26 February 2009

First issue: International Journal of Immunological Studies

International Journal of Immunological Studies publishes a broad range of original experimental and theoretical papers on all aspects of immunology. It is the flagship journal of the Frontiers in Immunology Research Network.

There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

Call for papers: Advances in Meso and Micro Manufacturing Technology

Call for papers: Advances in Meso and Micro Manufacturing Technology

A special issue of International Journal of Materials and Product Technology

Nowadays, meso (1-10 mm)/micro (1-1000 µm) manufacturing is an important technology for conventional products as well as for new products, especially where miniaturisation, mechatronics and high performance are important. Applications of meso/micro manufacturing are in advanced industries, for example, aerospace, automotive, optical, military, alternative energy, biomedical and microelectronics packaging, etc. Meso and micro manufacturing processes can be applied to work metallic and non-metallic materials such as polymers, ceramics, composites and special materials.

This special issue of IJMPT invites the submission of high quality research articles related to experimental and computational topics on meso and micro manufacturing.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following aspects:
  • Manufacturability of the materials at meso/micro scale
  • Developments and design of precision and micro machine tools
  • Meso/micro machining processes: turning, milling, drilling, etc
  • Meso/micro forming: stamping, blanking, embossing, etc
  • Grinding: precision and ultraprecision grinding processes.
  • Nontraditional meso/micro manufacturing processes: laser, EDM, etc
  • Micro manufacturing using x-ray lithography
  • Modelling and simulation of meso/micro manufacturing processes
  • Applications with special emphasis in alternative energy devices
Important Date
Deadline for submission: 1 December 2009

Call for papers: Assessment and Sustainable Society

Call for papers: Assessment and Sustainable Society

A special issue of International Journal of Sustainable Society

Increasing awareness of ecological limits to economic growth has stimulated considerable interest in recent years in developing and assessing effective methods for achieving a sustainable society. Sustainability and environmental protection have become major economic, as well as societal, concerns. Assessment methods and strategies have played significant roles in achieving a balance between the development of modern economies and protection of the environment, between consumption of resources and preservation of resources, and between civil liberties and restraint.

The purpose of this special issue is to capture the current state of assessment methodologies and strategies for achieving a sustainable society. Both theoretical and empirical research papers are encouraged.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following related assessments:
  • Environmental sustainability and economic growth
  • Integration in environmental analysis and planning
  • Integration of environment and economy
  • Resource productivity measures
  • Sustainability and consumption
  • Sustainability and environmental quality
  • Sustainability and politics
  • Sustainable development
  • Sustainable development and the environment
  • Sustainable development of the biosphere
  • Sustainable economies and businesses
  • Sustainable global and regional supply chain management
  • Sustainable risk in global and regional financial markets
  • Urban environments and the internet
Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2009
Communication of peer review to authors: 20 March, 2010
Deadline for revised manuscripts: May 2010

Call for papers: Service Quality Management in Developing and Newly Industrialised Nations

Call for papers: Service Quality Management in Developing and Newly Industrialised Nations

A special issue of International Journal of Services, Economics and Management

This call for papers seeks both empirically-based and theory-based contributions addressing quality management, with emphasis on developing countries. The concept of quality management is not something new. For many organisations, it is no longer an issue of whether they would like to implement quality management, but instead how it is to be implemented. Although quality concepts were discussed in manufacturing industries in the past, it has also been studied in service sector in recent years.

Quality management concepts are common in many developed nations, but this may not be the case in developing countries. Although the manufacturing sector is traditionally the main driving forces in developing countries’ economy, many developing countries have also slowly progressed from manufacturing towards the service sector. Many factors are related to the adoption of quality management concepts, and these factors could be different from the developed countries. This special issue wishes to solicit new contributions from the academic to enhance our knowledge in service quality management and at the same time to give meaningful input to the practitioners.

This special issue covers all aspects of service quality management, including but not limited to the topics and areas listed below:
  • Service quality management in e-business
  • Service quality management in information technology
  • Quality management and service culture
  • Quality management and customer satisfaction in service sector
  • Comparative research on quality management between service sector and manufacturing sector
  • Quality management and service productivity
  • Quality management and public service
  • Quality in service operations management
  • Quality management in service industries
  • Service quality management and public economics
  • Marketing aspects of service quality
  • Service quality management and innovation.
  • Service quality management and hospitality economy
Important Dates
Submission deadline: 1 August 2009
Notification of acceptance: 15 September, 2009
Final paper submission deadline: 1 December 2009

Call for papers: SME Development in Transition Economies: Twenty Years On

Call for papers: SME Development in Transition Economies: Twenty Years On

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

In the two decades which have elapsed since the beginning of the transition period in central and eastern European countries, there has been a rapid expansion of entrepreneurial and small business activities. This expansion has been influenced, inter alia, by economic change, increasing competition due to the accession of many of the countries to the European Union (EU), and policy interventions by a range of institutions.

It is generally recognised that entrepreneurship and the development of a vibrant SME sector play an important role in the generation of new industries and to assist with industrial reconstruction. Economic change has also posed significant challenges to the attitudes of people who manage and work in small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) and the general public perception of the role of SMEs in the economy

This increase in entrepreneurial activities in transition economies has also given rise to an emerging literature, containing debates on such issues as SME start-up, entrepreneurial knowledge deficiencies and institutional development. The purpose of this special edition is to provide insights into entrepreneurial development and SME management and growth over the past twenty years and opportunities for future expansion in the small business sector.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • SMEs and management development in transition economies
  • SME policy development and application
  • Entrepreneurship development and support
  • Entrepreneurship education
  • The development of marketing in small businesses
  • SME growth
  • Knowledge transfer to transition economy SMEs
  • HRM and HRD expansion in transition economy SMEs
  • Workplace attitudes and organisational change
Important Dates
Deadline for papers: 30th June 2009

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation

International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation - to begin publication in 2010 - will deal with mathematical modelling, algorithm development, numerical methods, computer simulations and numerical optimisation, including real-world applications in all major areas of sciences, engineering and industry.

Special issue: Emerging accountability mechanisms and stakeholders in the governance of public service delivery

International Journal of Public Policy 4(3/4) 2009
  • The institutionalisation of public-private partnerships in the UK and the nation-state of California
  • Public-private partnerships: a comparative study of new public management and stakeholder participation in the UK and Spain
  • Building shared accountability into service transformation partnerships
  • On the governance of social science research: the replacement of profession with performance contracts
  • The effects of corporatisation on financial reporting: the experience of the Italian local governments
  • Private actors and public accountability: the role of actuaries and auditors in UK life insurance regulation
  • A research note: the exploration of political accountability in primary healthcare organisations
  • Sending in the consultants: development agencies, the private sector and the reform of public finance in low-income countries
  • Constraints to strengthening public sector accountability through civil society: the case of Morocco

Special issue: International Conference on Signals Systems and Devices, SSD’2007, Hammamet, Tunisia

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 5(4) 2008

SSD’2007 was held in Hammamet, Tunisia, 19–22 March 2007
  • Chemical process sliding mode control
  • Sliding mode-based synchronisation and control of chaotic systems with parametric uncertainties
  • Fuzzy rule base reduction via singular value decomposition
  • Neural network augmented backstepping control for an induction machine
  • Identification of the GMS friction model based on a robust adaptive observer
  • Multilayer perceptron training using an evolutionary algorithm
  • Backward iteration approaches for the stability domain estimation of discrete non-linear polynomial systems
  • On an internal multimodel control for non-linear systems: a comparative study

Special issue: Interface between strategic management and knowledge management

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies 3(1/2) 2009
  • Emerging evidence on linkages between Knowledge Management (KM) governance and management strategy: the case of two organisations
  • Linking business strategy and knowledge management practices: case studies of Malaysian firms
  • Do corporate mergers bring about new combinations of knowledge? Empirical evidence from patent data
  • Strategic diversity in Japanese university Technology Licensing Offices
  • Process and content dimensions of Knowledge Management Strategy planning: an exploratory study
  • Understanding an organisation's knowledge-enabled innovation capability
  • A study of the effect of Knowledge Creating Capabilities on corporate performance
  • The relationship between R&D productivity and knowledge intensity of firms: from the perspective of ''brand power as an integrated intangible asset''
  • Strategic knowledge-based marketing

Special issue: The ageing workforce and HRM – challenges, chances, perspectives

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 9(2/3) 2009

Academic Papers
  • Strategies against competency obsolescence: the case of R&D-intensive organisations
  • Changing workforce demographics: strategies derived from the resource-based view of HRM
  • HRM and the employment of older workers: Germany and Britain compared
  • Does the ageing workforce hamper the innovativeness of firms? (No) evidence from Germany
  • Individual competencies that older workers use in successfully adapting during their careers
  • HR practices as predictors for knowledge sharing and innovative behaviour: a focus on age
Practitioner Papers
  • The coming leadership gap: an exploration of competencies that will be in short supply
  • Enterprises face the ageing demographic: some options to overcome demographic challenges in a multinational company
Think Pieces
  • Reducing risk: building the business case for investing in knowledge retention
  • The Leaving Expert Debriefing to fight the retirement wave of the ageing workforce
  • How Hewlett-Packard minimises knowledge loss
  • An ageing workforce: a major challenge to German SMEs

First issue: International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion

International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion highlights the latest trends in research in the field of power generation, transmission and distribution, reflecting the significant challenges in the power sector, such as the proliferation of power electronic devices, especially in deregulated/restructured power markets.

