Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications are now available here for free:

• Spectral descriptors for the assessment of vocal fold nodules and feature optimisation using MRMR algorithm
• Face recognition using threshold string representation matching under unconstrained conditions
• Brain tumour segmentation for overall survival prediction
• Detection of waterlogging in urban road traffic based on improved YOLOv5-seg and ellipse fitting algorithm
• Analysis of interference cancellation under limited frequency band resources for B5G communication system application scenarios

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development are now available here for free:

• The role of civil society and good governance in effective air quality management in the South Durban Industrial Basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• How the mitigation of environmental impacts affect economic performance in UK manufacturing and construction companies
• The research on green logistics management strategy in the perspective of ecological environment protection
• Atmospheric pollution and climate change in urban areas: a review of implemented policies
• GA-IPSO-BSVM based sustainable development of ecological economic logistics data forecasting model
• Simultaneous effects of climate and land use change on watershed hydrological processes

Ask not what AI can do for your business…

The advent of generative artificial intelligence, GenAI, has changed how businesses use digital technologies. Where for many years AI was used as a predictive, analytical, and diagnostic tool, now it can produce ideas, articles, computer code, images, video, and music.

The turning point perhaps came in late 2022 with the public release of systems such as ChatGPT. These new tools allowed users to interact with complex AI models through conversational prompts. They could give the GenAI written, and more recently, spoken instructions, and the system would respond. These tools have since then become increasingly sophisticated and are now used across the corporate world and beyond.

The change happened partly because there were major developments in machine learning, a branch of computer science in which algorithms learn patterns from large datasets and can produce an output to a given prompt based on what they have learned. Central to this process is the so-called transformer model. This is a type of neural network architecture that can analyse relationships between different entries in a large volume of data. Neural networks are computational systems loosely inspired by the structure of the human brain. Transformer-based systems, including the GPT family of models, are particularly effective at generating coherent language from their training data given an appropriate prompt.

There are other approaches to GenAI. Generative adversarial networks (GANs), for instance, use two neural networks that play off each other. One creates synthetic data based on its training, and the second evaluates how real that data is based on its own training. The process goes back and forth until the output is deemed optimal and the system can no longer improve the synthetic output or make it any more real than it is.

There are various other approaches, such as variational autoencoders, which compress and simplify data and then generate variations on the themes. Diffusion models, widely used for image generation, begin with random noise and gradually transform it into structured images. More often than not, a GenAI might be using at least two of these approaches in a multimodal system that can produce text, images, and audio together.

Writing in the International Journal of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business, researchers discuss how well all of these systems work, the value they create, and the ethics associated with GenAI. Where GenAI is augmenting one-on-one human interaction or helping make business decisions, there are issues of bias inherent in training data as well as labour disruption to consider.

As AI systems assist increasingly in analytic, writing, and creative work, knowledge workers and many other people will collaborate more and more with machines. The change is disruptive, it is likely that many jobs will become redundant. However, with automation there will be a greater need for critical thinking and ethical judgement.

Zouaghi, I. and Fosso Wamba, S. (2026) ‘Business transformation in the age of generative AI: from strategy to societal impact’, Int. J. Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business, Vol. 1, Nos. 1/2, pp.238–262.

Free Open Access issue published by International Journal of Information and Communication Technology

The International Journal of Information and Communication Technology has published an Open Access issue. All of the issue’s papers can be downloaded via the full-text links available here.

• Integrated knowledge graph and reinforcement learning: a graph modelling approach for international trade behaviour analysis and economic trend prediction
• Knowledge tracing in mathematical problem-solving processes: a spatio-temporal graph neural network approach
• EC-RLPA: a dynamic pricing law framework for smart connected vehicles integrating edge computing and reinforcement learning
• Collaborative multi-agent Q-learning-empowered vocational education resource matching system
• A dynamic evaluation model for sports sponsorship value based on neural-symbolic fusion learning

New Open Access article available: "Visualisation of Chinese phonemes based on three-dimensional tongue model and ultrasound images"

The following International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing article, "Visualisation of Chinese phonemes based on three-dimensional tongue model and ultrasound images", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

Research pick: Coming to your educational rescue - "Emotional support and satisfaction with university campus life: mediation of self-efficacy and problem-solving"

Emotional support from parents and teachers can play an important role in how satisfied students feel with university life in Pakistan, according to research in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management based on a survey of almost 600 undergraduates. The study suggests that encouragement and understanding from family and faculty do more than provide comfort: they appear to strengthen students’ psychological resources in ways that make campus life more manageable and rewarding for them.

