Call for papers: Decision Support Systems for Collaborative Design and Manufacturing

Call for papers: Decision Support Systems for Collaborative Design and Manufacturing

A special issue of International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are computer-based systems that support some or several phases of the individual, team, organisational or inter-organisational decision making process. DSS may involve many technologies drawn from multiple disciplines, including information science, cognitive science, computer science, economics, engineering, business and management science, and statistics, among others. DSS can be categorised based on the complexity of the decision problem space and group composition. The combination of the dimensions of the problem space and group compositions in distributed collaborative environments in terms of time, spatial distribution and interaction results in a set of requirements that need to be addressed in different phases of the decision-making process.

Research on DSS can be focused on both technical and organisational issues. From a technical perspective, advances in information technology and artificial intelligence have improved the support capabilities for DSS; in particular, artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies such as knowledge-based systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, cased-based reasoning, genetic algorithms, machine learning, data mining algorithms, intelligent agents, soft computing, and user intelligent interfaces, among others, have been recognised as significant enhancement tools for DSS. Knowledge-intensive intelligent decision support systems (KIIDSS) have now become more critical and widely applied in collaborative decision-making processes, in which the decision support is exploited from the perspective of synthesis of collaborative decision-making process modelling, knowledge management, and decision problem solving support.

Collaborative design and manufacturing essentially involves decision-making processes that require rigorous evaluation, comparison and selection of design and manufacturing solution alternatives and optimisation from a global perspective. Increasing design and manufacturing knowledge and supporting better collaborations among customers, engineers and partners to make intelligent decisions can result in higher quality products.

This special issue is aimed at reviewing the state-of-the-art research and applications, addressing the major challenges and issues of developing and applying intelligent decision support systems, in particular KIIDSS, for collaborative design and manufacturing. The guest editors invite authors to submit their original papers to this special issue. Papers of both theoretical and practical application nature are welcome. The guest editors are also interested in authoritative review of the state of the art and directions for future research in the field.

The scope of the issue covers, but not limited to:

• Decision theories, including game theory, utility theory, probability theory, fuzzy set theory, Bayesian theory, among others for collaborative design and manufacturing
• Collaborative decision support models, framework and architecture, and infrastructure, including communication, coordination, integration and interoperation strategies, mechanisms, protocols, and standards for collaborative design and manufacturing
• Development and applications of intelligent and knowledge intensive decision support systems deploying specific AI based technologies, such as knowledge-based systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, cased-based reasoning, genetic algorithms, machine learning, data mining algorithms, intelligent agents, soft computing, and user intelligent interfaces, among others, for collaborative design and manufacturing
• Decision support systems for collaborative enterprise business and management
• Decision support systems for collaborative supply chain management
• Decision support systems for collaborative product lifecycle management

Important Dates
Full paper submission due: December 31, 2007
First round review completed: April 30, 2008
Final notification: May 30, 2008
Final manuscripts due: July 31, 2008

Call for papers: Air, Water and Land Pollution

Call for papers: Air, Water and Land Pollution

A special issue of International Journal of Environment and Pollution

This special issue deals with environment pollution in air, water, and land due to various human activities. The aim is to provide an international forum for academics, industry leaders, and policy makers to investigate and exchange novel ideas and disseminate knowledge and information covering the broad range of industries and areas of conflict.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Agriculture
• Fisheries
• Transportation
• Oil and gas
• Mining
• Areas of conflict

Important Dates
Paper due: 1 September, 2007
Acceptance notification: 1 October, 2007
Final paper version due: 1 November, 2007

Special issue: Building trustworthy applications on a service-oriented platform

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 3(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Building trustworthy applications on a service-oriented platform.

Article titles:
* Building trustworthy applications on a Service-Oriented Computing paradigm
* Trustworthy service-oriented Business Processes Integration
* Towards a workflow management system for service oriented modules
* Modelling Web Services in the agent-oriented modelling language and environment CAMLE
* On composing Dependable Web Services using undependable web components
* SOAR: towards dependable Service-Oriented Architecture via reflective middleware
* Design of a trustworthy service broker and dependence-based progressive group testing
* Biased covering arrays for progressive ranking and composition of Web Services
* Determining the dependability of Service-Oriented Architectures

Special issue: Flotation in wastewater treatment

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 30(2) 2007 is a special issue: Flotation in wastewater treatment.

Article titles:
* Dissolved-air flotation associated with an anaerobic reactor, as applied to sewage treatment
* Flotation in water and wastewater treatment and reuse: recent trends in Brazil
* Two-phase simulations of an off-nominally operating dissolved-air flotation tank
* One-step analysis of bubble-particle capture interaction in dissolved-air flotation
* Practical dissolved-air flotation experience
* The recovery of copper from a copper mine effluent in a hybrid flotation/microfiltration cell
* The application of flotation for the downstream separation of metal-loaded microorganisms
* The development and application of centrifugal flotation systems in wastewater treatment
* Air bubble and oil droplet interactions in centrifugal fields during air-sparged hydrocyclone flotation
* Pilot-scale studies on the treatment of tannery effluents by electroflotation
* Separation of finely dispersed sorbents from purified water by ultra-flocculation and turbulent micro-flotation

Call for papers: Biotechnology and Computing: the Principal Drivers of Change in Healthcare

Call for papers: Biotechnology and Computing: the Principal Drivers of Change in Healthcare

A special issue of International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management

Biotechnology and computing are the principal technological engines reshaping medical research and clinical care. They are transforming biology and medicine from descriptive, empirical disciplines into mechanistic, information-based sciences, typified by bioinformatics, the application of computer technology in the management and analysis of biological-related data. The goal of the Special Issue is to provide a forum for ethical reflection upon and dissemination of current and future activities of biotechnology and computing in healthcare.

Original contributions, including conceptual, empirical, and case studies, as well as technical reports, management reports, benchmarks, and software and book reviews addressing and/or relating to any of the subject coverage areas are welcome from authors.

Papers are invited from but not limited to the following major areas:

• Application of genomic technologies and computing in healthcare
• Biotechnology and nanotechnology
• Biocomputing and statistical applications in healthcare
• Bioinformatics in healthcare
• Biotechnology in medical diagnosis and therapy
• Biotechnology, bioethics, and healthcare
• Emerging business models
• Enabling environments of biotechnology in the healthcare industry
• Ethics of testing novel biotechnologies in domestic and global settings
• Global R&D collaboration and technology transfer
• Government and regulatory compliance
• Infrastructure and security
• Management and economics of biotechnology in healthcare

Important Dates
Manuscripts submission: 31 December, 2007
Notification of Acceptance: 31 March, 2008
Final Submission: 30 April, 2008

Call for papers: Tug of War in the Field of IP – Searching for a Balanced Attitude to Managing Intellectual Property

Call for papers: Tug of War in the Field of IP – Searching for a Balanced Attitude to Managing Intellectual Property

A special issue of International Journal of Intellectual Property Management

The logic of creating value through developing and utilising intellectual property has changed during recent years. Therefore, the management of IP has also taken new forms and widened in range. The business environment provides several options with the potential to become valuable. For example, IP can be created and utilised globally or locally, and in collaboration with other firms or internally. IP creation can be organised in companies with markets or hierarchies as the governance form. Exploration or exploitation can be chosen as the focal approach. Intellectual property can be protected relying on intellectual property rights or contracts, or on tacit nature of knowledge and lead-time. Companies can go for protection provided by trade secrets or patents and create monopoly power, or they can decide to innovate openly, letting the information flow in and out of the company.

