (shrink)

To avoid a clash of civilizations competing traditions must engage in discourse and search for grounds of commonality. Understanding differences and overcoming points of dissonance are essential for peaceful coexistence.

This chapter describes a number of medico-administrative and legal changes that were introduced in nineteenth-century Egypt and that gave rise to an individualized conception of identity. Prompted by the recruitment needs of a new conscript army, an administrative apparatus was put in place that gave rise to novel techniques of identifying peasants, monitoring their movements, and controlling their bodies. A wide-ranging public hygiene programme aimed at serving the army resulted in a statistical regime whose crowning achievement was a nation-wide census. (...) Concurrently, legal reforms replaced the reputational and oral witnesses that the shari'a relied on with named and written forms of identification. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the implications of this rise of a free-floating individual for conceptions of legal equality. (shrink)

In their recent paper, Esfe et al. present some criteria for fake journals and propose some ‘features’ to recognize them. While I share most of the authors’ concerns about this issue in general, some of the reported criteria are not fit to differentiate fake journals from genuine ones. Here are some examples derived from their list, which illustrate that such criteria are not necessarily specific to fake journals only, but they could also apply to well-established journals and, therefore, should not (...) be considered as is. (shrink)

We show that there exists an atomic polyadic equality algebra of dimension n that is elementary equivalent to a completely representable algebra, but its diagonal free reduct is not completely representable.

Using a sample of 15,174 firms from 24 countries included in the 2009 World Bank Enterprise Survey, we investigate the impact of disclosure standards and auditing infrastructure on the bribery of public officials to secure government contracts. We find that firms are less likely to grant gift to secure a government contract in countries having more extensive financial reporting requirements and countries where audit firms face a higher litigation and sanction risk. Findings also show that firms are less likely to (...) bribe bureaucrats in case financial statements are reviewed by an external audit firm. Our results are economically significant and are robust to several sensitivity analyses. These findings support certain policies that are currently being implemented or discussed to mitigate bribery within the public sector across the globe. (shrink)

Scientific journals ask authors to put their manuscripts, at the submission stage, sometimes in a complex style and a specific pagination format that are time consuming while it is unclear yet that the submitted manuscripts will be accepted. In the case of rejections, authors need to submit to another journal most likely with a different style and formatting that require additional work and time. To save authors’ time, publishers should allow authors to submit their manuscripts in any format and to (...) comply with the style required by the targeted journal only in revised versions, but not at the submission step when the manuscripts are not yet approved for publication. (shrink)

Edition and study of P.Vindob. A.Ch. 36616, a literary paper fragment from 3rd/9th-century Egypt. The fragment contains a tradition that depicts ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) performing a four-rakʿa prayer and reciting a special supplication on the 15th of the month of Rajab. The tradition is only known from noncanonical Shīʿī ḥadīth collections. Situating it in a broader historical context, the paper provides a glimpse on the Shīʿī presence in Egypt as well as the sanctity of the month of (...) Rajab in Sunnī and Shīʿī literatures. This tradition, in conclusion, presents an early evidence for the observances of the month of Rajab in general and the middle of the month in particular in the local Shīʿī community in pre-Fatimid Egypt. (shrink)

This paper edits and studies four Arabic legal documents, written on two papyri, now housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The documents belong to a certain ʿAmmār b. Salama b. ʿAbd al-Wārith, a merchant from al-Bahnasā. Document 1 (P.CTYBR inv. 1720 verso) records a contract of sale of two inherited portions belonging to a Copt with double names, a Christian and a Muslim one. The contract touches on two significant socio-religious subjects: 1. name change (...) after religious conversion, and 2. the loss of paternal filiation (nasab) of children born outside wedlock or in wedlock but their paternity was disavowed via the Islamic procedure of liʿān “oath of condemnation” or upon evidence of certain circumstances that prove impossibility of paternity. Documents 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 (P.CTYBR inv. 1715 recto and verso) contains three debt acknowledgements recording payments in coin and in kind. All documents date to the year 297/909–910. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Der Islam Jahrgang: 94 Heft: 1 Seiten: 57-65.

À travers une approche communicationnelle, cette contribution s’oriente et se focalise autour de liens entre bande dessinée et technologies de l’information et de la communication. Nous essayerons d’examiner comment Internet peut influer sur les pratiques des auteurs et des lecteurs de bande dessinée, ainsi que sur les schémas relationnels qui lient ces derniers. À travers l’analyse du site Webcomics, nous nous intéresserons à l’interactivité et à la place de l’usager dans le dispositif technique.Using a communicational approach, this study focuses on (...) the links between comic strips and information and communication technologies. We set out to examine ways in which the Internet can influence the practices of comic strip authors and readers, and also how they relate to each other. Through this analysis of the Webcomics site, we investigate the question of interactivity and the user’s place within the technical systems involved. (shrink)

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the respondents’ evaluation of the pervasiveness of fake news through various SM platforms in Kuwait. The authors also examined the respondents’ attitudes toward most fake news on SM. A total of 1,539 Kuwaitis were selected. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire was the major tool for this study. The respondents, from whom demographic information was obtained, were asked about which SM platforms most frequently spread fake news, their attitudes toward the subjects most frequently involved (...) in spreading fake news, their degree of use of the six SM platforms and interest in various subjects, and the attitudes toward the negative nature of SM news. SPSS was used for the data analysis. Findings The results showed that WhatsApp was the most likely to be used to disseminate fake news; Twitter and Instagram ranked second. The younger subjects were affected more by text and voice clips than the older ones. Originality/value The study, hopefully, produces new knowledge on the subject of fake news in social media, especially in the Arab world, since there are few studies conducted in the region. The study showed that WhatsApp was the SM tool most likely to be responsible for disseminating fake news in Kuwait, which may shed light on the usage of this application to be a news tool, rather than merely an interpersonal communication medium. (shrink)