There is a free download of the papers from this issue.

24 February 2009

Call for papers: Assessment Methods in Social Systems Science

Call for papers: Assessment Methods in Social Systems Science

A special issue of International Journal of Society Systems Science

Social systems science is now at a new stage in the midst of inevitable and rapid global change. The traditional assessment methods of the social sciences, based on assumptions of independent observations, cannot be effective in analysing social behaviour as a social system. Behaviours of individuals and groups are seen as multiple interdependencies, and these interdependencies should be viewed as actions taken inside a system. In recent years, system approaches which avoid such assumptions have received significant attention in addressing and resolving issues in social processes. This special issue focuses on systematic assessment methods for analysing various issues faced in social systems.

The objective of the special issue is to provide an outlet for publishing original assessment research highlighting current issues related to the wide range of social systems science such as globalisation, bottom-up approach, autopoiesis, decision theory, and organisation sciences. Both quantitative and qualitative studies are encouraged.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
  • Agent-based modelling and simulation
  • Benchmarking
  • Case studies
  • Cellular automata models
  • Chaos and complexity
  • Control theory
  • Data analysis
  • Data envelopment analysis
  • Data mining and knowledge management
  • Decision support systems
  • Demographic models
  • Dynamical systems models
  • Ecological and social dynamics
  • Economic development and complex systems
  • Ecosystem management
  • Emerging information technologies
  • Enterprise information systems
  • Grounded theory
  • Hierarchical models
  • Interrelations of society, economy and environment
  • Intraspecific variation
  • Markov chains
  • Models of environmental quality
  • Narrative approaches
  • Network analysis
  • Phenomenological analysis
  • Sensitivity analysis
  • Statistical models
Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2009
Communication of peer review to authors: 20 March, 2010
Deadline for revised manuscripts: May 2010

Call for papers: Applications of Ultra Wideband Systems in Biomedicine

Call for papers: Applications of Ultra Wideband Systems in Biomedicine

A special issue of International Journal of Ultra Wideband Communications and Systems

Ultra wideband (UWB) techniques have attracted much research interest in a variety of medical applications. UWB microwave hyperthermia can be utilised to heat tissues using electromagnetic fields as part of cancer treatment. Many emerging imaging techniques have also relied on UWB radar concepts to improve the sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection. Tissue-implanted UWB devices communicate biomedical signals from the interior to the exterior of the human body and vice versa. UWB systems may also be deployed for non-contact, non-invasive vital-sign monitoring.

Developing and optimising these technologies involve a crystal understanding of the interactions between UWB electromagnetic fields and tissue. Moreover, UWB technology can be applied in body-centric wireless communications, which refer to human-self and human-to-human networking with the use of wearable and implantable wireless sensors. It encompasses wireless body area networks, wireless sensor networks, and wireless personal area networks. Body-centric wireless communications find rich applications in personal health monitoring to achieve distributed diagnosis and home healthcare.

The objective of this special issue is to highlight current and emerging research in applications of UWB systems in biomedicine, which will bring together the latest work in this growing interdisciplinary field.

The topics of interest include but are not limited to:
  • UWB microwave imaging for disease assessment, e.g., breast cancer, strokes, cardiovascular diseases
  • UWB microwave hyperthermia for cancer treatment
  • Tissue-implanted UWB medical devices
  • UWB radars for remote vital-sign monitoring
  • UWB-based body-centric wireless communications for tele-healthcare
  • Effects of human exposure to electromagnetic fields transmitted by UWB biomedical devices
  • Security and privacy issues of UWB-based body-centric networking for personal healthcare services
  • Coexistence of UWB biomedical devices with other wireless communication systems
Important Dates
Submission deadline: 1 August 2009
Author Notification: 1 December 2009
Final Manuscript: 1 February 2010

Special issue: Secure spontaneous interaction

International Journal of Security and Networks 4(1/2) 2009

Includes extended versions of papers from IWSSI 2007: the First International Workshop on Security for Spontaneous Interaction.
  • Proximity-based authentication of mobile devices
  • Secure pairing of interface constrained devices
  • Secure pairing with biometrics
  • Seeing-Is-Believing: using camera phones for human-verifiable authentication
  • Using audio in secure device pairing
  • User-aided data authentication
  • Standards for security associations in personal networks: a comparative analysis
  • Designing user studies for security applications: a case study with wireless network configuration
Additional Papers
  • An evaluation of connection characteristics for separating network attacks
  • An efficient group key management scheme for mobile ad hoc networks

Special issue: Research methods in technology transfer, intellectual property, and value assessment

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 8(1) 2009
  • Estimating business value of academic research outcomes: towards a multi-dimensional approach
  • Identification of key issues for successful technology transfer in the Arab countries: a Delphi study
  • A recursive process for mapping and clustering technology literatures: case study in solid-state lighting
  • Using social networking methods for analysis of patent prior art: the peer-to-patent experiment
  • University licensing of intellectual property: revisiting the impact of Bayh-Dole
  • Can biomedical tech transfer create both goodwill and good wealth? The case for a global fair profit/for profit model

23 February 2009

Special issue: System boundaries of industrial symbioses: Part 1

Progress in Industrial Ecology, an International Journal 5(5/6) 2008

Papers from a workshop at the 13th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, held in Västerås, Sweden, 10–12 June 2007.
  • The synergistic role of embeddedness and capabilities in industrial symbiosis: illustration based upon 12 years of experiences in the Rotterdam Harbour and Industry Complex
  • The environmental activities of industrial park organisations in Hungary
  • US feedlots and slaughterhouses: bounding industrial ecology with the extreme case
  • Bringing interregional linkages back in: industrial symbiosis, international trade and the emergence of the synthetic dyes industry in the late 19th century
  • Building a framework for strategic architecture to foster the development of industrial ecology
  • Evaluating the environmental benefits of industrial symbiosis: discussion and demonstration of a new approach
  • How can the sustainability of industrial symbioses be measured?
  • Perception of pollution and expectation from NTPC's Talcher Super Thermal Power Plant

21 February 2009

Call for papers: Speech as a Human Biometric: I Know Who You Are From Your Voice!

Call for papers: Speech as a Human Biometric: I Know Who You Are From Your Voice!

A special issue of International Journal of Biometrics

The 2001 MIT Technology Review indicated that biometrics is one of the emerging technologies that will change the world. Human biometrics is the automated recognition of a person using adherent distinctive physiological and/or involuntary behavioural features.

Human voice biometrics has gained significant attention in recent years. The ubiquity of cheap microphones, human identity information carried by voice, ease of deployment, natural use, telephony applications diffusion, and non-obtrusiveness have been significant motivations for developing biometrics based on speech signals. The robustness of speech biometrics is sufficiently good. However, there are significant challenges with respect to conditions that cannot be controlled easily. These issues include changes in acoustical environmental conditions, respiratory and vocal pathology, age, channel, etc. The goal of speech biometric research is to solve and/or mitigate these problems.