While the range of the alternatives is wide, finding the most beneficial approach to managing intellectual property can be very challenging. This is especially because the alternatives often seem very contradictory: choosing one makes using the others difficult or impossible. Challenges may occur because of the opposing nature of the alternatives, or because of the limited resources of firms: several alternatives just cannot be pursued simultaneously. Consequently, the various opportunities may end up being dilemmas and paradoxes that managers need to deal with.

This special issue addresses the balance between different approaches to managing intellectual property, the tug of the war in the field of IP. Instead of just evaluating benefits and downsides of varying alternatives, the goal is to bring together studies that discuss seemingly contradictory issues in an integrative manner, paying attention to their interplay. In addition to providing tools for choosing between alternative forms of IP management as such, the aim is to find ways for managing combinations of contradicting strategies.

For this special issue, contributions are invited from scholars and practitioners with insights from economic, legal, and management perspectives on dealing with paradoxes related to IP management. Papers may be theoretical or empirical in nature.

Questions of particular interest for this special issue include the following:
Why and how do companies end up having different approaches to IP management? Why do some firms rely on networking and collaboration, while others put their faith in strict control? What makes companies to share intellectual property and put aside the idea of protecting it?
What kind of outcomes do the choices made by company managers lead to? Is the performance of companies where authority-based hierarchy or consensus-based hierarchy resides different from that of companies that take advantage of markets in IP creation and management? Under what circumstances does using patents to enable collaboration and creation of business-to-business relationships become more beneficial than using them to exclude rivals? Does using one protection mechanism of IP enable or prevent utilisation of another?
How can contradicting elements, approaches and strategies be merged to create new beneficial combinations? What kinds of systems are needed in order to find a balanced solution and to benefit from it? How can HRM systems support adoption of a new IP management approach? What are the factors enabling or preventing moving from one approach to another? What needs to be taken into account when IP is created and managed in collaboration with competitors? How companies combine controlling IP and open innovation?
Is it possible to create competitive advantage by searching for innovative combinations among contradicting approaches? Are innovative approaches a source of profits? How big are the risks related to creating combinations?

The subject areas for the special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• IP management in open innovation
• Knowledge sharing and protection for profiting from IP
• Organising for IP management
• IP management in different networks
• Managing IP when collaborating with competitors (coopetition)
• Dilemmas related to standardisation and IP management
• Combining different appropriability mechanisms
• Efficient and profitable uses of intellectual property rights
• Defensive publishing vs. patenting
• Alignment of business strategy and IP strategy
• Organisational capabilities in choosing IP management approach
• Managerial values and attitudes in creating innovative combinations

Important Date
Deadline for submission of papers: 1 February 2008

Newly announced title: International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - to begin publication in 2008 - provides a new forum for the dissemination of knowledge on both theoretical and applied research on artificial intelligence and soft computing with an ultimate aim to bridge the gap between these two non-coherent disciplines of knowledge. This forum will accelerate interaction between the above two bodies of knowledge, and foster a unified development in the next generation computational models for machine intelligence.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Computers in Healthcare

International Journal of Computers in Healthcare - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish articles concerning the theory and application of the computer to biomedicine and healthcare, with emphasis on novel approaches of wide healthcare significance. Topics will include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative paradigms and applications of computers in biomedicine and healthcare
• Knowledge-based systems in biomedicine and healthcare
• Artificial intelligence and computational intelligence paradigms in biomedicine and healthcare

Special issue: Towards identifying the unity in European corporate cultures

European Journal of International Management 1(3) 2007 is a special issue: Towards identifying the unity in European corporate cultures.

Article titles:
* Towards identifying the unity in European corporate cultures
* Cultural values in organisations: insights for Europe
* European comparative management research: towards a research agenda
* How is European management in Europe? An analysis of past, present and future management practices in Europe
* Mapping corporate Europe: business responses to institutional change, 1957–2007
* A European perspective on HRM
* Mobility of headquarters in multinational corporations

Nuclear threats

A trio of security vulnerabilities surrounding the use of nuclear power
are highlighted in papers in International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology 1(3) 2007.

The first threat is at the source of the raw material for nuclear power
itself, the uranium mine, processing plant, and transport route. Here,
physical protection and security are at a much lower level than at a
nuclear installation in the developed world, according to Austrian
scientists.

The second threat is from saboteurs with expertise in the industry and
the security of nuclear installations. Researchers from the US
Environmental Protection Agency suggest that such saboteurs on the
inside could wreak havoc and cause a serious environmental and health
threats with only small, shaped explosives or even no explosives at all.

Finally, at the waste end of the nuclear industry, a second US team
point out that the significant quantities of spent radioactive fuel
could also represent a security nightmare. The team from environmental
health and safety consultants S. Cohen and Associates, in Montgomery
Alabama, point out that there is no secure central repository for
nuclear waste. Any one of the waste storage or processing plants could
be vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

Call for papers: Coatings and Surface Treatments for Metals as Enablers of System Performance

Call for papers: Coatings and Surface Treatments for Metals as Enablers of System Performance

A special issue of International Journal of Materials and Product Technology

Nowadays, the design and the manufacture of improved products that have a competitive edge in the global market is crucial. It is important to be able to produce surfaces that do not wear easily, are more resistant to tarnishing and corrosion, and retain their properties over long periods of time.

This special issue will cover recent major advances in the research of coatings and surface treatments for metals, with special emphasis on the emerging technologies with a diversity of applications, and also on more engineering-oriented articles which should include developments of coating deposition equipment and cost/benefit analysis for specific types of coatings. Relevant articles covering these topics are invited to expand the knowledge in this field.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Characterization of coatings and modified surfaces, which includes the determination of composition, structure, adhesion and internal stresses.
• The application of coatings and modified surfaces to alter the mechanical, chemical or optical properties of materials.
• Design of multifunctional nanostructured and nanocomposite coatings and thin films.
• Development of equipment (including production systems) for the deposition of certain type of coatings.
• Complex carbide, oxide, nitride or multilayer structures for mechanical applications.
• Transfer of laboratory-developed coating technology into manufacturing processes and equipment development.

Important Dates
Deadline for submission: 31 October 2007

Call for papers: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Call for papers: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

A special issue of International Journal of Alternative Propulsion

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) offer the potential to dramatically decrease petroleum fuel consumption and improve energy efficiency. To successfully bring the technology to the market, several key issues need to be addressed such as component technologies, vehicle control, electric power grid, etc.

The aim of this special issue is to compile the state-of-the-art in plug-in HEVs. In particular, its looks to provide a forum for representing the most recent and innovative lines of research related to battery, vehicle modelling, vehicle dynamometer testing, fleet testing, electrical infrastructure and well-to-wheel. Both technical and economical aspects are relevant.

The research presented in the special issue will cover a range of issues and topics, including but not limited to:

• Battery technology
• Modelling and simulation
• Control strategy
• Vehicle dynamometer testing
• Vehicle test procedure
• Vehicle fleet testing
• Cost
• Well-to-wheel
• Charger/infrastructure

Important Date
Manuscripts should be submitted no later than: 30 November 2007

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Border Security and Immigration Policy

International Journal of Border Security and Immigration Policy - to begin publication in 2008 - is the first journal to focus exclusively on the range of technological, human/social, political, policy, organisational, and managerial issues related to border security and immigration policy. It aims to bring together a diverse range of international scholars and practitioners to advance knowledge, improve practice, and act as a definitive source for border security and immigration policy issues.

Call for papers: Privacy in a Virtual Environment: Theory & Practice

Call for papers: Privacy in a Virtual Environment: Theory & Practice

A special issue of International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations

Researchers in the fields of management, information systems, organisational psychology, marketing, and social science are showing an increasing awareness of the degree to which information and communication technologies influence consumer privacy. Consumers’ concerns regarding how their personal data are used by businesses and by government is not a new phenomenon. However, the widespread adoption of the Internet and the increasing awareness amongst consumers regarding the ability of vendors to collect, store and disseminate information on consumers has magnified concerns of both consumers and public policy advocates regarding the ways in which private data can be used.