An emergent body of literature examined why some firms apply some environmental initiatives while other firms do not take responsibility for their natural environment? Thus, firm environmental orientation (responsiveness and performance) are linked in the literature to several variables. Unfortunately, the relationship between firm environmental orientation and either available resources or firm size showed mixed results and inconclusive evidence. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show empirically how available resources and firm size can explain differences in firm environmental (...) responsiveness and environmental performance. Econometric results of environmental responsiveness using the logistic regression model demonstrated that firm size does appear to add something unique in explaining differences in environmental responsiveness while available resource can be safely dropped from the model. However, econometric analysis of environmental performance using the maximum-likelihood random effects model showed strong evidence that available resources and firm size are significant predictors of firm environmental performance. (shrink)

The Internet has revolutionized the way knowledge is currently produced, stored and disseminated. A few finger clicks on a keyboard can save time and many hours of search in libraries or shopping in stores. Online trademarks with an prefix such as e-library, e-business, e-health etc., are increasingly part of our daily professional vocabularies. However, the Internet has also produced multiple negative side effects, ranging from an unhealthy dependency to a dehumanization of human relationships. Fraudulent, unethical and scam practices are also (...) flourishing through for example misleading online advertising methods. Some social and professional networks gather users’ profiles for selling and advertising purposes, sometimes by making it technically difficult to unsubscribe. Here, I discuss some of these unethical aspects and propose some potential solutions to reduce them. (shrink)

The cover letter is not the main text destined to be evaluated or published. The content of the cover letter is already overlapped and redundant with the article's abstract. Cover letters look like the ‘misleading’ commercial ads; as good or as bad as they might be, they do not change the inherent value of the advertised product. The significance of a manuscript should be manifest in the 200–300 words of its abstract and alongside the manuscript as a whole. The aim (...) of cover letter to impress editors, recruiters or hiring managers, would give only a false and ephemeral impression because the veritable, lasting, impression is that ulterior impression related to the innate value of the candidate (or the manuscript), not from a cover letter that ends in the trash. (shrink)

This study examines the conflict strategies used in the highly adversarial and popular Arabic-language talk show broadcasted weekly on Al-Jazeera satellite channel, known as Al-Ittijah Al-Mu’aakis 'The Opposite Direction'. The study identifies the conflict strategies and verbal conflict expressions and approaches them in the light of Interactional Sociolinguistics. The analysis of three episodes debating three different topics shows that disputants used several types of strategies including "impoliteness", "aggravated impoliteness", topic restriction, lengthy holding of the floor, and sarcasm. The speakers' bald-on-record (...) expressions of disagreement are expected as a result of the controversial and polemical nature of the show, which creates fierce competition between the two guests to present their arguments in an aggressive way. (shrink)

Une fine analyse de la convergence des conceptions du Christ qu'a Origène et de l'Ecriture, met en scène non seulement la consistance interne et le fondement théorique de son exégèse christologique, mais nous présente également le récit que fait Origène de l'histoire du sens chrétien. Selon ce récit, le sens a premièrement une structure trinitaire: le Dieu unique en trois personnes, incorporel, est la source, le fondement et l'épanouissement de l'intelligibilité et de l'existence intellectuelle. Il a deuxièmement une structure christologique: (...) le Fils est le sens ultime, en tant qu'à la fois, contenu objectif ou structure de sens et agent principal dans le processus subjectif de l'appropriation et de la communication du sens . Cette simultanéité determine la conception qu'a Origène de la convergence du Christ et de l'Ecriture. Ainsi, le Logos est à la fois la source et le contenu du sens scripturaire, de même que le communicateur principal ou exégète de ce sens, cette dernière fonction étant remplie de la manière la plus remarquable dans l'Incarnation, qui est l'indice herméneutique central de l'Ecriture. De manière pratique, cela veut dire que le sens ultime, qui coïncide avec le sens spirituel de l'Ecriture est contenu objectivement dans la référence au Christ et subjectivement atteint en ayant la pensée du Christ; son accomplissement réside dans la rencontre du lecteur ou exégète avec le Christ. (shrink)

Plants are permanently impacted by their environments, and their abilities to tolerate multiple fluctuating environmental conditions vary as a function of several genetic and natural factors. Over the past decades, scientific innovations and applications of the knowledge derived from biotechnological investigations to agriculture caused a substantial increase of the yields of many crops. However, due to exacerbating effects of climate change and a growing human population, a crisis of malnutrition may arise in the upcoming decades in some places in the (...) world. So, effective, ethical and managerial regulations and fair policies should be set up and applied at the local and global levels so that Earth may fairly provide the food and living accommodation needed by its inhabitants. To save some energy consumption, electric devices should be manufactured to work with solar energy, whenever available, particularly in sunny countries where sun is available most of the time. Such characteristic will save energy and make solar energy-based smartphones and laptops less cumbersome in terms of chargers and plugging issues. (shrink)

In the literature, there have been several methods and definitions for working out whether two theories are “equivalent” or not. In this article, we do something subtler. We provide a means to measure distances between formal theories. We introduce two natural notions for such distances. The first one is that of axiomatic distance, but we argue that it might be of limited interest. The more interesting and widely applicable notion is that of conceptual distance which measures the minimum number of (...) concepts that distinguish two theories. For instance, we use conceptual distance to show that relativistic and classical kinematics are distinguished by one concept only. (shrink)