This special issue will bring together leading researchers and investigators in speech research for security applications to present their latest successes in this field. The presented work could be new techniques, review papers, challenges, tutorials or other relevant topics.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Speech biometrics
  • Speaker recognition
  • Speech feature extraction for speech biometrics
  • Machine learning techniques for speech biometrics
  • Speech enhancement for speech biometrics
  • Speech recognition for speech biometrics
  • Speech changeability over age, health condition, emotional status, fatigue, and related factors
  • Accent, gender, age and ethnicity information extraction from speech signalS
  • Speech watermarking
  • Speech database security management
  • Cancellable speech biometrics
  • Voice activity detection
  • Conversational speech biometrics
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 15 June, 2009
Acceptance/rejection notification: 15 September, 2009
Final manuscript due: 15 October, 2009

Call for papers: Multimedia Data Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks

Call for papers: Multimedia Data Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks

A special issue of International Journal of Sensor Networks

With recent technological advances in communication and computation, new wireless sensor network (WSN) applications are growing. The emergence of low-energy and low-cost multimedia devices, such as microphones and cameras, has stimulated the development of the next generation WSNs, known as wireless multimedia sensor network (WMSN). WMSNs have brought unprecedented potential, especially for applications requiring ubiquitous access to the multimedia contents such as still images, audio and video streams. The extra sensor capacity and various requirements of multimedia objects in-network processing also pose new and unique challenges. These challenges are crucial about how to energy-efficiently query, process, transfer, and store voluminous multimedia objects, since most multimedia sensors are operated under limited battery power. Additionally, relatively slow advances in battery technologies mean that energy constrains the potentially fast progress in WMSNs.

This special issue will bring together those leading researchers and developers in fields of data and resource management, distributed storage techniques and energy efficiency to study the particular problems and challenges of wireless multimedia sensor networks. Its purpose is therefore to foster communications between various communities, including distributed database management communities, multimedia communication communities and sensor networks communities, and establish a common ground for advanced research and development in wireless multimedia sensor networks.

The published papers are expected to present high quality results on state-of-the-art algorithms, novel techniques and real applications associated with wireless multimedia sensor networks.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

Multimedia in-network processing in WMSNs
  • Distributed source coding in WMSNs
  • Multimedia aggregation and fusion in WMSNs
  • Low-bit rate and energy-efficient multimedia source coding for WMSNs
WMSN architectures and applications
  • Scalable and flexible WMSN architecture
  • WMSN design for supporting heterogenous applications
  • Multimedia sensor coverage
  • Novel WMSN applications
  • Experimental studies of WMSNs
  • WMSN modelling and performance analysis
Emerging WMSN technologies
  • Hardware platforms
  • Physical layer technologies
  • Energy harvesting technologies
Effective and energy-efficient protocols for WMSNs
  • Real-time and reliable multimedia streaming
  • Routing and medium access control
  • Topology control and synchronisation protocols
  • Energy efficient traffic management
  • QoS provisioning protocols
Cross-layer design in WMSNs
  • Joint multimedia processing and communication
  • Cooperative communication for multimedia delivery
  • Effective cross-layer communication protocols
  • Joint optimisation for WMSN design
Data management for WMSNs
  • In-network and distributed storage techniques for WMSNs
  • Lightweight multimedia encoding techniques
  • Collaborative in-network processing
  • Energy-efficient DBMS for WMSNs
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 28 November, 2009
Acceptance/rejection notification: 31 March, 2010
Final manuscript due: 31 June, 2010

Call for papers: The Issues and Challenges of E-Banking Application and Development in Developing and Under-developed Nations

Call for papers: The Issues and Challenges of E-Banking Application and Development in Developing and Under-developed Nations

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Finance

Electronic finance has been continuously growing as a new industry during the last decade. In recent years, the banking industry has led this trend, which is sometimes called e-banking, referring to all banking transactions completed through internet applications. E-banking has revolutionised the way business is transacted by globalising the business enterprise. All businesses, including small and medium scale industries, no matter their geographical locations, are all beneficiaries of e-banking. It encompasses all kind of commercial transaction conducted on an electronic medium, mostly through the internet. It allows companies to make new business contacts from different global business alliances, test new products and services, and make market research and other enquiries all at a minimal cost, both financial and otherwise.

While the application of e-banking has advanced significantly during recent years, especially in the developed nations, in comparison, the development of e-banking application has lagged way behind in many developing nations, especially those relatively poor and under-developed nations (like many nations in South Asia and Africa). Currently, most of those developing and under-developed nations are far behind in terms of e-banking development and applications, although many banks in those nations have been implementing e-banking during recent years.

Therefore, this special issue aims to promote research works which address a variety of research issues in the specific area of e-banking. It provides a global forum for presenting authoritative references, academically rigorous research and case studies in both theoretical and applied research. The purpose of the special issue is to disseminate research and studies in the emerging e-banking application and development in those developing and under-developed nations and areas. It is a timely effort to attract researchers in the e-banking field to report their most updated research works.

The subject coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to:
  • Current e-banking development status in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Major issues and challenges facing in e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Comparative studies about e-banking applications and development between developed nations and developing or under-developed nations.
  • Case studies of e-banking development status in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Emerging m-banking - mobile technology such as wireless network and mobile devices that directly facilitate banking services in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Application of innovative e-banking services in developing or under-developed nations to improve banking industry as a whole.
  • Analysis of political, economic, social, legal and cultural environment in e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Government support and e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The relationship between a nation's IT technology infrastructure and e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The relationship between nation's general public education of modern IT technology and e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The relationship between nations' banking industry history and e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The impact of government regulations and policies on the e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The issues and challenges of e-banking development in rural and remote areas in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The current status of telephone-banking, PC-banking, internet-banking, and m-banking in developing or under-developed nations.
  • The economic analysis of e-banking: cost and benefit tradeoff in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Performance evaluation of e-banking systems in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Technological issues in e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Reviews of the application of e-banking services in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Human-computer interaction issues in e-banking system in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Privacy and security issues in e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Critical success factors for e-banking development in developing or under-developed nations.
  • Different cultural perceptions of e-banking services in developing or under-developed nations.
Important Dates
Proposal deadline (optional): May 1, 2009
Early submission deadline [*]: May 15, 2009
Full paper deadline: July 1, 2009
Notification of status & acceptance of paper: August 15, 2009
Final version of paper: August 30, 2009

Special issue: Health fitness management: the road to well-being and profits

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 5(4) 2009
  • Brand social representations: strategic perspectives for a fitness club
  • Investigating individual satisfaction in health and fitness training centres
  • Segmenting fitness centre clients
  • The industry of wellness: the improvement of well-being
  • Private fitness centres in France: from organisational and market characteristics to micromentalities of the managers
  • Expectations, satisfaction and loyalty in health and fitness clubs
  • The status of the professional development programmes of the health and fitness industry in Turkey

Special issue: on Entrepreneurship and innovation

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 7(4) 2009

Papers from the 2nd European Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on 8–9 November 2007.
  • Cooperation in innovation practices among firms in Portugal: do external partners stimulate innovative advances?
  • Dynamic capabilities, change and innovation in Greek SMEs: a preliminary study
  • Entrepreneurship and innovation within creative industries: a case study on the Finnish games industry
  • Partnerships and innovative patterns in small and medium enterprises
  • Strategy and innovation: making the right strategic decision and developing the right innovative capabilities
  • Entrepreneurs and branding in an environment of mass customisation and open innovation
  • A comparison of spectators' and franchise staffs' perceptions on the effectiveness of the marketing techniques adopted by the Super Basketball League in Taiwan
  • Building a sense of community through sport programming and special events: the role of sport marketing in contributing to social capital

Special issue: Innovation networks and knowledge clusters in the global knowledge economy and society: insights and implications for theory and practi

International Journal of Technology Management 46(3/4) 2009
  • 'Mode 3' and 'Quadruple Helix': toward a 21st century fractal innovation ecosystem
  • Technological cognition and co-adaptation in mesoeconomic plexuses
  • Indicators to support innovation cluster policy
  • Research partners
  • The structure and evolution of knowledge clusters: a system perspective
  • Absorptive capacity, network embeddedness and local firm's knowledge acquisition in the Global Manufacturing Network
  • Learning to grow: How new, small, high technology firms acquire cognitive and socio-political legitimacy in their regions
  • Regional knowledge dynamics in the biotechnology industry: a conceptual framework for micro-level analysis
  • Diversity of entrepreneurs and diversity of clusters in nanotechnologies

Special issue: Quality and reliability of products and processes: integrated product-process design

