How will our collaborative projects work?
AISDL
July 31, 2022
Highlights
Coming from a developing country and having spent years in academia, the AISDL team acknowledges the hardships of pursuing scientific careers, especially for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and those in low-resource areas. The scarcity and depletion of resources for academic research have increasingly threatened research efforts and outcomes, especially for those living in low-resource settings [1-3]. Research institutions nowadays provide fewer research positions, making it more difficult for researchers to pursue their professional development and career advancement [4,5].
Despite our limited capacity, the AISDL team aims to support ECRs and researchers from developing countries in social sciences and humanities. Considering that the three most significant elements for doing research are research ideas, skills, and resources (e.g., data and software), we make use of the Internet’s global network and offer a collaboration platform with two key roles for assisting other researchers:
What are the advantages of collaborating with us?
Real-world support: AISDL staff will provide hands-on support and work alongside you to solve challenges at any research project level (even the harsh reviewing process). Having published hundreds of peer-review research articles in a variety of disciplines, we have extensive publication experience that we are willing to share with other researchers. Moreover, some of our members have served as editors and reviewers for hundreds of other articles and books. These experiences can facilitate our collaborative project to overcome the stringent standards of peer-review processes [16].
Hands-on learning: Based on our experience, the AISDL team realizes that practicing conducting studies in real projects is one of the most effective ways to learn and master it. By participating in the project, researchers will get the opportunity to undertake genuine research work with us, from the initial conceptualization step to the final response-to-reviewer step. We believe that doing genuine work with proper assistance can help ECRs master research skills quickly and become more confident in conducting their projects independently in the near future.
Real products: As our core principles are effectiveness and efficiency, we value all the time and efforts of our partners. We expect that after completing a collaborative project with us, our partners can have real products that aid them to advance in careers besides knowledge and experience. As a result, each joint effort will only be concluded if a goal is met: publication in a peer-reviewed journal/book, preferably being indexed in major bibliographical databases such as the Web of Science and Scopus. (We know the indexing will help improve the visibility of the published studies.)
How do we collaborate?
Each collaborative project is organized in five stages using a streamlined workflow:
We look forward to working with volunteers on future research projects. Any portal user can visit our Collaborative Project Topic to see if a new project is open for registration and comment on it to express his/her interest in working with us. We will then contact the user through email (info@mindsponge.info) and confirm our formal agreement on the project.
We strictly adhere to scientific integrity standards, including authorship rights and obligations. There will absolutely not be any commercial or monetary factor whatsoever involved in these pure academic pursuits. When appropriate, we will seek to establish a resource pool for such matters with article processing charge (APC) settlement or any required services from “angel investors” or science funding agencies, and never from project participants.
A flowerpecker’s nest with an egg being hatched (Photo: ©2013 Quan-Hoang Vuong, from [16])
After the collaborative projects, we hope participants will use their newly acquired skills to help other researchers who find themselves in difficult working conditions. Those working with us today may one day become the much-needed mentors for their colleagues and the next generations of researchers in their regions.
References
[1] Cahill B, Masia M. (2020). Four ways to fight science-funding cuts across Europe. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03121-7
[2] Wild S. (2020). South Africa slashes science budget, funds for giant radio telescope. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/south-africa-slashes-science-budget-funds-giant-radio-telescope
[3] Kowaltowski AJ. (2021). Brazil’s scientists face 90% budget cut. Nature, 598, 566. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02882-z
[4] Ortega RP, Wessel L. (2020). ‘We’re losing an entire generation of scientists.’ COVID-19’s economic toll hits Latin America hard. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/we-re-losing-entire-generation-scientists-covid-19-s-economic-toll-hits-latin-america
[5] Hornyak T. (2022). ‘I feel disposable’: Thousands of scientists’ jobs at risk in Japan. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01935-1
[6] Nguyen MH, La VP, Le TT, Vuong QH. (2022). Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics: a novel methodological approach for social sciences and humanities. In: QH Vuong, MH Nguyen, VP La. (Eds.) The mindsponge and BMF analytics for innovative thinking in social sciences and humanities (pp. 87-116). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, La VP. (2022). The mindsponge and BMF analytics for innovative thinking in social sciences and humanities. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
[8] Khuc QV, et al. (2022) Brain drain out of the blue: Pollution-induced migration in Vietnam. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3645. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063645
[9] Pham HH, et al. (2022) International education as an export sector: an investigation of 49 Vietnamese universities and colleges using Bayesian analysis. Globalisation, Societies and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2081536
[10] Nguyen MH, et al. (2021). Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the suicidal ideation mechanism through the sense of connectedness and help-seeking behaviors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3681. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073681