The researchers turned to social support theory, a framework for understanding how caring relationships enhance psychological well-being and resilience, to help them investigate campus life.

Their analysis of the survey data did not just ask whether support improves satisfaction but explored how it does so. In particular, they assessed whether two psychological characteristics, self-efficacy and problem-solving ability, act as mediators of support. Self-efficacy describes a person’s belief in their own ability to succeed. Problem-solving capacity refers to one’s skills and confidence in resolving difficulties.

The team found that parental support is linked to stronger self-efficacy and improved problem-solving skills, which in turn contribute to greater satisfaction. Encouragement from home seems to foster confidence and a sense of competence. Emotional support from teachers follows a different pattern. Students who see their instructors as respectful, attentive, and supportive also report higher satisfaction with campus life. This relationship, the researchers suggest, is partly explained by enhanced problem-solving ability. Supportive teachers appear to help students think through challenges and develop strategies to address them. Teacher support did not significantly influence self-efficacy in this study. In others, words, teachers might help students tackle specific problems without fundamentally shaping the student’s self-belief.

The team adds that the cultural setting is important. In a society where family bonds and collective aspirations remain central even into early adulthood, parental influence may continue to outweigh that of teachers in shaping self-belief. This contrasts with studies in the West, where support from teachers in higher education, are more strongly associated with a student’s sense of competence.

Ahmad, M.S., Ahmad, M.A. and Elgammal, I. (2026) ‘Emotional support and satisfaction with university campus life: mediation of self-efficacy and problem-solving’, Int. J. Services, Economics and Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp.81–101.

New Open Access article available: "Sustainable fashion in the digital age: investigating consumer responsiveness to value-driven in-app pre- and post-purchase marketing strategies"

The following International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing article, "Sustainable fashion in the digital age: investigating consumer responsiveness to value-driven in-app pre- and post-purchase marketing strategies", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

New Open Access article available: "The mediating role of psychological capital in linking environmental dynamism to entrepreneurial persistence among nascent entrepreneurs in China"

The following International Journal of Business Innovation and Research article, "The mediating role of psychological capital in linking environmental dynamism to entrepreneurial persistence among nascent entrepreneurs in China", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

New Open Access article available: "Environmental, social and governance reporting quality and firm lag vs. lead performance: evidence from Sri Lankan listed companies"

The following International Journal of Business Excellence article, "Environmental, social and governance reporting quality and firm lag vs. lead performance: evidence from Sri Lankan listed companies", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

Research pick: Throwing shade on the dark side of AI - "The dark side of artificial intelligence"

Artificial intelligence, AI, has become one of the defining technologies of what economists and policymakers describe as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is an era in which digital, physical, and biological systems are increasingly intertwined. In practical terms, AI refers to computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as recognising patterns, learning from data, making predictions, and assisting in complex decisions.

Aside from the generative AI and search tools that are at the forefront of the media and economic hyperbole, analytical and related AI systems already underpin smart manufacturing platforms, digital twins for testing and optimising equipment performance, adaptive cybersecurity tools, medical diagnostics, and much more. It is unlikely that within a decade or so many occupations will not have been augmented or displaced by AI tools. The potential for productivity, innovation, and economic growth is great.

As with any new technology, however, there are good reasons to look closely at the social and economic impact AI might have. It would be prudent to put safeguards in place urgently given the way in which technologies have often amplified inequality, weakened democratic norms, and introduced new systemic risks in the past.

Research in the International Journal of Generative Artificial Intelligence has looked closely at many of the issues that are coming to the fore, such as labour disruption, deepfakes, the opacity of advanced AI models, bias, copyright, privacy, and security issues. Then, there is the issue of whether a superintelligent AI might surpass human abilities and redefine our very existence, perhaps even determining, algorithmically or some kind of awareness, that we as a species are redundant, or worse, a problem that needs to be removed.

The researchers suggest that at the geopolitical level, international coordination is a major challenge, not least given the rogue behaviour of some so-called state actors. The trajectory that AI takes in this Fourth Industrial Revolution is not fixed, nor is it predictable. We need to work together to ensure that it works for the benefit of humanity and the planet.