International Journal of Product Development 7(3/4) 2009
  • Design of optimum multiple-stress accelerated life testing plans based on proportional odds model
  • Bayesian method approach for fatigue life distribution estimation of rubber components
  • Development of a new reliability prediction model for predicting the reliability of repairable products
  • Computer-Aided Quality (CAQ) for powder technology
  • Bayesian estimation in accelerated life testing
  • A design-for-casting integrated approach based on rapid simulation and modulus criterion
  • Applications of converged networks in construction
  • Numerical simulation of floating-plug drawing of copper tubes with pores
  • 3D approach for the integration of new design methods applied to a middle-size company in the cosmetic sector
  • Statistical modelling, planning and inference in accelerated trials
Additional Papers
  • A generic methodology based on Six-Sigma techniques for designing and manufacturing consumer products for functionality
  • Extension of a QFD based design for functionality algorithm to enhance performance of complex consumer products

Special issue: Next generation IT-based intelligent transport system infrastructure and management

World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research 2(2/3) 2009
  • A distributed modelling framework for large-scale microscopic traffic simulation
  • Information technology requirements for intelligent evacuation systems
  • A retrospective precis of planning intelligent transport systems in Korea
  • Evaluation of incident management strategies and technologies using an integrated traffic/incident management simulation
  • Hourly traffic volume estimation: radio frequency identification application
  • Intelligent transport system for developing countries
  • Strategic niche management of intelligent transport systems deployment and development in developing countries
  • User acceptance of automatic vehicle location system technology: a study of motor carriers in Taiwan
  • Cellular probe technology applied in advanced traveller information system

Special issue: Major development for supply chain management, information systems and logistics

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 8(2) 2009

Papers from the 4th International Conference on Supply Chain Management and Information Systems (SCMIS 2006) held in Taiwan, 6-8 July 2006.
  • A framework for implementing TISIT model to integrate TQM with software and information technologies
  • Developing collaborative competencies within supply chains
  • Cost benefit sharing-based coordination in logistics networks
  • Implementation and empirical evaluation of voice-enabled web applications
  • A study on the effect of work environment perception on user satisfaction in health information systems: HISs quality as mediator
  • Supply chain quality orientation: Does company profile matter?

17 February 2009

Special issue: Alternative and special interest tourism

International Journal of Tourism Policy 2(1/2) 2009
  • The importance of networks in special interest tourism: case studies of music tourism in Australia
  • Soft city, hard sell: Manchester's popular music soundscape
  • Multidimensional segmentation of gastronomic tourists based on motivation and satisfaction
  • Length of stay in rural tourism: a local case
  • Are travellers' perceptions sufficient in evaluating ecotour operator ethics? A case study of Tambopata Reserve, Peru
  • Rural tourism lodgings' websites: a comparative study among Mediterranean countries
  • Tourism and European capitals of culture: the role of destination competitiveness governance
  • Queensland as a golf tourism destination: from South Korean market perspective
  • Tourism policy and cultural heritage in multi-ethnic societies: a view of Malaysia

16 February 2009

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Experimental Design and Process Optimisation

International Journal of Experimental Design and Process Optimisation - to begin publication in 2010 - will publish the latest research on a broad coverage of applied experimental statistics and experimental design for understanding and enhancing processes or systems in the physical, chemical, engineering sciences, including cross-disciplinary problems, such as quality, manufacturing, healthcare, human factors, pharmaceuticals, and service systems.

Special issue: IP, global health, and biomedicine

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management 3(2) 2009
  • Patient advocacy group collaboration in genetic research and the scope of joint inventorship under US patent law
  • Compulsory licensing for access to medicines in the developing world
  • Patent reform and compulsory licensing: a case study from India
  • Social justice and IP rights: Thailand's argument for non-negotiated compulsory licensing
  • Using IP law as a medical patient safety tool: efforts from the US and China
  • Issues and challenges in managing genetic intellectual property across complex collaborative networks: a proposed model for managers

Special issue: Renewable energy systems and management

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 4(1/2) 2009
  • Minimisation of financial losses due to voltage sag by reconfiguration of distribution network
  • Sizing and cost estimation methodology for stand-alone residential PV power system
  • Economic analysis for a wind turbine in Vadravadra Village in Fiji
  • A case study of wind-diesel hybrid configuration with battery as a storage device for a typical village in a Pacific island country
  • On Chinese major regulations of renewable energy
  • Product cost calculations of various designs of conventional solar still systems
  • Characteristics of innovation: a customer-centric view of barriers to the adoption of a renewable energy system
  • MATLAB/Simulink-based modelling and analysis of a grid connected wind energy conversion
  • Policy-practice-research of Chinese bioethanol program: past and future
  • The development of renewable energy in certain places of Western China
  • Managerial challenges for dynamic systems – the case of biofuel chains
  • Renewable energy and conservation options to meet Indian electrical energy demand
  • Wind energy assessment for Timimoun
  • A methodical study of reliability analysis of the crude oil unit in processing heavy oil

Special issue: Strategic issues in the management of sport firms and organisations: opportunities and challenges

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 5(3) 2009
  • Introducing FOrNeX: a composite index for the intangible resources of the football club
  • Coaching education: staff development strategies for the adult learner
  • Developing winning baseball teams: a neural net analysis
  • Auditing performance management practices: a comparison of Canadian sport organisations
  • Managing assets in the field of sports special events: a proposal for a new methodological and analytical approach
  • The power of sports marketing
  • Factors and focuses in the strategic decisions of sporting organisations: empirical evidence in sports associations
  • The quality of the relationships between fitness centres and their customers

Special issue: New developments in grinding and ultra-precision technology

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems 1(4) 2008
  • Developments in grinding process monitoring and evaluation of results
  • Dressing of CBN grinding wheels with ultrasonic assistance
  • Effects of ultrasonic vibration on grinding of 100Cr6
  • Improving grinding process economics through more effective fluid application
  • Analysis and optimisation of the hard broaching process with diamond tools
  • Efficient grinding of high-performance materials
  • Tendency of the tool developments for the machining with undefined cutting edges
  • Processes and trends for the dressing of superabrasive and conventional grinding wheels
  • Macro-topography effects on dry grinding with CBN wheels

15 February 2009

Call for papers: Quantum Dots in Biomedical Research

Call for papers: Quantum Dots in Biomedical Research

A special issue of International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

A quantum dot is a semiconductor whose excitons (an exciton is a bound state of an electron and an imaginary particle called an electron hole in an insulator or semiconductor, and such is a Coulomb-correlated electron-hole pair ) are confined in all three spatial dimensions. Their application in medical imaging, for diagnosis and prognosis, has been investigated in different labs. In such applications, quantum dots are used as qubits (quantum binary digits). There are several ways to confine excitons in semiconductors, resulting in different methods of producing quantum dots.

In general, quantum wires, wells and dots are grown by advanced epitaxial techniques in nanocrystals produced by chemical methods or by ion implantation, or in nanodevices made by state-of-the-art lithographic techniques. An immediate optical feature of colloidal quantum dots is their coloration. While the material which makes up a quantum dot defines its intrinsic energy signature, the quantum confined size of the nanocrystal is more significant at energies near the band gap. Thus quantum dots of the same material, but with different sizes, can emit light of different colours. The physical reason is quantum confinement effect.

The use of quantum dots for highly sensitive cellular imaging has seen major advances over the past decade. The improved photostability of quantum dots for example, allows the acquisition of many consecutive focal-plane images that can be reconstructed into a high-resolution three-dimensional image. Another application that takes advantage of the extraordinary photostability of quantum dot probes is the real-time tracking of molecules and cells over extended periods of time. Researchers were able to observe quantum dots in lymph nodes of mice for more than 4 months. The ability to image single-cell migration in real time is expected to be important to several research areas such as embryogenesis, cancer metastasis, stem-cell therapeutics, and lymphocyte immunology. The bottleneck of using quantum dots is their toxicity.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

Quantum dots:
  • History and development
  • Optical and electronic properties
  • Applications in biology and medicine
  • Quantum dots in medicinal chemistry and drug development
Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 June 2009
Communication of peer reviews to authors: 31 July 2009
Deadline for revised manuscripts: 30 September 2009

Call for papers: Advances in Concrete Structural Durability

Call for papers: Advances in Concrete Structural Durability

A special issue of International Journal of Structural Engineering

Concrete structures were traditionally viewed as being maintenance-free with a practically unlimited life. However, over the past several decades, a number of durability related problems have emerged and stimulated research into the key factors relating to durability of concrete structures globally. It is now generally accepted that concrete structures deteriorate with time. Actually, premature deterioration of concrete structures has been a major and growing world-wide problem. Therefore, there is an urgent necessity to formulate durability–based design and performance-based strategic maintenance methodologies to guarantee the durability of on-going construction concrete structures. This special issue focuses on the durability of concrete structures in structural engineering.