[11] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, Le TT. (2021). A Mindsponge-Based Investigation into the Psycho-Religious Mechanism Behind Suicide Attacks. Warsaw, Poland: De Gruyter. https://books.google.com/books?id=88I-EAAAQBAJ
[12] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, Le TT. (2021). Home scholarly culture, book selection reason, and academic performance: Pathways to book reading interest among secondary school students. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(2), 468-495. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11020034
[13] Vuong QH, Le TT, La VP, Nguyen MH. (2022). The psychological mechanism of internet information processing for post-treatment evaluation. Heliyon, 8(5), e09351. https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(22)00639-9
[14] Nguyen MH, et al. (2022). The roles of female involvement and risk aversion in open access publishing patterns in Vietnamese social sciences and humanities. Journal of Data and Information Science, 7(1), 76-96. https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2022-0001
[15] Vuong QH. (2022). The Editor: A demanding but underestimated role in scientific publishing. Learned Publishing, 35(3), 418-422. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1466
[16] Vuong QH. (2022). A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://books.google.com/books?id=2wdsEAAAQBAJ
July 31, 2022
Highlights
- The AISDL team introduces an online portal that promotes knowledge exchange and facilitates worldwide collaboration based on openness, transparency, equality, and innovation
- The AISDL team invites researchers, especially Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and those from low-resource backgrounds, to participate in joint research projects utilizing the Bayesian Mindsponge Frameworks (BMF) analytics.
- Collaborating with the AISDL team allows participants to discuss interesting findings, achieve products, and gain useful research skills with our theoretical, technical, and editorial support.
Coming from a developing country and having spent years in academia, the AISDL team acknowledges the hardships of pursuing scientific careers, especially for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and those in low-resource areas. The scarcity and depletion of resources for academic research have increasingly threatened research efforts and outcomes, especially for those living in low-resource settings [1-3]. Research institutions nowadays provide fewer research positions, making it more difficult for researchers to pursue their professional development and career advancement [4,5].
Despite our limited capacity, the AISDL team aims to support ECRs and researchers from developing countries in social sciences and humanities. Considering that the three most significant elements for doing research are research ideas, skills, and resources (e.g., data and software), we make use of the Internet’s global network and offer a collaboration platform with two key roles for assisting other researchers:
- Serving as an online space where we invite and support other researchers to conduct and publish studies utilizing a novel research method in social sciences and humanities: the Bayesian Mindsponge Frameworks (BMF) analytics [6]
- Providing a forum for scholars from across the world to exchange ideas and foster global cooperation based on openness, transparency, equality, and innovation
What are the advantages of collaborating with us?
Real-world support: AISDL staff will provide hands-on support and work alongside you to solve challenges at any research project level (even the harsh reviewing process). Having published hundreds of peer-review research articles in a variety of disciplines, we have extensive publication experience that we are willing to share with other researchers. Moreover, some of our members have served as editors and reviewers for hundreds of other articles and books. These experiences can facilitate our collaborative project to overcome the stringent standards of peer-review processes [16].
Hands-on learning: Based on our experience, the AISDL team realizes that practicing conducting studies in real projects is one of the most effective ways to learn and master it. By participating in the project, researchers will get the opportunity to undertake genuine research work with us, from the initial conceptualization step to the final response-to-reviewer step. We believe that doing genuine work with proper assistance can help ECRs master research skills quickly and become more confident in conducting their projects independently in the near future.
Real products: As our core principles are effectiveness and efficiency, we value all the time and efforts of our partners. We expect that after completing a collaborative project with us, our partners can have real products that aid them to advance in careers besides knowledge and experience. As a result, each joint effort will only be concluded if a goal is met: publication in a peer-reviewed journal/book, preferably being indexed in major bibliographical databases such as the Web of Science and Scopus. (We know the indexing will help improve the visibility of the published studies.)
How do we collaborate?
Each collaborative project is organized in five stages using a streamlined workflow:
- Registration stage: AISDL team will provide interesting problems (e.g., topic, objectives, mindsponge-based conceptualization, Bayesian statistical analysis results) in the Collaborative Projects platform. Each project has a specific number of authors who can be included in the manuscript (set by the project leader and agreed on by project members). When the registration deadline or the maximum number of participants is reached, the registration will be closed, and the project proceeds to the next phase. A researcher can register to join multiple collaborative projects simultaneously. Each project’s data, codes, and other supplementary files are uploaded onto the Open Science Framework (OSF) server – an open online repository. These materials will be updated along the project’s progress until completion.