A successful virtual network requires a real-time exploitation of information and knowledge among the entire network entities. The key enabler/driver for successful virtual networks is the ability for the network entities to trust that the privacy of their personal information will not be exploited by those with whom they interact. However, the question remains as to how do we detect, determine or measure the best way of protecting information in a virtual environment? How can we classify privacy in a virtual environment and how can each classification be measured? What types of policies, techniques and methods should be used to promote privacy in a virtual environment? How do the interactions between virtual network entities change with the changing requirements of the virtual environment? And where do traditional linkages fall short?

This special issue aims to provide a forum for answering these questions and in doing so will address key privacy issues that businesses, marketing executives, customer relationship management executives, academics, and government bodies should consider as they implement their e-commerce initiatives.

Three types of papers are solicited:

• Theoretical papers that provide original work on the theory of privacy in virtual environment
• Applications and case studies that deal with privacy from the perspective of online consumers, virtual organisations or virtual teams
• Review papers exploring the historical development and research in the field.

Recommended general topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Conceptual analysis of privacy in the virtual environment
• The effect of ICT on privacy models, strategy and policy
• Ubiquitous technology
• Identity theft
• Email monitoring
• RFID technology
• Real-time person location technologies
• Biometrics identification
• Computer security and privacy issues
• Software and logging capabilities
• Privacy of electronic medical records
• Civil liberties and online privacy
• Commercial Implications of virtual world privacy issues
• Privacy and database mining
• E-customer relationship management privacy issues
• The relationship between privacy and trust in e-commerce
• Ambient intelligence
• Online privacy concerns and consumer behaviour
• Online privacy concerns and cultural issues
• Case studies
• Best practice examples
• Future trends

Important Dates
Proposals due by: 1 August, 2007
Final submission due: 1 November 2007

Call for papers: Passenger Shipping: Transport Alternative or Leisure Business?

Call for papers: Passenger Shipping: Transport Alternative or Leisure Business?

A special issue of International Journal of Ocean Systems Management

This special issue invites authors to submit papers focusing on particular context and topic areas in the field of passenger shipping. The papers should be high-impact scholarly surveys of important research in the field of sustainable transportation. They should summarise recent research, delineate and explain the central issues, and highlight important directions for future inquiries.

Emphasis is placed on the problems of passenger sea transportation associated with safety, security, economics, transport planning, regulation and policy-making.

Potential topic areas suitable for review articles include but are not limited to:

• SSS and passenger shipping
• Safety and security of passenger shipping
• Yield management in passenger shipping
• Supplementary and competitive services
• Urban coastal systems
• Operations and the human element
• Financing passenger shipping
• Legal issues of passenger shipping
• Innovative designs
• Shipbuilding issues and innovative designs
• Methodological and modeling advances

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 October 2007
Notification to authors: 30 November 2007
Final versions due: 30 December 2007

Special Issue: International Nuclear Atlantic Conference, Santos, Brazil 2005

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology 3(2) 2007 is a special issue, with papers from the International Nuclear Atlantic Conference (INAC 2005) held in Santos, Brazil, 28 August - 2 September 2005.

Article titles:
* Deterministic and probabilistic approaches to fatigue crack growth in nuclear pressure vessels
* Tritium dispersion simulation in the atmosphere from ANGRA I Nuclear Power Plant
* Preliminary results on modelling of primary water stress corrosion cracking at control rod drive mechanism nozzles of PWR nuclear plants
* Fractional divergence for neutron flux profile in nuclear reactors
* Thermal behaviour of the IPR-R1 TRIGA nuclear reactor
* Experimental determination of heat transfer coefficients in uranium zirconium hydride fuel rod
* Integrated system for regulatory control of the radioactive waste management in radioactive installations
* A forward tracking scheme for solving radionuclide advective problems in unsaturated porous media

Special issue: Risk in the built environment

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 7(6/7) 2007 is a special issue: Risk in the built environment.

Article titles:
* An introduction to the Special Issue: An overview, history and context for the consideration of risk in the built environment
* Structural design codes of practice and their limits
* Integrating soft and hard risks
* Consent probability
* Preferences, utility and risk perception in engineering decision making
* Strategies for mitigating risk to buildings from abnormal load events
* Target structural reliability in life cycle consideration
* Foundational principles of welfare economics underlying the life quality index for efficient risk management
* Turning life into life expectancy: the efficiency of life-saving interventions
* Life Quality Index – an empirical or a normative concept?
* Recent developments in risk acceptability for technical facilities
* Reliability-based load-rating procedure for existing bridges
* Assessing and managing the inoperability of transportation systems and interdependent sectors
* The importance of heritage preservation in natural disaster situations

Newly announced title: International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies

International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies - to begin publication in 2008 - focuses on experimental, theoretical and application aspects of computational intelligence. The main goal of the journal is to provide an international forum for all scientists and engineers engaged in research and development in the various fields of computational intelligence.

Newly announced title: International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Soft Data Paradigms

International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Soft Data Paradigms - to begin publication in 2008 - will report the most recent research results in the areas of knowledge engineering and soft data analysis. Knowledge engineering, in contrast to traditional engineering techniques, involves mimicking the performance of human experts in a limited sense. Knowledge engineering with soft data paradigms offers very significant attributes such as learning, autonomy and self-organisation.

Call for papers: Hazardous Materials Transportation: Safety Dynamics and Risk Analyses

Call for papers: Hazardous Materials Transportation: Safety Dynamics and Risk Analyses

A special issue of International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems

The objective of this special issue is to compile recent research and development efforts in the field of hazardous material transportation, including accident and risk analyses, container and vehicle design and dynamics, cargo-vehicle interactions, performance measures, analytical and experimental methods, anti-slosh devices, and state of the art in the associated supporting technologies, as well as perspectives on future developments and applications. The issue will follow an overarching theme integrating the fundamental research efforts on safety dynamics of hazardous material transportation systems, and advances in control and performance enhancement devices.

The specific topics of interest within the scope of this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Hazardous materials transportation regulations and safety guidelines
• Risk analysis and management
• Accident analyses
• Rail and road mode transportation of hazardous materials
• Container design and containment models
• Cargo - vehicle interactions including liquid cargo slosh
• Anti-slosh devices and cargo securement
• Directional stability limits
• Rollover propensity of hazardous material transportation systems and prevention
• Advances in truck/container and control devices designs
• Dynamic safety performance measures and analyses
• Analytical and simulation techniques
• Experimental methods

Important Dates
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 January 2008
Reviewers’ Reports and Decisions: 30 April 2008
Revised Manuscript Submission: 15 June 2008
Final Decision for Publication: 30 June 2008

Special issue: Advanced modelling and control in industry processes

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 2(2) 2007 is a special issue: Advanced modelling and control in industry processes.

Article titles:
* Inferential state estimator design for a batch distillation column
* Non-linear control of a distillation column coupled with MPC and state observer
* Parameterisation of PID eigenstructure assignment in second-order linear systems
* Indirect adaptive interval type-2 fuzzy control for nonlinear systems
* A novel algorithm of constrained multivariable fuzzy generalised predictive control for non-linear systems
* Application of an anti-windup multivariable continuous-time generalised predictive control to a temperature control of an aluminium plate
* Reconfigurable controller design for linear multivariable plants
* Accuracy and efficiency enhanced non-linear model order reduction
* Reconfiguration of an industrial steam generator using bond graph modelling
* An observer-based compensator for networked control systems

Special issue: Environmentally sustainable nanomanufacturing

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 1(5) 2007 is a special issue: Environmentally sustainable nanomanufacturing, with extended versions of papers from the Fifth International Surface Engineering Congress and Exposition, 15–17 May 2006, Seattle, Washington.