Original papers reporting new theoretical and experimental development are welcome, including but not limited to the following areas:
  • Influence of environments on durability
  • Ionic/molecular transport modelling
  • Material degradation
  • Performance of corroded components
  • Design for durability
  • Assessment and life prediction
  • Life-cycle management of concrete structures
  • Testing, inspection and monitoring methods
  • Repair and maintenance
  • Practical applications
  • Standards and rules
Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 1 April, 2009

Call for papers: Enterprise Systems Modelling and Simulation

Call for papers: Enterprise Systems Modelling and Simulation

A special issue of International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management

As many complex processes and systems, the enterprise context is a prominent application domain for modelling and simulation. Due to its field proven benefits, modelling and simulation is becoming a powerful method and tool in managing enterprises and designing and engineering enterprise systems. The focus of this special issue is on the role, importance, and application of modelling and simulation (M&S) in a rather extended enterprise context.

This extended context implies that enterprise information systems and software applications are designed to enable certain business processes, facilitate interaction of the actors, the system, and the environment, and help in the management of complex organisations such as an enterprise. Thus, application of modelling and simulation in the enterprise context involves a number of socio-technical aspects (information systems (IS), enterprise information systems (EIS), software systems, decision support systems, business systems, human interaction, etc.).

Although, the traditional role of modelling and simulation has been seen as instruments to observe dynamic behaviour of systems, measure IT impacts on organisations, and study outcomes of changes, currently the managerial perspective of modelling and simulation is receiving increasing attention. For example, modelling and simulation can play prominent role in the management of the enterprise, the decision making process, and in monitoring enterprise resources, strategic planning, etc.

With the launch of this special issue, we aim to create an outlet for researchers, practitioners, and educators interested in the application of modelling and simulation to both technical and managerial aspects of an enterprise, its information and business systems, decision making settings, and business environment.

Important Note:

This special issue is based on a collection of best papers presented at EOMAS 2009: International Workshop on Enterprise & Organizational Modeling and Simulation. Although public submissions are welcome, authors are encouraged to submit their papers to EOMAS 2009 for presentation before the conference submission due date of February 23 . Papers submitted to this special issue via the JMS portal will be reviewed after the EOMAS 2009 conference, rather than on the normal rolling basis.

This special issue solicits research results on the topics of interest, which include but are not limited to:
  • Modelling and simulation in enterprise management
  • Enterprise systems modelling and simulation
  • Enterprise modelling and simulation
  • Enterprise engineering, design, and ontology
  • Enterprise processes modelling and simulation
  • Information systems design, modelling and simulation
  • Requirements modelling and simulation
  • Process reengineering and redesign
  • Embedded simulation models for organizational decision support
  • Animation and visualisation of business processes
  • Enterprise workflow modelling and simulation
  • Inter-organisational process modelling and simulation
  • Simulation methods, techniques, and tools for enterprise systems
  • Security issues in enterprise and enterprise systems
  • Case studies on enterprise systems implementations
  • Collaborative, participative, and interactive modelling and simulation
  • Enterprise resource planning systems
  • Modelling and simulation in decision support systems
Important Dates
Paper Submission: 20 June, 2009
Authors Notification: 20 July, 2009
Final Submission: 1 August, 2009

Special issue: Service intelligence and service science

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 3(3) 2008
  • Modelling and analysing reliable service-oriented processes
  • An approach for discovering/indexing and composition of distributed services
  • Activity-centred and QoS semantics in service conceptual customisation and matchmaking
  • Rule-based business process modelling and enactment
  • Implementation of business processes in service-oriented systems

Special issue: Sustaining growth in developing countries through energy efficiency

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 7(1) 2009
  • Thermal impact of sinking residential buildings in hot regions – Kuwait as a case study
  • Smart operation of air-conditioning (A/C) and lighting systems for national load management
  • Energy-efficient operation of two-pipe fan-coil unit system with independent fresh air supply
  • The effect of reinforced concrete frames on the thermal performance of residential villas in hot climates
  • Energy efficiency management in India: a supply side perspective
  • Market operations in future Indian restructured power system scenario
  • Energy management program for the State of Kuwait
  • Optimal scheduling and operation of hybrid biomass/wind/PV energy system for rural areas
  • Omani Bedouins' readiness to accept solar thermoelectric refrigeration systems

Special issue: Surface integrity in machining processes

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials 4(2/3) 2008
  • Polish-mirror finish surfaces obtained by high precision turning
  • A numerical study of phase transformation during grinding
  • Surface profile prediction and analysis applied to turning process
  • Residual stress analysis in Inconel 718 milled turbine disk
  • Effect of shot peening parameters on the surface integrity of 316L material
  • Experimental investigation to predict the condition of cutting tool by surface texture analysis of images of machined surfaces based on amplitude parameters
  • Some studies on design and performance analysis of a new low plasticity burnishing tool
  • Effect of SiC powder-suspended dielectric fluid on the surface finish of 6061Al/Al2O3P/20p composites during electric discharge machining
  • A new approach for the modelling of residual stresses induced by turning of 316L austenitic stainless steel

Special issue: Corporate control transactions: contemporary issues and questions

International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance 1(4) 2009
  • Efficiency gains and foreign takeovers: remoteness matters
  • The returns to bidding firms in corporate takeovers: splitting up the pie
  • Determinants of premiums paid in European banking mergers and acquisitions
  • Prediction of acquisitions and portfolio returns

11 February 2009

Special issue: Next generation grinding wheels

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials 5(1) 2009
  • Monitoring the dressing operation in the grinding process
  • Influence of bonding types of coated abrasives on grindability of steel
  • Taguchi analysis in optimisation of belt grinding of stainless steel 304
  • Wheel wear mechanisms for silicon grinding: a literature review
  • Identification of significant parameters and appropriate levels in honing of cylinder liners
  • Lithia-rich vitrified bonded diamond grinding wheels for grinding polycrystalline diamond tools
  • Stability analysis on spindle speed variation method for machining chatter suppression
  • Wear of ceramic and resin-bonded diamond particles grinding polycrystalline compacted diamond

Special issue: Modelling and characterisation of dynamic processes of physiotherapy

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 5(3) 2008
  • Brief history of modern scientific research into acupuncture systems: a path from static anatomic structure of particles to dynamic dissipative structure of electromagnetic field
  • Background of electronic measurement on skin
  • A fuzzy approach to overcome electroacupuncture accommodation
  • Mathematical, physical and physiological background of normal distribution, delta distribution and log-normal distribution
  • Music therapy in viewpoint of biophysics
  • Ultraweak photon emission of Psilocybe cubensis mycelium tissue: comparison of tissue treated with acoustic waves and non-treated tissue
  • Suppressive influence of periodic and chaotic laser light on cancer cells
  • Mirror-log-normal distribution of body conductivity during nighttime sleeping
  • Frequency representation of the body alive: order of the moving body-in-process
  • Wave character and quantum character of acupuncture systems
  • Instrumental measurement of the degree of relaxation with meditation
  • Quantitative measurement on the degree of relaxation induced by acupuncture operation
  • Quantitative measurement on the effect of various manipulations of acupuncture operations

10 February 2009

Call for papers: Trends in Data Mining Concept and Applications

Call for papers: Trends in Data Mining Concept and Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Data Mining, Modelling and Management

Since its inception, the field of data mining and knowledge discovery from databases has been driven by the need to solve practical problems. From scaling to large databases and handling noisy and high-dimensional data to finding associational patterns in grocery store transaction data, data mining is a research area, rich in application. Despite its practical roots, a few case studies of data mining applications have been published so far in different platforms.

This special issue will attempt to address the gap by publishing the choices, strategies, and lessons learned from building a real-world data mining application. Data mining is today applied in a panoply of successful applications from business, marketing, medical research, financial securities, astronomy, surveillance, and even sport, to name but a few. The papers in this special issue aim to represent all application domains, which will allow a glimpse of current usage of data mining technology in real world systems.

We welcome conceptual and empirical papers, as well as interesting case studies that are within the scope of this issue. The issue will contain some papers from the International Conference on Information Technology & Business Intelligence (ITBI-09), to be held 6-8 November 2009 and some papers submitted directly as per instructions below. If more accepted papers are received than are needed for special issue, they will appear in a regular issue, if the authors wish.