- Discussion and assignment stage: During this stage, the project leader will assign the task to each participant and guide them on how to execute the task. The project leader is responsible for assigning work and setting deadlines for other participants. Usually, an AISDL member will take the leadership role. All participants are encouraged to have constructive discussions about the study’s content actively.
- Research implementation stage: All participants must perform their tasks and strictly conform to the deadlines agreed upon in the earlier phase. The project leader keeps track of the project progress and provides (technical and editorial) assistance to other participants if needed.
- Finalizing and submission stage: After the participants have completed and submitted their tasks, the project leader is responsible for connecting, editing, and ensuring the manuscript quality. Dr. Quan-Hoang Vuong – an experienced editor – will carefully check and validate every manuscript before submission. The journal for submission is also discussed and selected. Authorship and contributorship strictly follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The author order (including first-author and corresponding-author positions) in the manuscript will be determined based on participants’ contributions during the working stage.
- Revision stage: When receiving the revision inquiry from the submitted journal, all participants proceed through identical procedures, beginning from the second stage. The AISDL team will fight alongside all collaborators in every peer-reviewing round until success is achieved.
We look forward to working with volunteers on future research projects. Any portal user can visit our Collaborative Project Topic to see if a new project is open for registration and comment on it to express his/her interest in working with us. We will then contact the user through email (info@mindsponge.info) and confirm our formal agreement on the project.
We strictly adhere to scientific integrity standards, including authorship rights and obligations. There will absolutely not be any commercial or monetary factor whatsoever involved in these pure academic pursuits. When appropriate, we will seek to establish a resource pool for such matters with article processing charge (APC) settlement or any required services from “angel investors” or science funding agencies, and never from project participants.
A flowerpecker’s nest with an egg being hatched (Photo: ©2013 Quan-Hoang Vuong, from [16])
After the collaborative projects, we hope participants will use their newly acquired skills to help other researchers who find themselves in difficult working conditions. Those working with us today may one day become the much-needed mentors for their colleagues and the next generations of researchers in their regions.
References
[1] Cahill B, Masia M. (2020). Four ways to fight science-funding cuts across Europe. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03121-7
[2] Wild S. (2020). South Africa slashes science budget, funds for giant radio telescope. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/south-africa-slashes-science-budget-funds-giant-radio-telescope
[3] Kowaltowski AJ. (2021). Brazil’s scientists face 90% budget cut. Nature, 598, 566. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02882-z
[4] Ortega RP, Wessel L. (2020). ‘We’re losing an entire generation of scientists.’ COVID-19’s economic toll hits Latin America hard. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/we-re-losing-entire-generation-scientists-covid-19-s-economic-toll-hits-latin-america
[5] Hornyak T. (2022). ‘I feel disposable’: Thousands of scientists’ jobs at risk in Japan. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01935-1
[6] Nguyen MH, La VP, Le TT, Vuong QH. (2022). Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics: a novel methodological approach for social sciences and humanities. In: QH Vuong, MH Nguyen, VP La. (Eds.) The mindsponge and BMF analytics for innovative thinking in social sciences and humanities (pp. 87-116). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, La VP. (2022). The mindsponge and BMF analytics for innovative thinking in social sciences and humanities. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
[8] Khuc QV, et al. (2022) Brain drain out of the blue: Pollution-induced migration in Vietnam. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3645. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063645
[9] Pham HH, et al. (2022) International education as an export sector: an investigation of 49 Vietnamese universities and colleges using Bayesian analysis. Globalisation, Societies and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2081536
[10] Nguyen MH, et al. (2021). Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the suicidal ideation mechanism through the sense of connectedness and help-seeking behaviors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3681. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073681
[11] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, Le TT. (2021). A Mindsponge-Based Investigation into the Psycho-Religious Mechanism Behind Suicide Attacks. Warsaw, Poland: De Gruyter. https://books.google.com/books?id=88I-EAAAQBAJ
[12] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, Le TT. (2021). Home scholarly culture, book selection reason, and academic performance: Pathways to book reading interest among secondary school students. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(2), 468-495. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11020034
[13] Vuong QH, Le TT, La VP, Nguyen MH. (2022). The psychological mechanism of internet information processing for post-treatment evaluation. Heliyon, 8(5), e09351. https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(22)00639-9
[14] Nguyen MH, et al. (2022). The roles of female involvement and risk aversion in open access publishing patterns in Vietnamese social sciences and humanities. Journal of Data and Information Science, 7(1), 76-96. https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2022-0001
[15] Vuong QH. (2022). The Editor: A demanding but underestimated role in scientific publishing. Learned Publishing, 35(3), 418-422. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1466
[16] Vuong QH. (2022). A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://books.google.com/books?id=2wdsEAAAQBAJ