Min, H. (2026) ‘The dark side of artificial intelligence’, Int. J. Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business, Vol. 1, Nos. 1/2, pp.199–209.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Powertrains

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Powertrains are now available here for free:

• Short-term load forecasting technique for power system based on grey correlation analysis and factor analysis
• Experimental study on cold start strategy of high-power fuel cell system
• Physics-based reverse recovery modelling of ultrafast recovery Si diodes with carrier lifetime control
• Performance evaluation of ant colony optimisation suggested energy management in using HOMER
• Energy management techniques for fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles: a critical review

Free Open Access issue published by International Journal of Critical Infrastructures

The International Journal of Critical Infrastructures has published an Open Access issue. All of the issue’s papers can be downloaded via the full-text links available here.

• Extraction of crack characteristics and local damage detection in complex hydraulic concrete structures
• BIM parametric modelling analysis of instability of concrete building components under continuous vibration

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning are now available here for free:

• Revolutionising education: the evolution, current landscape and future of digital learning
• Challenges for teachers in integrating ICT into geography teaching and promoting map reading skills in secondary schools in Namibia
• Algerian students' satisfaction with using ICT in higher education: the application of the technology satisfaction model
• The effect of video-based tool approach on facilitating socioemotional regulation skills in CSCL environments
• Unveiling the social media surveillance research: themes, ethics and global implications
• Smart education: opportunities, challenges and future of traditional education

New Open Access article available: "Unethical leadership in the South African public sector tender processes through the lens of game theory"

The following International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics article, "Unethical leadership in the South African public sector tender processes through the lens of game theory", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

New Open Access article available: "AI in sustainable higher education: an interpretive structural model and MICMAC approach"

The following International Journal of Business and Globalisation article, "AI in sustainable higher education: an interpretive structural model and MICMAC approach", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

New Open Access article available: "Applying the Jidoka concept to white-collar departments: an examination of the JKK initiative at Toyota Motors"

The following International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management article, "Applying the Jidoka concept to white-collar departments: an examination of the JKK initiative at Toyota Motors", is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

Free Open Access issue published by World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development

The World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development has published an Open Access issue. All of the issue’s papers can be downloaded via the full-text links available here.

• Entrepreneurship at the base of the pyramid: effectual logics and sustainable development
• Potential of digital marketing and determinants of the 5A marketing strategy: a case in Thailand

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Project Organisation and Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Project Organisation and Management are now available here for free:

• Critical factors and intention to use public private partnership in public projects in Ghana: the mediating role of institutional quality
• Project management methods against failure factors in complex infrastructure projects: the Netherlands view
• Driving forces for multinational construction consortiums: the case of a Greek mega-project
• Cross-functional integration case study from project management office: impacts, controversies and inhibitors
• A critique of project management research

Research pick: Sites of the underground - "Application of deep learning algorithms in the design of urban subway public art space"

Underground metro (subway) stations are no longer merely points of departure and arrival. As cities grow denser and transit networks expand, these spaces have the potential to function as some of the most widely shared public interiors in urban life. They are places where millions pass daily, cutting across age, income, and neighbourhood. They offer a rare platform for collective cultural experience. Stations can, suggests research in the International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, anchor local identity, narrate a city’s history, and shape how residents and visitors alike perceive the character of the urban environment.

The research addresses a practical question confronting transport authorities and urban designers: how can large-scale public art projects fit into this infrastructure as it changes? Traditional artist-led design processes, though highly creative, can be time-intensive. By contrast, deep learning has allowed computers to generate high-quality images at speed. The missing link is that the computer-generated images may not understand the cultural meaning that the images need to convey. There is also a need to take into account how well a design might be installed in a real site.

The researchers hope to bridge this gap and have developed a multi-stage framework that integrates cultural analysis, visual cognition modelling, and spatial feasibility testing into a single pipeline.

Their approach is based on a semantic labelling system. The system can organise cultural concepts, such as local history, regional traditions, and environmental identity, into a knowledge graph. This graph can map relationships between ideas, enabling the computer to understand individual symbols and how they fit with broader narratives.

The framework then uses Contrastive Language-Image Pretraining, CLIP, is a deep neural network trained on vast datasets of containing pairings of images and text. An additional layer simulates human perception through a visual attention prediction network, considering composition, spatial layout, and pedestrian flow. By predicting where passengers are likely to focus while moving through a station, the system can position key symbolic elements in high-attention zones. The researchers suggest this could improve not only the aesthetic impact of the art installation but also the way in which pedestrians navigate the subway stations.