Recommended topic areas include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Trend in data mining techniques
  • Pattern discovery in continuous and discrete data
  • Decision support systems
  • Uncertain management for data mining
  • Web mining
  • Clustering algorithms and applications
  • Intelligent data mining systems,
  • XML mining
  • Text mining
  • Distributed data mining
  • Soft computing techniques in data mining
  • Applications of data mining techniques
Important Dates
Submission of full paper: 10 September, 2009
Feedback from referees: 15 November, 2009
Submission due date of revised paper: 10 December, 2009
Notification of acceptance: 10 January, 2010
Submission of final revised paper: 25 January, 2010

Call for papers: Managing Innovative Distance Learning for Higher Education

Call for papers: Managing Innovative Distance Learning for Higher Education

A special issue of International Journal of Management in Education

Innovative distance learning covers a variety of domains dictated by the convergence of emerging innovative technologies such as wireless communication infrastructure and mobile devices, and innovative applications such as online learning tools and mobile connectivity. The Internet and emerging ICT infrastructure has improved the quality and reduced costs of the online learning experience in institutions. The wide-scale adoption of innovative e-learning continues to enhancing the flexibility and effectiveness of higher education. To provide successful and effective e-learning in higher education, management of effective innovative distance learning is critical. Therefore, this special issue is timely for institutions and practitioners who are interested in the development and delivery of innovative distance learning in higher education.

The special issue provides a global forum for presenting authoritative references, academically rigorous research and case studies in both theoretical and applied research. Its purpose is to discuss the effective management in state-of-the-art innovative distance learning. Specifically, this issue intends to disseminate research and studies in the emerging innovative e-learning environments including emerging innovative learning technologies, practical experiences on the design of innovative e-learning environments, applications of the innovative technologies to e-learning system development in institutions, economic and social contexts of innovative e-learning development, and the effective interaction between users and innovative e-learning environments.

The subject coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to:
  • Management of innovative e-learning environments
  • Emerging mobile technology management (technologies such as wireless network and mobile devices that directly facilitate learning)
  • Application of innovative e-learning systems in learning institutions (e.g. online Master's programmes)
  • Analysis of political, economic, social, legal and cultural environment in innovative distance learning for higher education
  • Supply chain and value chain management applied to distance learning
  • Currently implemented innovative distance learning applications
  • Studies of innovative e-learning in practice
  • Reviews of the application of innovative e-learning in multiple contexts
  • Human computer interaction issues in innovative e-learning
  • Mobile games for learning
  • Mobile collaborative e-learning
  • Privacy and security issues in innovative e-learning
  • Assessment of innovative e-learning in multiple contexts
  • Critical success factors for innovative e-learning diffusion
  • Cross-cultural innovative e-learning management
  • Knowledge management and e-learning strategies in higher education
  • Differing cultural perceptions of e-learning management in higher education
  • E-learning in corporate training and practice
  • E-learning in medicine
Important Dates
Proposal deadline (optional): 1 September, 2009
Early submission deadline [*]: 15 October, 2009
Full paper deadline: 30 December, 2009
Notification of status & acceptance of paper: 15 February, 2010
Final version of paper: 15 March, 2010

Special issue: The hydrogen economy and hydrogen treatment of materials

International Journal of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications 1(4) 2008

Papers from the Fifth International HTM Conference ‘Hydrogen Economy and Hydrogen Treatment of Materials’ (HTM-2007) held on 22–25 May 2007 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
  • Memorandum on a novel IAHE conception of a hydrogen civilisation of the future: historical aspects and the new challenges of the present day
  • The hydrogen materials community: its history and current status in the World Hydrogen Movement
  • Scenarios for the role of hydrogen in a future energy system based on renewable energy
  • Combustion strategies for PFI hydrogen IC engines
  • The technoeconomic assessment of the hydrogen fuel chain
  • An in situ investigation of the effect of hydrogen on ferritic stainless steel
  • The mathematical modelling of the hydroelastic effect of slowing down of the diffusion processes in metal-hydrogen systems
  • A comparative evaluation of palladium and platinum nanoparticles as catalysts in proton exchange membrane electrochemical cells

Special issue: Global issues in accounting

Journal for Global Business Advancement 2(1/2) 2009
  • Accounting development in the Nordic countries: a comparative study
  • Reasons for the GAAP: a study of the magnitude and reasons for differences in reported net income between Swedish and US GAAP for Swedish companies before and after implementation of IFRS
  • An analysis of social factors influencing the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards
  • Winds of change in accounting practices in an emerging market: some observations and thoughts
  • International Financial Reporting Standards and diversity in performance measures
  • Growing Chinese organisations in the global arena: developing a performance measurement system in a state-owned enterprise
  • Cross-country differences in the use of management accounting tools
  • Management control systems in multinationals: balancing global standardisation and local customisation
  • Impact of formal control mechanisms on the performance of international joint ventures
  • The Anglo-Saxon corporate governance model in Asia
  • Acceptance of good practices of corporate governance: a case-based model from developing capital markets

9 February 2009

Call for papers: Data Mining and Knowledge Management

Call for papers: Data Mining and Knowledge Management

A special issue of International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing

Companies no longer follow to the traditional philosophy of capturing market share by producing large volumes of standardised products. Businesses must now be able to quickly respond to today’s market needs and predict the future demands and expectations of their market base.

Data mining has important and crucial applications in manufacturing and engineering. Modern organisations produce and generate large volumes of data over time. This data include knowledge, patterns, and information that could lead to increased efficiencies, cost reduction and reliable operations. Knowledge generated from data mining process is an important factor in the success of these industries in the today’s competitive market.

The aim of this special issue is to identify the research issues related to data mining and its application in engineering and business environment in light of global challenges. The goal of this special issue is to cover a variety of topics and issues related to data mining with specific application to knowledge extraction and management.

Data Mining Concepts and Applications
  • Data mining for manufacturing applications/system.
  • Fault detection and diagnostics
  • Reliability and Maintenance
  • Process and Quality Control
  • CAD & CAM & engineering design
  • Material requirement planning (MRP).
  • Concurrent engineering
  • Decision support systems
  • New Product Development
  • Lean manufacturing
  • Other related subjects
Data Mining Frameworks, Methods and Technologies
  • Data mining and knowledge acquisition
  • Genetic Algorithms
  • Knowledge discovery from industrial data
  • Expert systems
  • Supervised/machine learning
  • Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)
  • Other related subjects
Case Studies

Important Dates
Paper Submission: 31 March 2009
Communication of Results: 15 May 2009
Final Manuscript submission: 31,July 2009

Special issue: Rural change and the revalorisation of rural property objects

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology 8(1) 2009
  • Property claims in genetically and non-genetically modified crops: intellectual property rights vs. brand property rights in postindustrial knowledge societies
  • Reconstructing the polder: negotiating property rights and 'blue' functions for land
  • The institutionalisation of property rights in Albanian and Romanian biodiversity conservation
  • Revalorisation of property objects and collective action: the case of reclamation systems in northwest Poland
Additional Paper
  • A heuristic analysis of equity and equality in the institutionalisation of property rights: the Baliraja water distribution experiment, India

Special issue: High-tech entrepreneurship

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 7(3) 2009

Papers from the 5th Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research (IECER) held in Montpellier, France, 28 February to 2 March 2007 .
  • Entrepreneurship in emerging high-tech industries: ICT entrepreneurs between experts and kamikazes
  • How are the conditions for high-tech start-ups in Germany?
  • The locational factors and performance of the high-tech startups in China
  • Entrepreneurship and ICT: a comparative analysis between Germany and Portugal
  • The impact of regional development policies on biotechnology firm creation: a comparative analysis of France, Germany and the UK
  • Of acting principals and principal agents: goal incongruence in the venture capitalist-entrepreneur relationship

Special issue: Teaching semantic web: integration with CS/IS curriculum and teaching case studies

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies 1(4) 2008
  • Teaching the semantic web: can semantics do the trick?
  • Challenges and principles in teaching semantic web technologies
  • Bridging the gap between data and semiotics: semantic data model
  • Exploring OWL and rules: a simple teaching case
  • An examination of assessment practices in colleges of business at various Middle East countries
  • What is missing in the semantic web cake?