Article titles:
* Nanomaterials and health: a critical review of occupational exposure assessment and control strategies
* A review of environmental stressor control strategies used in micro- and nanofabrication
* Workers exposures to ultra-fine particulate matter during automobile components production
* Diamond turning of microstructured surfaces: modelling and simulation
* Design and manufacture of high-speed spindles for dry micromachining applications
* Micro and nanoparticle monitoring during drilling operations using continuous particle size distribution instruments
* Analysis and design of a high-speed projector for environmentally sustainable micro and nanoparticle deposition
* Burr formation during dry microdrilling operations

Summer issue of Inderscience Highlights newsletter just published

The Summer 2007 issue of Highlights, the quarterly newsletter from Inderscience Publishers, has just been distributed to subscribers and is available on the Inderscience website.

Contents:
Newly-published titles - major expansion
Newly-announced titles
Short overview of... The fight against cybercrime
Highlighting... Computing/ict collection
Services sciences (2) - risk management
Latest calls for papers
Scaling up Renewables and Strategic Pricing conferences
UNIDO Technology Foresight Summit: Water Productivity
Journal news
Librarians' corner: UKSG, Thomson Gale, ticTOCs, ingenta

To receive future newsletters by email, contact newsletter@inderscience.com

Call for papers: Effective Use of Web 2.0 for Teaching and Learning

Call for papers: Effective Use of Web 2.0 for Teaching and Learning

A special issue of International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning

Web 2.0 is an improved form of World Wide Web. A fundamental feature of Web 2.0 is that it can deliver and allow users to control interactive applications entirely through a web-based browser. Although Web 2.0 was not initially designed for educational purposes, it has attracted much attention from educators in recent years, and has also shown great potential for teaching and learning. Examples of Web 2.0 tools and technologies include Weblogs, Wikis, Podcasts, RSS Feeds.

The purpose of this special issue is to present the opportunities and potential of various Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning. It will provide researchers and practitioners with the most recent concepts, theories, development, practical guidelines, and concrete examples of integrating Web 2.0 tools and technologies into teaching and leaning.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Theoretical models of using Web 2.0 technologies or tools
• Strategies of using Web 2.0 for student-centred learning or collaborative learning
• Examples of using Web 2.0 tools in subject teaching and learning
• Design and evaluation of Web 2.0 based learning environments
• Future trends of Web 2.0 development in education

Important Dates
Manuscript Submission: 31 January, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 31 March, 2008
Final Submission: 31 May, 2008

Special issue: Creation of knowledge and innovation entrepreneurship in science parks

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 7(6) 2007 is a special issue: Creation of knowledge and innovation entrepreneurship in science parks.

Article titles:
* Optimising intellectual capital development: a case study of brokering in a science park
* Which firms benefit most from the incubators?
* Spin-offs, stages of growth and funding issues: some UK evidence
* The organisational structure of university business incubators and their impact on the success of start-ups: an international study
* Research and technology organisations: how do they manage their knowledge?
* On knowledge, networks, social capital and trust in innovation environments

First issue: International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry

The first issue of International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry has been published.

It deals with the application of scientific knowledge to litigation, adjudication, legislation and public policy, with emphasis on the implications that informed interpretation of science exert on policy choices. The journal serves as a vehicle for exploring systematic approaches to scientific evidence in specific disputes and is particularly concerned with issues involving medicine, ecological analysis and risk assessment, and “critical appraisal" (as applied in health care sciences) to assist courts, administrative agencies, and policymakers.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue, which is a special one on Transparency, accountability and liability.

Call for papers: Mobile Teaching/Learning and Authoring Tools: Accelerating Content Delivery

Call for papers: Mobile Teaching/Learning and Authoring Tools: Accelerating Content Delivery

A special issue of International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation

Rapid technology changes and developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities to develop and use new learning environments. Mobile learning (M-learning) establishes a new learning paradigm which goes far beyond the traditional learning paradigms, i.e., face-to-face classroom and e-learning. Unfortunately, application development and content delivery show a significant backlog and several hardware products lack applications which can run on these devices.

There are a series of application fields which are promising, while others have not been exploited yet. Governments and private businesses alike have realised that global efforts and international co-operation should be initiated and supported. Recent European Union policies emphasise, among others things, digital content delivery, contribution to standards setting, and strategic international cooperation with the US and Japan (Seventh Research Framework Programme).

The advantages of M-learning environments in providing personalised content via intelligent mobile communication devices are obvious (e.g., environmental management and energy efficiency, independent living and inclusion). Highly efficient platform-independent content delivery, use and reuse of standardised and open source software are possible ways to accelerate the application development process and further increase the quality and usability of applications.

This special issue will be timely for both academics and practitioners interested in effective design and development of M-learning environments.

The issue aims to discuss the latest M-learning technologies and applications developed using these advanced technologies. Its purpose is to present and disseminate studies about how technology helps to meet the challenges, how the current development of M-learning can be applied to efficient design and implementation of M-learning environments in either academia or industry. The economic and social context of M-learning applications will be discussed along with questions related to empirical research of contemporary M-learning environment developments.

This special issue aims to present a set of selected papers addressing the topics including but not limited to those listed below.

• Technologies and standards that directly support mobile learning systems and content delivery development (hardware devices and software tools)
• Software architecture for M-learning applications, interoperability, platform independency (e.g., Open systems reference architectures, SOA)
• Tools for
• Learning content management systems (e.g., dynamic location-specific information delivery).
• Learning management systems (e.g., learning activity management system)
• Student management systems
• Development and use of frameworks for learning objects based on context, time-line or map (e.g., concept mapping tool).
• Development and use of tools for accelerating content delivery for M-learning systems.
• Agent-based technology and tools (e.g., agent-based personalised M-learning).
• Ontology-based frameworks and tools for M-learning (e.g., ontology-based tests).
• Tools of active and collaborative M-learning.
• Specialised tools for development of professional learning environments (e.g., mobile health, mobile commerce).
• Open source M-learning content development.
• Tools for QoS improvement in M-learning environments.
• Tools and solutions for privacy and security issues in M-learning.
• Tools for content delivery for disabled learners (e.g., blind users).

Important Dates
Full paper deadline: 1 March, 2008
Notification of acceptance and Review results: 1. June, 2008
Revised submission deadline: 1 July, 2008
Camera-ready version deadline: 1 August, 2008

Call for papers: Role of Third/Fourth Party Logistics Providers in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Call for papers: Role of Third/Fourth Party Logistics Providers in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

A special issue of International Journal of Services Technology and Management

Logistics has become more widely recognized in the last 20 years. The necessity of outsourcing the logistical operations like transportation, warehousing, packing and other value added operations is becoming inevitable to satisfy customers through the on-time delivery of goods/services at reduced cost. Industrial organisations are constantly in search of new solutions and strategies to develop and increase their competitive advantage. Outsourcing is one of these strategies that can lead to greater competitiveness. Briefly, it can be defined as a managed process of transferring activities to be performed by others. Logistics outsourcing or third- party logistics (3PL) involves the use of external companies to perform logistics functions that have traditionally been performed within an organization. A key rationale for this form of outsourcing is that with intensified global competition, firms are concentrating their energies on core activities that are critical to survival, and leaving the rest to specialized .rms. In industry logistics outsourcing has become a rapidly expanding source of competitive advantage and logistics cost savings.