Wang. Q. (2026) ‘Application of deep learning algorithms in the design of urban subway public art space’, Int. J. Environment and Sustainable Development, Vol. 25, No. 5, pp.44–72.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Computing Science and Mathematics

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Computing Science and Mathematics are now available here for free:

• Short-term power load prediction based on CNN-LSTM model
• Multi-objective optimisation of cigarette production planning and inventory management
• Offshore wind power prediction based on chaotic optimisation PSO-SCN-LSTM model
• A method for capturing English oral pronunciation errors based on speech recognition
• Visual communication method for multi feature media images based on interactive modelling
• A synergic deep learning approach for efficient grading of glioma via MRI images

Free Open Access issue published by International Journal of Information and Communication Technology

The International Journal of Information and Communication Technology has published an Open Access issue. All of the issue’s papers can be downloaded via the full-text links available here.

• Cross-modal sentiment analysis of new media content based on an enhanced question-answering framework
• A fusion architecture of heterogeneous graph neural network and reinforcement learning for business innovation decision-making
• Investigation of a music genre data classification method based on an improved ECAPA-TDNN algorithm
• Mobile terminal-assisted interactive English learning design to facilitate knowledge deepening
• Fusing ConvLSTM and graph convolutional network for mapping the suitability of elderly-friendly tourist destinations

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Services, Economics and Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management are now available here for free:

• Research of the possibilities and results of the implementation of the principles of the green economy using Industry 4.0 technologies on the example of the utility sector
• Is the game worth a candle? Users' adoption of private cloud computing
• Telecommunications service industry collaboration with over the top services for optimising state revenue in Indonesia
• Entrepreneurial initiatives during pandemic in Bangladesh
• Analysis of critical success factors in robust service systems through fuzzy cognitive map

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Environmental Engineering

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Environmental Engineering are now available here for free:

• Assessment of daily and seasonal concentrations of particulates matters generated by rice mills in Makurdi using cluster analysis
• Kinetics of adsorption of pollutants removal from mine wastewater by a coal fly ash-based coagulant
• Exploring the intensity, duration and frequency of rainfall in selected Southern Nigeria's urban landscapes
• Environmental and economic modelling for municipal solid waste management strategies: a case study in OH, USA
• Electrochemical recovery of copper from the waste computer printed circuit board

Research pick: Rebuilding Syria ethically - "Mediating role of ethical intention between social norms, code of ethics and ethical decision-making"

In a country where the physical scars of war remain visible in shattered buildings and disrupted markets, research in the International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy suggests that the moral architecture of business may be just as important to recovery in Syria as capital investment and bricks & mortar.

A study of 200 business leaders working in international companies in Aleppo and Damascus finds that ethical decision-making in Syria can be explained, to a significant degree, by a well-established psychological framework known as the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This theory suggests that human behaviour is primarily shaped by intention, a person’s conscious plan or readiness to act. Those intentions, in turn, are influenced by three factors: personal attitudes, perceived social expectations, and perceived control over whether the behaviour is realistically achievable.

In practical terms, individuals are more likely to act ethically if they believe ethical conduct is right, think that others expect it of them, and feel capable of acting accordingly.

The researchers applied this theory in the context of Syria as part of an effort to understand how business leaders make ethical choices amid conflict, economic disruption, and institutional fragility. Their focus was Syria’s post-war reconstruction drive, a national strategy aimed at restoring infrastructure, reviving markets, and rebuilding social trust after years of violence.

Trust, the study notes, is not an abstract virtue in such an environment. It is a prerequisite for attracting investment, stabilising supply chains, and enabling cooperation between domestic firms and international partners. Ethical business conduct is thus a functional prerequisite of economic recovery.

For practitioners, the implications are concrete. The findings indicate that organisations seeking to strengthen ethical leadership cannot rely solely on written rules. Codes of ethics must be actively communicated and embedded within organisational culture, the shared values and practices that shape everyday work. When ethical expectations become part of that culture, they function as powerful social norms, guiding behaviour even in the absence of direct oversight.