Special issue: Multi-disciplinary approach to executive education and life-long learning: engineering, management and economics

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 19(1) 2009
  • The continuing education of engineers and engineering managers
  • New challenges for agribusiness management. Designing a curriculum for competencies building
  • Developing undergraduate and graduate production engineering programmes in Brazil: stimuli for a proactive investigation
  • Effective managerial performance and education: towards closing the gaps
  • A multi-disciplinary plan for executive education and life-long learning programmes in wind science and engineering
  • Engineering, management and economics: a case study in alloying disparate elements
  • Towards a practical understanding of interest rate determination and the investment decision

6 February 2009

Call for papers: E-Learning in Higher Education: EU Perspectives

Call for papers: E-Learning in Higher Education: EU Perspectives

A special issue of International Journal of Management in Education

E-learning is one of the most important tools for nowadays competitors in the area of higher education (HE). Different educational institutions are looking for new ideas, new tools and new methodologies for doing their businesses faster and more effectively. They are going to use the solutions that fit to the customer needs better. E-learning seems to be the critical success factor for public and private institutions offering the educational services for information society members. This is especially visible in the European Union, where significant funds are being invested in e-learning activities.

The purpose of this special issue is to focus on the EU perspective of e-learning in higher education in three areas:
  • e-learning methods and design,
  • e-learning management,
  • information systems and technologies for e-learning.
Special consideration will be given to manuscripts developing current solutions, and creating new ideas for undertaking e-learning in HE. We welcome authors presenting European Union visions and solutions, especially in comparison to American and Asian countries. Manuscripts presenting analyses and interpretations of empirical data are always welcome. Our goal is to promote innovative, holistic thinking about e-learning in higher education. We are going to stimulate international debate and encourage teams’ and individuals’ collection and analyses of relevant data.

Topics include (but are not limited to) the following:
  • E-learning in higher education business
  • Start-up of new e-learning courses (administrative, technical and faculty point of view)
  • Methodology of course content preparation
  • Higher education e-learning projects management
  • Administration of e-learning in higher education
  • The impact of e-learning on student and teacher learning
  • "Think local and work global" versus "Think global and work local"
  • E-learning program validation
  • Business intelligence for HE e-learning
  • Advances in e-learning technology
  • E-learning platforms for higher education
  • Multimedia in HE e-learning
  • EU issues involved with e-learning in higher education to a global audience
  • Ethical issues of e-learning in higher education
  • Copyright, security, identity and privacy
  • Intellectual property and other legal issues
  • Other relevant topics
Important Dates
Papers Due: 30 September 2009
Peer Reviews Returned: 30 October 2009
Finalised Papers Due: 15 January 2010

Special issue: Virtual learning and knowledge sharing

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations 6(2) 2009
  • Learning from achievement: scaffolding student projects in software engineering
  • Empathy in virtual learning environments
  • The web learning system of 'Virtual eBMS': a tool supporting unstructured and just-in-time learning
  • Implementing global virtual teams to enhance cross-border transfer of knowledge in multinational enterprises: a resource-based view
  • An Indian logic-based knowledge-sharing architecture for virtual knowledge communities
  • Interaction quality within communities of practice: contextual factors of utilising different communication media

Special issue: Usability and information quality

International Journal of Information Quality 2(2) 2008
  • The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System: factors that affect the quality of its emergency data
  • Defining a framework for the evaluation of information
  • Quality of service in e-government underlines the role of information usability
  • Automation of webpage quality determination
Additional Papers
  • Effects of information quality on inventory management
  • Surgical disruption: information quality perspective

5 February 2009

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making

International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making - to begin publication in 2010 - will publish research contributing to the theory and practice of decision making in ill-structured problems involving multiple criteria, goals and objectives. It will cover all aspects of multicriteria decision making, including theoretical studies, empirical investigations, comparisons, and real-world applications . Connections with other disciplines in operations research and management science will also be considered.

Special issue: Tug of war in the field of IP – searching for a balanced attitude to managing intellectual property

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management 3(1) 2009
  • Does knowledge mediate the relationship between the environment and the decision to innovate or imitate?
  • Network governance dynamics impact on intellectual property management: the case of a franchise system
  • Is coopetition different from cooperation? The impact of market rivalry on value creation in alliances
  • Complementarities between strategies to protect inventions and innovations: evidence from manufacturing SMEs
  • Exclusion and coordination in collaborative innovation and patent law

Special issue: Service-oriented computing: agents, semantics and engineering

International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering 3(1) 2009

Extended papers from the workshop on Service-Oriented Computing: Agents, Semantics and Engineering (SOCASE 2008) held on 12 May 2008 in Estoril, Portugal, in conjunction with the Seventh International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS’2008).
  • Web service clustering using text mining techniques
  • The process mediation framework for semantic web services
  • Commitment-based service coordination
  • The goal-oriented design of agent systems: a refinement of Prometheus and its evaluation

Special issue: Agent based simulation in artificial societies

International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management 6(1) 2009
  • Individual incentives in supervised work groups: from human subject experiments to agent based simulation
  • Cars or buses: computer simulation of a social and economic dilemma
  • Agent-based simulation in market and production system
  • Agent-based simulation of a simple market
  • A simulation study of public goods contributions
  • A systematic approach of multi-person games

4 February 2009

Special issue: Nanotechnology in New Zealand

International Journal of Nanotechnology 6(3/4) 2009
  • Plasmon-enhanced optical transmission of nanostructured metallic multilayers
  • Nanoscale films covalently attached to conducting substrates: structure and dynamic behaviour of the layers
  • Nanostructures of zinc oxide
  • Protein nanofibres of defined morphology prepared from mixtures of crude crystallins
  • Molecular dynamics simulations of nanoparticles
  • Setting directions for nanotechnology in New Zealand
  • The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology: a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence
  • Hybrid materials of conducting polymers with natural fibres and silicates
  • Multi-walled carbon nanotubes synthesised from different catalysts: morphology, dielectrophoresis and conductance
  • Raman frequency dispersion studies of substituted polythiophene films
  • Single cell imaging with AFM using Biochip/Bioimprint technology
  • Group-IV and V ion implantation into nanomaterials and elemental analysis on the nanometre scale
  • Atomic cluster device research in New Zealand
  • A proposition for single molecule DNA sequencing through a nanopore entropic trap
  • Chaotic scattering in nano-electronic systems: from billiards to clusters
  • Quantum dots and nanostructured conducting polymers for biosensing applications

Special issue: Nanotechnology

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology 2(2) 2009
  • Nanotechnology and diagnostics in the age of omics
  • Biomaterial surface patterning of self-assembled monolayers for controlling neuronal cell behaviour
  • Security risks for remote intelligent Pharmacy-on-a-Chip delivery systems
  • Nanostructured Lipid Carriers and their application in drug delivery
  • A knowledge-based primary care approach to increase breast screening attendance

Call for papers: Design, Integration, and Maintenance of Services for Developing Nations and Economies

Call for papers: Design, Integration, and Maintenance of Services for Developing Nations and Economies

A special issue of International Journal of Services, Economics and Management

The need for access to information and communication is almost as important as food, shelter and health care needs in any population group. More importantly, developing countries need access to information and experiences from developed countries to not only improve living standards there, but also to promote collaboration through global connectivity and information sharing.

In developing countries, it is difficult for most people to access information because the tools and the technologies for access such as computers and the internet are prohibitively expensive and require training prior to use. This prohibits those who are either poor, illiterate, or without any computer skills from gaining access to information. Unfortunately, this group of people represents the majority of the people living in the underdeveloped areas of the world, especially on the continent of Africa . The inability to access information and participate in the global information economy brings about new forms of social injustices through social exclusion and marginalisation.