This Special Issue aims to provide academic and practitioners with a collection of innovative research and development in supporting business decision making for the role of third party and forth party logistics provider in logistics and supply chain management. Two themes in the logistics outsourcing research have attracted interest among the researchers:
the reasons for, the benefits and risks of outsourcing decision (make or buy)
the various issues related to the 3PL/4PL and the selection of a best 3PL/4PL for the logistics and SCM industry

Contributors are encouraged to submit original manuscripts that are conceptual, case studies, or empirically-based; and focus on, but are not limited to, the following:

• Decision making in 3PL/4PL
• 3PL in supply chain management
• 4PL in supply chain management
• Reverse logistics in 3PL / 4PL
• Artificial intelligence techniques in 3PL / 4PL
• Data mining in 3PL / 4PL
• 3PL / 4PL in end-of-life products
• Collaborative logistics provider
• 3PL / 4PL performance measurement
• Selection of 3PL / 4PL
• Barriers of 3PL / 4PL implementations
• Case studies in 3PL / 4PL

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 31 October 2007
Notification of acceptance: 31 December 2007
Submission of revised manuscript: 30 January 2008
Notification of final acceptance: 28 February 2008
Submission of final manuscript: 15 March 2007

Call for papers: Competence and Incompetence of Public Managers

Call for papers: Competence and Incompetence of Public Managers

A special issue of International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management

Competence has been at the centre of a significant number of research and initiatives in public organisations over the past few years. This gives rise to various challenges. In addition to various instruments of competence planning and rewarding, a competence management system also consists of principles regarding its design, implementation and development in a sustainable manner.

Traditionally, there are three ways of analysing public service professions. One way is to classify and analyse professions by different location and role; the second is to analyse changing relations between the public service professions and more demanding service by users; the third would be tracking the evolution of professionalisation projects, often aimed at moving from a gentleman amateur tradition to a professional civil servant.

The aim of this issue is to look further into this last prospect, by identifying the characteristics and determinants of the competence and the incompetence in public managers.

Topics covered include, but are not limited to:

• Impact of rewarding policies on competence management
• Team work, project management and competences
• Public sector attractiveness for experienced managers
• Knowledge management and competence management
• Intellectual capital evaluation
• Performance evaluation and competence management
• Determinants of competence in the public sector
• Competence of managers in local government, central government, healthcare services and public agencies
• Managing competences of street-level bureaucrats

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 1 November, 2007
Notification of acceptance before: 10 January, 2008
Submission of final and revised manuscripts: 1 April, 2008

Call for papers: Agent Based Simulation in Artificial Societies

Call for papers: Agent Based Simulation in Artificial Societies

A special issue of International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management

In recent years, we have witnessed a strong growth in the interest in artificial societies and a dramatic increase in the number of publications in this area. The research in this very diverse area has many faces. New models are developed which reflect and describe the interaction between agents, based on their preferences and the outside influences. In the more advanced cases, the behaviour of the agents becomes more complex, resulting in more complicated societies with many diverse groups.

An intensive line of research examines the long-term properties and stability related issues of such societies. In addition to theoretical studies, many researchers use computer simulation. An interesting and important line of research in this area is agent-based simulation in which artificial societies are created, and the evolution of the society is monitored via series of actions of individual participants. Another class of computer simulation studies is based on the numerical solutions of the dynamic equations describing the evolution of the society and the analysis of the resulting solutions. The findings in both the theoretical studies and the computer simulations are also tested in laboratory experiments, where the actual decisions of real people are monitored in carefully designed environment.

The purpose of this special issue is to advance research in artificial societies especially in the applications of agent-based simulations. Papers may focus on developing and/or testing theoretical results, simulation methods, laboratory experiments, and applications but not limited to these areas. Future research directions are also welcome.

Topics of relevance to this special issue include (but are not limited to):

• Construction of models to examine behaviour types and their consequences on other agents and the society
• Developing dynamic models to describe the interaction of agents
• Developing and applying theoretical methods for examining the properties of artificial societies including stability
• Developing new simulation tools
• Applying computer simulation to examine the properties of artificial societies
• Applying numerical methods to examine the properties of artificial societies
• Performing laboratory experiments with human decision makers

Important Dates
Due date for full-paper submissions: 1 December, 2007
Outcomes of initial screening are returned to authors whose papers are rejected for further review. First-round reviews begin for the remaining papers and may last for 6-8 weeks: 15 December, 2007
Outcomes of 1st-round formal reviews are sent to authors of all papers. Papers required revisions are given 4 weeks turnaround time: 15 February, 2008
Due date for resubmission of papers required revisions. Second-round reviews begin and may last for 4-6 weeks: 15 March, 2008
Outcomes of 2nd-round formal reviews are sent to authors of resubmitted papers. Papers required minor revisions are given 2 weeks turnaround time: 1 May, 2008
Due date for resubmission of papers required only minor revisions. Third-round reviews begin and may last for 2-4 weeks: 15 May, 2008
Outcomes of 3rd-round formal reviews are sent to authors of resubmitted papers: 15 June, 2008


Due date for authors to submit properly-formatted copies for all accepted papers: 1 July, 2008

Call for papers: eParticipation Systems and Services in Converging Regions

Call for papers: eParticipation Systems and Services in Converging Regions

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Governance

E-participation and e-Democracy systems are being developed and are operational in various countries, at national or local levels, with various levels of adoption. The recent generations of such systems seem to have solved initial and core philosophy problems, so current research is focused in advanced operational characteristics. However, thinking of the future unified international environment, one can easily understand that the field of widespread e-participating platforms, especially in converging and outmost regions, still poses crucial problems regarding the fundamental philosophy and principles of these systems. The most prevalent of these issues are multilinguality, cultural diversity, minority rights, digital division and conflict resolution needs. Inspired by such problems, current research and practice investigates new ways to reach the public and push more and more processes through the electronic democratisation channels.

This special issue focuses on recent approaches in e-participation systems and aims to report relevant research and experiences from operational case studies. More specifically, original unpublished research articles and case studies are sought, covering various disciplines pertinent to electronic democracy, e-participation and relevant cross-domain research at an international level. The focus of the special issue will be on research papers, case studies, experience reports and impact/efficiency assessments, based on operational findings from implementations with considerable impact and learning potential.

Contributions are sought on a set of themes that include, but are not exclusively limited to, the following topics:

• Electronic participation systems at local, national, regional or international level
• Approaches enhancing participation of minorities in the decision process
• Legislation-oriented e-participation systems, especially involving NGO's and representative bodies
• Argument visualisation and semantic annotation in content and context-rich e-participation systems
• E-participation systems in multilingual and culturally diverse environments
• New channels of interaction for e-participation systems, including mobile devices or interactive television
• Applications of e-participation systems in areas of digital divide or e-inclusion threats
• Applications of electronic democracy in countries or regions with diverse e-capacities
• Legal and ethical issues affecting the adoption of e-participation systems
• Novel standardisation approaches in e-participation
• Impact assessment models and reusable case reports on e-participation

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 15 November, 2007
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 15 January, 2008
Final (camera-ready) papers submission: 15 February, 2008

Call for papers: Design for Digital Fabrication of Functional Components

Call for papers: Design for Digital Fabrication of Functional Components

A special issue of International Journal of Design Engineering

A functional component refers to a complex-shaped object with specific functionalities, which make the component possess two or more desired incompatible properties simultaneously in different parts of it. Thus, the component could have, for instance, different material constituents and/or different microstructures in different locations within the component. With the development of rapid prototyping (also known as solid freeform fabrication) and other advanced digital fabrication technologies, it has become possible that the complex-shaped functional component with varying local constituent and/or microstructures can be produced under the control of the local materials compositions. Applications can be found in many industrial areas, such as aerospace, automobile, chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, etc., where the functionally graded materials (FGMs) and/or porous biotissues are typically desired.