Amoozegar, A., Lata, A., Falahat, M., Shakib, S., Kumar, M., Ramzani, S.R. and Yadav, M. (2026) ‘Mediating role of ethical intention between social norms, code of ethics and ethical decision-making’, Int. J. Diplomacy and Economy, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp.1–20.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation are now available here for free:

• Small and medium-sized entities as users of accounting services: do professional accountants meet the needs of their SME client?
• Fraud investigation skills for internal auditors
• The global credit sector in shadow of COVID-19: financial assessment
• Contents and determinants of corporate social responsibility reporting in the context of the Arab Spring crisis
• The role of big data in public sector accounting and budgeting practices: evidence from a pandemic environment of an emerging economy
• Economic policy uncertainty and earnings management: evidence from China
• Organisational justice, mediated by affective commitment, and time budget pressure effect to the millennial auditor turnover intention
• Successive economic cycles and the Fisher effect
• To what extent Covid-19 pandemic affect corporate risk disclosure: case of UAE listed companies
• Auditing in times of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: qualitative research in the Tunisian context
• Corporate governance and financial stability of the English Premier League before and during COVID-19
• Interdependence between the Moroccan and international stock markets before and during the Covid-19 crisis
• The impact of risk-taking on performance of Islamic and conventional banks in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE
• Do board and audit characteristics affect earnings management in times of Covid-19?
• Financial reporting considerations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: empirical evidence from the UAE accounting professionals

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Sustainable Society

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Sustainable Society are now available here for free:

• Land use/land cover dynamics and its future scenarios in Luando Reserve, Angola
• Engaging ordinary people in sustainability transition: introducing elasticity and plasticity model for social change
• Circular economy model and sustainable development nexus in Bangladesh
• Effect of firm specific characteristics and interest rate on lease financing of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria
• A sustainable territorial challenge: the irreversible impressions on waste and residue management from functional community workshops

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Arts and Technology

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Arts and Technology are now available here for free:

• A survey on the epistolary calligraphy art of Kim Jeonghui during his early exile period
• New media popular music recommendation system based on machine learning algorithm
• An analysis of text-to-image generative models as creativity support tools
• Personalised music experience based on fuzzy music emotion analysis and intelligent recommendation
• Colour configuration of residential interior spaces preferred by the older people in Jinan City

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Web and Grid Services

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Web and Grid Services are now available here for free:

• A survey on knowledge graph evolution: proliferation, dynamic embedding, and versioning
• Optimisation of multi-objective cloud manufacturing service selection based on dynamic adaptive bat algorithm
• IoT avatar: various objects in real space are anthropomorphised as avatars
• Intelligent cognitive internet of things-based spectrum sensing algorithm for future communication
• Improving accessibility of IT devices for individuals with disabilities by examining their characteristics and voice of customers

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Technology Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Technology Management are now available here for free:

• Innovation at the project-level: the role of organisational innovation capabilities
• Development and application of patent management maturity model: a capability-based perspective
• Does the techno-nationalism approach work for the nation's catch-up? The evaluation of MLP (2006-2020) in China
• Generational technological change, organisational search, and firm product innovation performance in new generational markets
• Artificial intelligence and business applications, an introduction

Research pick: The drugs do work - "Deep learning-based virtual screening system for drug molecules"

The earliest stage of drug discovery is governed by a simple constraint: there are far more possible drug-like molecules than any pharmaceutical laboratory could ever test. A new deep learning system, reported in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems, offers a way to speed up research and could unblock industry bottlenecks.

Bringing a new pharmaceutical to market can take more than a decade and will inevitably cost billions of dollars in research and development, testing, regulatory compliance, and marketing. A large share of that investment is spent on identifying compounds that bind to biological targets, these are commonly proteins involved in disease, whether a protein found in a pathogen or a protein in our bodies involved in the disease. Virtual screening, so-called in silico studies, has for decades used computer models to predict which molecules from a library of candidates might be suitable for testing in vitro (in the laboratory) and ultimately in vivo (in animals, then humans).

That said, established methods fall into two categories. The first are receptor-based approaches, such as molecular docking, that simulate how a molecule fits into a protein’s three-dimensional binding site and estimate the strength of the bond that forms between. The accuracy of this approach depends on high-quality protein structures and simplified scoring formulae. A second approach is the ligand-based approach and this instead looks for compounds resembling known active molecules, using predefined chemical features, or descriptors.

These techniques can be computationally efficient and heavily successfully led to many pharmaceuticals on the market today. However, they rely heavily on prior knowledge and expert assumptions. In both cases, human-designed rules limit how much chemical complexity can be captured. The advent of deep learning systems is opening up a new approach.