Within the economies of developing countries, there is a growing push for technology and innovative uses of technologies and the services that support them. In particular, Western culture has remained at the forefront in its understanding and application of technology design and in the development practices of technology. As such, it seems only natural that products, services, technologies, and approaches to the design and development of these aforementioned innovations that are commonplace in Western cultures could be applied to solve the problems of developing countries and economies as well. However, the reality is veyr different. What happens in practice is that products and services designed and developed for developing countries using Western-influenced practices and biases fail to provide a culturally authentic framework for understanding non-Western cultures and how we can best design technology to fit their needs.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

Service Design, Engineering, and Innovations for Developing Countries & Emerging Markets
  • Service offerings and technologies that remove barriers of access to information
  • Leveraging existing technology to create innovative service offerings for underserved populations
  • Developing an infrastructure that establishes a pipeline between government policies and delivery of goods and services
  • Engineering service technologies to create educational or training opportunities
  • Developing service technologies to address the healthcare needs of indigenous populations
Information and communication technologies and systems (ICTS) for social and economic development
  • Design methodologies and practices that facilitate sociability and/or economic growth
  • User studies of indigenous populations and their use of technology in unexpected ways
  • Lessons learned: when targeted populations in developing countries fail to adopt technology designed specifically for them
  • Alignment of service science research with industry practices for design, development and delivery of ICTS
Sustainability
  • Development of “green” technologies to support ecosystems and ecological processes in developing countries
  • Development of sustainable IT technologies and business models to promote renewable resources and reduce environmental impact
  • Business cases and industry best practices of sustainable products, services and systems that are co-developed with constituents
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 29 May, 2009
Notification of Acceptance: 17 July, 2009
Final camera-ready submission deadline: 18 December, 2009

Call for papers: Managing Online Teaching in Higher Education

Call for papers: Managing Online Teaching in Higher Education

A special issue of International Journal of Management in Education

Online education has emerged as a core means of aggressive competition among institutions of higher education. The challenges and strategic opportunities associated with online education can be addressed from multiple perspectives, as is evidenced via the variety of related topics published in IJMIE.

The purpose of this special issue is to focus on the perspective of managing online teaching:
  • How can and should institutions of higher education manage online teaching?
  • How does managing online teaching impact the institution's strategic mission?
  • How does it impact faculty and students?
Special consideration will be given to manuscripts challenging current assumptions regarding the management of online teaching and positing creative and innovative ideas. Manuscripts presenting analyses and interpretations of empirical data are always welcome. Our goal is to foster and promote innovative thinking, stimulate critical debate, encourage collection and analyses of relevant data, and add to the theoretical foundations used in discussions related to the management of online teaching within institutions of higher education.

Topics include (but are not limited to) the following:
  • Advances in teaching technology
  • Standardisation of course content
  • Faculty support; additional pressure on faculty
  • The impact of managing online teaching on student learning
  • Centralisation vs. independence of course development authority
  • Administrator vs. faculty perspective
  • Programme validation
  • Faculty assessment and development
  • Balancing on-campus and online classes
  • Faculty compensation issues
  • Faculty-student interactions
  • Cultural issues involved with managing online teaching to a global audience
  • Issues surrounding distribution and use of texts and other online teaching materials
  • Intellectual property, cyberplagiarism and other legal issues
  • Ethical issues
  • Other relevant topics
Important Dates
Papers Due: 15 June 2009
Peer Reviews Returned: 15 August 2009
Finalised Papers Due: 15 October 2009

Call for papers: Recent Advances in Network Security Attacks and Defences

Call for papers: Recent Advances in Network Security Attacks and Defences

A special issue of International Journal of Internet Protocol Technology

Over the past few years, network security attacks have become easier to use, stealthier, more sophisticated and powerful with techniques to bypass, subvert and even target today's security defences such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and antivirus software. A plethora of research has been devoted to designing and devising more effective, intelligent, adaptive and active defence systems and mechanisms.

This special issue strives to foster state-of-the-art research pertaining to recent advances in the area of security attacks and defences related to computer networks. The issue focuses on bringing forth recent and novel research work geared towards identifying and detecting today's security attacks and designing best defences and countermeasures to achieve more secure networks, protocols, systems, and applications.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
  • Distributed attack systems and mechanisms
  • Botnet and Rootkit attacks and defences
  • Modern web attacks
  • Analysis of new attack vectors and attack surfaces
  • Firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems
  • Intelligent defence systems
  • Active and adaptive defence systems
  • Novel and emerging secure architecture
  • Bio-inspired security defences
  • Implementation, deployment and management of security systems
  • Tradeoffs between security and system performance
  • Threat modelling and secure software systems
Important Dates
Full Manuscript Due: 1 June, 2009
Acceptance Notification: 30 September, 2009
Final Manuscript Due: 30 November, 2009

Call for papers: Contemporary Issues and Trends for Effective Management in Education

Call for papers: Contemporary Issues and Trends for Effective Management in Education

A special issue of International Journal of Management in Education

Nowadays, universities and educational institutions are faced with the challenges similar to private enterprises. Such challenges involve globalisation and competition, diversity, financial restrictions, quality assurance, and investment in new technologies. Globalisation, including on-line degrees and academic accreditation, impacts on policy initiatives and planning. Competition, as a result of declining population and new entries of private and international universities, has brought profound changes in how the universities recruit new students and promote themselves. Diversity from students’ background, age, and demographical locations has brought the need to look at ways to utilise these diverse experiences into campus life. Financial restrictions and budget constraints have definitely impacted liquidity and the ability to upgrade and replace expensive laboratory equipment, especially those with rapid depreciation. Quality assurance, as demanded by key stakeholders such as students, parents, and employers, has played a more prominent role in promoting research and external funding and publications as well as in changing the teaching and learning methodologies. Finally, adapting to new technologies has been critical for universities that focus on research education and life-long learning.

How to address and overcome the above challenges will be a difficult task for administrators and academicians alike. How to manage changes in universities and educational institutions can be strenuous and complicated. How to blend research and extension services into strategies of educational management represents an ongoing challenge faced by all administrators. The culture and independence nature of staff in the name of academic freedom are still important for excellence in teaching and learning. More importantly, emerging issues such as life-long learning, quality of work life and safety of students, and asset and financial investment have to be better understood.

Past successes and failures, current practices, and future plans relating to contemporary issues and trends should be brought up, shared, and discussed. Sharing this knowledge can potentially lead to more effective management in and higher performance for universities.

Contributed papers may deal with, but are not limited to:
  • Public trust
  • Accountability for universities and educational institutions
  • Managing public vs private universities
  • University partnerships - global, regional, and local
  • Leadership in education
  • Long-term and strategic planning
  • Financial management and liquidity in universities and educational institutions
  • Asset and financial investment decisions
  • Globalisation and competition in education
  • Quality assurance in education and accreditation
  • Change management in education
  • Knowledge management in universities and educational institutions
  • Risk management in universities and educational institutions
  • Retirement, replacement, and succession plan
  • Performance measurement for universities and educational institutions
  • Classroom teaching and learning
  • Life-long learning
  • Distance education
  • Blending research and extension services into classroom teaching
  • Information and communication technology for teaching and learning
  • Diversity and cultures for effective management in education
  • Equity and opportunities in education
  • Staff development
  • Quality of work life, safety, and securities of students
Important Date
Submission deadline: July 15, 2009

Call for papers: Mechatronics for Ground Vehicle Autonomy: Modelling, Design and Control

Call for papers: Mechatronics for Ground Vehicle Autonomy: Modelling, Design and Control

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems

Autonomy of unmanned ground vehicles to a large extent depends on dynamics and performance of the vehicles and results in the interaction between vehicle systems and terrain/surroundings. Therefore, we can speak of the systems’ influence on unmanned vehicle dynamics and performance and hence on the vehicle autonomy. Autonomously-operating systems of unmanned vehicles are classified here as mechatronic-type systems. This Special Issue concentrates on modelling and controlling the dynamics and performance of unmanned ground vehicles through modelling, designing and controlling their mechatronic systems to advance the level of vehicle autonomy.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following areas:
  • Advanced analytical and adaptive dynamics methods in modelling unmanned vehicle dynamics and vehicle mechatronic systems
  • Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of vehicle autonomy; vehicle system contribution
  • Human factors in unmanned vehicle dynamics and vehicle autonomy
  • Computational methods for unmanned vehicle dynamics analysis and development of open architecture software products
  • Dynamics, design and control of modular/reconfigurable vehicles and systems
  • Mobility and survivability of unmanned vehicles in uncertain terrain/surroundings
  • Unmanned vehicle turnability and stability of motion: modeling and control
  • Optimisation of unmanned vehicle dynamics and performance while fulfilling the mission tasks
  • Uncertain and certain impacts and dynamic behavior of unmanned vehicles and systems
  • Interaction between powertrain, chassis systems, navigation, vision/surrounding detection systems and unmanned vehicle mission fulfillment systems
  • Vehicle mechanical design for mechatronics requirements
Although the focus is primarily on passenger vehicles, submissions dealing with commercial and military vehicles will also be considered.

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 15 May, 2009
Completion of first review: 1 September, 2009
Submission of revised paper: 15 October, 2009
Completion of final review: 15 November, 2009
Final paper due: 15 December, 2009