This special issue solicits original contributions to fundamental research with relevance to design for digital fabrication of functional components, which highlight the state of the art, emerging technologies, and recent successes and define major research challenges.

Topics of relevance include, but are not limited to:

• Heterogeneous object modelling and process planning for specific multi-functionalities
• Design for rapid prototyping of functional components
• Bio-CAD/CAM, computer-aided tissue engineering
• Software integration technologies of CAD/CAPP/CAM of functional components
• Theory of computer-aided innovation design for functional components
• Web-based collaborative design and manufacture of functional components
• FEA in functional components design
• Computer-aided optimal design for functional components
• Topology optimisation in functional components design
• Reverse design methods in tissue engineering
• Materials design for digital fabrication
• Virtual design and manufacture of functional components
• CAD/CAM for porous artifacts

Important Dates
Submission of papers: 15 October, 2007
First decision notification: 15 December, 2007
Submission of revised papers: 15 February, 2008
Final decision notification: 15 March, 2008

Call for papers: Characterisation and Application of Thin Films, Coatings and Modified Surfaces

Call for papers: Characterisation and Application of Thin Films, Coatings and Modified Surfaces

A special issue of International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering

The applications of thin films, coatings and advanced materials that possess near-surface properties different from their bulk properties with specific performance characteristics have significantly increased in the past two decades. Characterisation of such materials thus becomes a very important issue in surface science and engineering.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to the characterisation and application of thin films, coatings and modified surfaces. Contributions include original scientific articles that concerned with characterisation or direct applications of modified surfaces, coatings and thin films to reviews of current technology in these areas.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Characterisation of coatings and modified surfaces
• Characterisation of thin films for MEMS applications
• Application of modified surfaces, coatings and thin films
• Mechanical, chemical or optical properties of modified surfaces, coatings and thin films
• Coatings for biomedical applications and environmental applications.

Important Dates
Submission: 31 March 2008
Decision: 30 June 2008
Revised manuscripts: 31 August 2008

Call for papers: Business Models and Human Capital; Current Issues and New Challenges

Call for papers: Business Models and Human Capital; Current Issues and New Challenges

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Competition today is more between business models than between products. Therefore, for the firm, the choice for a specific business model is an important strategic decision. Business model invention, development and adaptation, is a core competence for entrepreneurial and sustainable business. In a global knowledge- based economy, understanding of emerging business models has become a great asset for any business.

An increasingly dynamic business environment creates new business conditions and new challenges for entrepreneurs and managers. Electronic communications, for example, have given rise to a number of new business models as well as modification of traditional ones; new models have been developed in various forms across different industries. The new kind of business model is built around information flows and the mobilisation of the knowledge resource in every part of the organisation. As a result, human capital, which consists of individuals' intellectual capacity, is the most valuable asset for the new business model which is not only economically sustainable but socially and environmentally responsible.

Despite its common use and general understanding, the business model and related issues have largely escaped the scrutiny of critical scholars and researchers. The link between the business model and human capital is particularly weak in the existing literature. This is the focus of this special issue.

Potential topics/questions suitable for review articles include, but not limited to, are:

• Conceptual understanding of business model that goes beyond the context of e-business.
• What drives the business value chain?
• Why some business models do indeed perform better than others?
• What are the key elements of a business model innovation system?
• How are strategy, operations, engineering, and innovation linked into a system that enables new business models being brought to market?
• How current management practices and current innovation practices should be changed?
• What are the key structural factors and relationships that lead to success?
• Conceptual understanding of human capital and its role in creating sustainable / responsible business models.
• Human capital development and processes that might lead to robust and effective human capita capabilities.
• Human capital management and its measurement.

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 15 February, 2008

Special issue: Part I: From biodiversity to virtual world

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management 1(4) 2007 is a special issue: Part I: From biodiversity to virtual world.

Article titles:
* Intellectual property rights, plant genetic resources and international law: potential conflicts and options for reconciliation
* 'University Challenge': balancing the interests of academic authors, publishers and users in Higher Education
* Biomedics and Creative Commons: a perfect match?
* Protecting databases: Europe and USA in the aftermath of BHB case
* The absence of legal database protection in the EPCglobal Network
* Patent protection and traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity

Special issue: Innovations in nanomanufacturing

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 1(4) 2007 is a special issue: Innovations in nanomanufacturing, with papers based on oral presentations made during the 23rd International Manufacturing Conference held 30 August–1 September 2006 at the University of Ulster, UK.

Article titles:
* Burr formation and elimination in micromilling processes
* Precision inspection of coils using diffraction techniques
* Direct photonic etching of electrical materials
* Laser polishing techniques for roughness improvement on metallic surfaces
* Nickel electroforming of 3D microstructure by using BPR100 photoresist mould
* Machining M42 tool steel using superlattice layered nanocrystalline coatings deposited to WC-Co milling tools
* Thermal stress and thermomechanical simulation of embedded electronic packaging
* Approach for sintering nano-sized yttria-stabilised zirconia
* Challenges to a micromanufacturing industry in Ireland
* Very high speed micromachining of electrical materials
* Enhancing polymer adhesion through surface activation using an in-line atmospheric pressure plasma

Special issue: Data protection, trust and technology

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 6(1) 2007 is a special issue: Data protection, trust and technology.

Article titles:
* Evidencing trade usages: the case of encryption practices in internet banking
* Extent of protection offered by the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000: a case study
* Constructing a 'coordinated structure' in the contract for the transfer of technology
* Modelling trust relationships in Collaborative Networked Organisations
* Nature and future of IT-security regulation
* Personal data protection, certificate service providing and e-Government: a feasible equation?
* Towards a unified perspective of Business Process Reengineering methodologies

Special issue: Interface issues in e-democracy

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management 7(2) 2007 is a special issue: Interface issues in e-democracy. The papers in this special issue arise from debates within the European Science Foundation Towards Electronic Democracy (TED) programme; and, in particular, at a TED workshop held at Manchester Business School in November 2005 on Human-Computer Interface Issues in e-Democracy.

Article titles:
*Deliberative community networks for local governance
* Facilitation patterns and citizen engagement
* Mapping vernacular geography: web-based GIS tools for capturing 'fuzzy' or 'vague' entities
* Improving usability in e-democracy systems: systematic development of navigation in an e-participatory budget system
* An experimental study of a web-based framework for group decision support with applications to participatory budget elaboration
* Some thoughts on weighting in participatory decision making and e-democracy
* A risk assessment framework for electronic voting

Special issue: Environmental implications of urban transportation in Asia

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 30(1) 2007 is a special issue: Environmental implications of urban transportation in Asia.

Article titles:
* Environmental and resource constraints on Asian urban travel
* Limited provision of roads as a bottleneck on vehicle CO2 emissions in Asia: an international comparison of national trends
* Strategies for the promotion of cleaner and energy efficient technologies in the urban transport system in selected Asian cities
* Analysis of policy options for promotion of clean and energy efficient technologies in the transport sector in Beijing
* Model calculation of environmentally friendly traffic flows in a rapidly growing urban centre in India
* Pollution control by reduction of drag on cars and buses through platooning
* Vehicle wake factor for heterogeneous traffic in urban environments
* Development of the Tehran car driving cycle
* Benefits of air quality improvement in Klang Valley Malaysia
* Assessment of noise level due to vehicular traffic at Warangal city, India
* Research Note: Air pollution challenges and solutions for China's urban transportation development

Newly announced title: International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms - to begin publication in 2008 - will cover applications and case studies in the area of advanced intelligence paradigms among professionals in education and research. The aim of the journal is to publish papers dealing with the design, development, testing, implementation and management of advanced intelligent systems and also to provide practical guidelines in the development and management of these systems. It will publish both archival articles and broader assessments of current trends.