Instead of manual feature selection, deep learning, a form of machine learning that uses multi-layered neural networks to detect patterns directly from raw data, can treat drug candidate molecules as graphs, with atoms as nodes and chemical bonds as edges. A graph neural network updates each atom’s representation based on its neighbours, allowing the model to learn subtle structural relationships.

Crucially, this new approach uses another information channel in addition to the graph. It handles the drug candidate’s SMILES string. A SMILES string is a unique text-based representation of the chemical structure of a molecule. By using structural and sequential representations together, the researchers could improve performance significantly. In tests on standard public benchmarks, the model achieved a score of 0.889; where 1.000 would be a perfect score. This score is a measure of how well the system distinguishes between active and inactive drug candidates. A score of 1 is ideal prediction whereas 0.5 reflects a 50:50 chance, a guess. Incredibly, the system could screen one million molecules in a quarter of an hour, which is 80 per cent faster than conventional approaches.

Zhang, C. (2026) ‘Deep learning-based virtual screening system for drug molecules’, Int. J. Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems, Vol. 18, No. 8, pp.44–55.

Research pick: Power to the people - "Quality inspection of power transmission towers based on point cloud registration"

Electricity pylons, or transmission towers, have been a critical component of energy infrastructure for decades. The structural integrity of these power towers, which stride across landscapes the world over, is vital to power supply and public safety.

A study in the International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy has investigated a novel, more precise and efficient way to inspect pylons using advanced 3D scanning and geometric analysis. The approach might speed up the shift from labour-intensive field checks to what might be referred to as a fully digital inspection regime.

The researchers explain that a laser system can be used to scan a pylon’s geometry in minute detail to generate a “point cloud”. This is a collection of millions of spatial points representing the pylon’s surface. To assess structural integrity, multiple scans are taken from different angles and then must be aligned into a single coordinate system in a registration process. This typically occurs in two stages: coarse registration, which provides an initial alignment, and fine registration, which refines it to high precision.

The lattice frameworks of pylons with their intersecting beams and sharp edges generate extremely large datasets and create ambiguities when identifying matching features, so registration even with the best algorithms is tough and consequently error-prone. In the IJETP paper, the researchers propose the use of Gaussian curvature in the feature-extraction process required for registration. Gaussian curvature is a mathematical measure of how a surface bends at a given point: flat areas have near-zero curvature, while sharp edges or corners have higher values. Because beam intersections and joints exhibit high curvature, they provide distinctive geometric markers for alignment.

Once aligned, the digital model of the pylon can then be compared with a high-precision reference design to identify geometric deviations. This allows engineers to detect misalignments or structural problems with confidence and so prioritise maintenance and repair across the power grid.

Qi, X., Yan, H., Tu, X., Liu, Y. and Ding, W. (2025) ‘Quality inspection of power transmission towers based on point cloud registration’, Int. J. Energy Technology and Policy, Vol. 20, No. 7, pp.3–22.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Advanced Operations Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Advanced Operations Management are now available here for free:

• Defect detection while setting up an assembly line - analytical approach to reduce the N-dimensional solution space
• Supply chain management and logistics in the Arab region: current status and future trends
• Examining the impact of recruitment process outsourcing motivators on clients' satisfaction: a study of banking sector in India
• Implementing circular economy practices in Indian SMEs: analysis of challenges with case study
• The role of switching costs in third-party logistics

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering are now available here for free:

• Investigation on the transient asperity contact behaviours of water-lubricated bearing under start-stop cycle
• Non-contact surface roughness measurement of blasted specimens using machine vision technique
• Studying the load capacity and frictional force in an engine based on microtexture's different dimensions
• Enhancing tribological and corrosion performance of SLM fabricated AlSi12Mg components through ultrasonic assisted magnetic abrasive finishing
• Investigation on the salt electrochemical corrosion resistance of a robust superhydrophobic thin film with controllably inlaid micro/nano composite structures

First issue: International Journal of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business (free sample issue available)

The International Journal of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Business offers a leading interdisciplinary platform dedicated to exploring the transformative impact of generative AI across business functions. The journal addresses a critical gap in research on GenAI's strategic, operational, ethical and societal implications in areas such as marketing, finance, supply chain, human resources, entrepreneurship and strategy. IJGAIB aims to inform scholarship, practice and policy, establishing itself as a timely, innovative and globally relevant voice in the evolving AI-business landscape.

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