Call for papers: New Challenges In Global Chassis Control

Call for papers: New Challenges In Global Chassis Control

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems

Over the past few years, automotive engineering has been characterised by rapid growth in active systems. In particular efforts to improve driving safety and comfort under all driving conditions have been naturally focused on the chassis behaviour. However active safety and comfort are known to satisfy conflicting interests for the conventional chassis.

To tackle this problem, the usual approach consists of an independent optimisation of the different chassis subsystems (in particular brakes, suspension actuators, steering, etc.). However, this currently runs into its limits once data interchange between the systems is needed to improve the overall functions. Therefore, to gain maximum comfort and safety at the same time, an integrated design, called "global chassis control", needs to be considered.

This special issue aims to present recent results on this topic of global chassis control. The performance optimisation of the chassis dynamical behavior requires development of:
new (nonlinear) models: from subsystems where the recent products (active differential, semi-active dampers, etc.) require accurate modelling to the integrated full car model
new control synthesis: aiming to reach enhanced safety and comfort, which can be obtained only using advanced control methodologies (linear H1/LPV, nonlinear, predictive, etc.)
new simulation tools based on accurate models: to avoid the inherent cost of vehicle tests and to allow for analysis of critical driving situations

Among the objectives outlined above, the topics of this special issue include (but are not limited to):

• Subsystems (non linear) modelling to account for new technologies of dampers, differential, brakes, etc
• Vehicle (nonlinear) modelling: integration of subsystems, tires, chassis, etc
• Active and semi-active suspension control to enhance safety and comfort
• Active safety using steering or braking actuators

Important Date
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 15 December 2007

First issue: International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation

The first issue of International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation has just been published.

The journal deals with the development and application of logistics in the world economy and globalised arena. It aims to bring together current research, development and application in improving logistical systems, supply chains efficiency, networks and enterprises performance. Studies involving supply chain-specific, network-specific, enterprise-specific, cluster-specific, industry-specific, country-specific issues with a national-focus or international-focus, will be included.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue

First issue: International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services

The first issue of International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services has just been published.

It covers the areas of manufacturing science and technologies, services theory and methods, and corresponding information and knowledge management issues. The main features of the journal are to highlight the use of Internet or World Wide Web techniques, solving the new problems and facing the new challenges that are brought about through network and distribution issues in the above areas. Contributions that deal with both academic research and industrial practices are included.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue, which is a special one on Web-Based Approach to Design, Manufacturing and Life-Cycle Engineering

First issue: International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management

The first issue of International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management has just been published.

The main objective of the journal is to promote research and application of new developments in Indian culture and management. It aims to help professionals working in the field of international business, academic educators, industry consultants, and practitioners to contribute, to disseminate and to learn from each other’s work. International business dimension and the implications of culture are emphasised in developing appropriate strategies, tactics, and operational policies for being successful in India.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue

Special issue: Ethnic sub-economies in the global environment

International Journal of Business and Globalisation 1(2) 2007 is a special issue: Ethnic sub-economies in the global environment.

Article titles:
* Social capital and business performance: ethnic enterprises in Canada
* The value of the psychological capital of immigrant entrepreneurs
* Minority entrepreneurship in the USA
* Cuban-American entrepreneurs in Tampa, Florida: an evolutionary perspective
* The new landscape of immigrant entrepreneurship in France
* Nigerian restaurants in London: bridging the experiential perception/expectation gap
* Entrepreneurship in ethnic groups: the case of the multicultural city of Thessaloniki, Greece
* A study of Chinese-owned firms in New Zealand

Special issue: Media streaming over wireless and mobile environments

International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing 2(2/3) 2007 is a special issue: Media streaming over wireless and mobile environments.

Article titles:
* Robust source-adaptive real-time video transport over wireless multihop networks
* Adaptive semi-soft handoff for Cellular IP networks
* Developing a QoS framework for media streaming over TDMA/TDD wireless networks
* WAQM: managing QoS in wireless networks by means of an XML-based multiagent system
* Rate adaptation for wireless video streaming based on error statistics
* Seamless multimedia sessions and real-time measurements in hybrid 3G and WLAN networks
* A rate adaptation scheme for media streaming over heterogeneous networks
* Mobile face detection and tracking for media streaming applications
* TCP-friendly MPEG-4 streaming video in CDMA networks via power and rate control
* Constraint-based media content delivery over heterogeneous networks and devices

Special issue: Computational methods in computer graphics and scientific visualisation

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering 3(1) 2007 is a special issue: Computational methods in computer graphics and scientific visualisation, comprising selected papers from the International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA’04), Assisi, Italy, May 14-17, 2004.

Article titles:
* Smooth natural neighbour interpolants over the whole domain
* Boundary filtering approach in surface reconstruction
* Upper and lower bounds of op-code probabilities for Edgebreaker
* Fast and efficient rendering system for real-time terrain visualisation
* Polygonisation of disjoint implicit surfaces by the adaptive edge spinning algorithm of implicit objects
* Polygonal silhouette error correction: a reverse subdivision approach
* Texture mapping on 3D surfaces using clustering-based cutting paths
* Incremental subdivision for triangle meshes

Call for papers: Supply Chain Management and Knowledge Management

Call for papers: Supply Chain Management and Knowledge Management

A special issue of International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations

Advances in Information Technologies have transformed the way organisations interact with each other, and with their customers. Customers and organisations have become more demanding, desiring customised products and services that are made to their precise needs, at comparatively cheaper costs, and within a time-compressed environment. The last two decades have also witnessed a constantly changing business environment wherein revolutionary technologies are resulting in creation of innovative products with shorter product life cycles, whilst being constant pressure to reduce lead times.

In response, best practice organisations have recognised that they cannot compete alone. Today supply chains compete. Furthermore, the exploitation of knowledge across the supply chain is fundamental to business optimisation. Organisations have accepted and recognised that in the dynamic modern day business environment, knowledge is the prime resource for providing an organisation with a sustainable competitive advantage. Consequently, to enable organisations to respond to this dynamic environment, new management paradigms such as: (1) knowledge management and (2) supply chain management have evolved.

In this special edition, we seek to explore the role of knowledge management in the supply chain. What are the current trends in supply chain management? How effective are current knowledge creation/acquisition, knowledge codification, and knowledge transfer mechanisms among supply chain partners? What are the drivers of supply chain modelling and simulation and what are the critical success factors? What new approaches and skills are required for supply chain managers? What are the barriers to effective customised logistics operations and supply chains and how might these be overcome?

This special issue aims to provide a forum for addressing these questions. Two types of papers are solicited:

• Theoretical research papers that provide original work on current trends and issues in supply chain management and knowledge management.
• Applied research papers that deal with the design, implementation and evaluation of supply chain management and knowledge management solutions

Recommended general topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Agility, responsiveness and customer-focused supply chains
• Communication and information technology
• Customised logistics & supply chains
• Design and development of knowledge management solutions
• Knowledge-enabled global supply networks
• Decision support systems in logistics
• Knowledge creation/acquisition, knowledge codification, knowledge transfer among supply chain partners
• Knowledge management in lean supply chains
• RFID and the impact of real-time data acquisition
• Supply-chain modelling and simulation in supply-chains
• Techniques and methods for managing knowledge across the supply chain
• Empirical and case studies
• Future trends

Important Dates
Extended abstract of no more than 4 pages due: 15 September 2007
Preliminary acceptance/rejection notification: 15 October 2007
Full paper due: 15 January 2008
Final acceptance notification by: 15 March 2008
Camera ready paper due: 15 April 2008

Call for papers: Transportation/Service Network Expansion and Legal Issues in Cargo/Mail Industry

Call for papers: Transportation/Service Network Expansion and Legal Issues in Cargo/Mail Industry

A special issue of World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research

As trade barriers have broken down and e-commerce and B2C business models prevail, air carriers, couriers, freight forwarders, and postal administrations serve as the nerve systems to move cargo, freight, packages and mail to every corner of the world.

The increasing demands of seamless transportation and expedited services bring challenges to these transportation and delivery service providers as well as to academia. To meet the growing demand, it is essential for providers to expand their service networks, expedite their handling processes, and increase the efficiency of their operations.

Due to various legal constraints and limited resources, the improvements needed to meet market demands are subject to constraints. For example, limitations on traffic rights restrict air carriers from expanding their service network to courtiers that do not grant traffic rights to carriers’ home country or only grant limited traffic rights to carriers’ home country; safety and security restrictions limit the types of merchandise flown by air; and customs and border control and environmental (night flight zone) restrictions limit operating hours and slow down operations.

This special issue will present managerial and legal issues faced by transportation and delivery service providers, focusing on the causes of these issues, and on managerial, marketing and legal approaches to resolving these issues.

This special issue is intended to cover the transportation/service network management and legal issues, including transportation modes as well as inter-modal transportation. We encourage papers from a variety of transportation fields, including but not limited to:

• Transportation and inter-model transportation network optimisation
• Network expansion via strategic alliances
• Operation efficiency improvement via standardisation and automation
• Expediting handling procedures for cross-border goods, packages and international mail
• Air cargo liberalisation and the EU-US Open Aviation Area Agreement
• Impact of post-9/11 aviation security restriction on the international cargo industry
• Impact of environmental protection regulations (such as gas emission and night flight zone restrictions) on transportation and inter-model transportation

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 15 January, 2008
Notification of acceptance before: 1 April, 2008
Submission of final and revised manuscripts: 1 June, 2008

Call for papers: Entrepreneurial Marketing - The Interface between Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Call for papers: Entrepreneurial Marketing - The Interface between Marketing and Entrepreneurship

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Entrepreneurial marketing is a term which is receiving increasing use. It essentially encompasses two very distinct areas of management: marketing and entrepreneurship. Several overlaps between these two disciplines have recently become obvious. Empirical evidence suggests that a significant relationship exists between an enterprise’s marketing and entrepreneurial orientations exists, both widely being responsible for corporate success.

A notable amount of academic work towards this topic has been on the role of marketing in SMEs, although some scholars have also addressed the application of entrepreneurial thinking towards the marketing side of an enterprise, regardless of whether it is a large, established, new or young venture. In these cases, attempts have been made to transfer entrepreneurial concepts to marketing concepts, such as marketing strategy, product development, sales, or buyer behaviour. On the other hand, many researchers have tried to apply marketing ideas to new ventures. In addition, many entrepreneurial activities, like the identification of new opportunities, the application of innovative techniques, the conveyance of products to the marketplace, and successfully meeting customer needs in the chosen target market, are also elementary aspects of marketing theory.

Without doubt, marketing plays a crucial role not only in developing, producing, and selling products or services, but also in guiding recruiting efforts and raising capital. However, it can be stated that successful entrepreneurs undertake marketing in unconventional ways. They rely on interactive marketing methods often communicated through word-of-mouth rather than a more traditional marketing mix. They monitor the marketplace through informal networks rather than formalised market research, and generally adopt more entrepreneurial approaches to marketing activities. However, depending on the business model, a sophisticated and formalised initial market research can be crucial for a successful market entry.

Research findings on the interrelation between marketing and entrepreneurship are extremely fragmented so far, and there is no integrated analysis or comprehensive theory yet. This special issue therefore aims at contributing to the theory building of entrepreneurial marketing. Truly innovative research is appreciated. Papers can be purely theoretical or theory-driven empirical work (quantitative or qualitative).

Potential topic areas suitable for review articles include but are not limited to:

• Similarities, differences and interfaces of marketing and entrepreneurship
• Novel, innovative, risk-taking and proactive ways of marketing in new or established enterprises (such as buzz marketing, guerrilla marketing, viral marketing, internet marketing, public relations etc.)
• Marketing for start-ups and new ventures
• Strategic marketing (strategy, planning etc.) in start-ups and new ventures
• Entrepreneurial pricing
• Entrepreneurial advertising
• Entrepreneurial marketing for hiring and retaining employees
• Entrepreneurial marketing for raising financial resources
• Dealing with uncertainties in new and growing ventures
• Initial market research
• Opportunity evaluation by market research
• Pre-market entry marketing
• Relationship marketing
• Leveraging limited marketing recourses
• Identifying and evaluating marketing opportunities
• Optimizing marketing/sales tools for an entrepreneurial setting

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 14 January 2008

Call for papers: E-Government for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Rural Areas

Call for papers: E-Government for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Rural Areas

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Democracy

Electronic government (e-government) is rapidly becoming one of governments’ critical means for the provision of seamless services for public agencies, businesses and citizens. With the spread of information and communication technologies (ICT), new challenges have emerged, accentuating the perspective for making governmental services better, more cost effective, and more accessible. Many European local or central governments have made substantial investments for improving e-government infrastructures and services for citizens and businesses. Considerable advances have been achieved in the rollout of ICT-based e-government services in many European regions, and success has already been registered: for example, online tax returns save millions of hours each year. However, much remains to be done in order to record essential progress and social acceptance of e-government in areas that are lagging behind in their development and/or adoption.

This problem can be clearly identified when considering e-government services for small & medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas. SMEs are prevalent in both urban and rural areas, and are particularly common in rural areas. SMEs in rural areas face different barriers to grow and operate than their counterparts in other areas. Away from the central public authorities, rural (also referred to as regional) SMEs, do not have direct, physical access to a variety of services that public agencies offer. They are far away from the decision and policy-making centres and it is not always feasible, due to lack of transportation, time, money or bad weather, nor convenient, to travel to obtain the necessary information or for making use of the available public services.

ICT tools and methods aim to address such problems: first, by providing the means for public authorities to deploy and provide their services online; second, by facilitating rural SMEs in accessing e-services from their region. On the other hand, in many cases professionals and citizens are not aware of electronically available public services, or do not know how to effectively use them so as to reap benefits in their everyday business activities.

In this context, the general aim of this special issue is to assess the current status and technologies, as well as to outline the major challenges and future perspectives, related to the design, deployment, evaluation and uptake of e-government services for SMEs in rural areas.

Topics for the special issue include, but are not limited to:

• E-government technologies and applications for rural SMEs
• Regional authorities adoption of e-government technologies
• Regional SMEs' adoption of e-government services
• Real-life case studies of e-government services that support rural entrepreneurship
• SMEs' requirements and needs for e-government services provision
• Assessing current e-government services for rural areas: efficiency, security, privacy, and cost effectiveness
• E-government services to enhance self-employment in rural areas
• ICT education and training initiatives for rural SMEs
• Methodologies, frameworks and architectures for deploying e-government in SMEs
• Strategic planning for e-government in SMEs
• Policy issues for the provision of e-government services
• Mobile government applications for SMEs
• E-services evaluation for rural SMEs
• Data protection and data privacy affecting e-government adoption in rural areas
• E-government legal issues and rural SMEs
• Privacy-preserving e-government technologies, applications and services
• Digital identity management for e-government services and SMEs
• Future challenges regarding e-government services for SMEs
• E-government for rural communities' inclusion

Important Dates
1-2 Page Abstract: 30 September 2007
Notification of appropriateness: 31 October 2007
Manuscript submission: 31 January 2008
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 31 March 2008
Final manuscript due: 31 May 2008

First issue: International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

The first issue of International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles has just been published.

It covers the field of electric and hybrid automotive systems, including in-vehicle electricity production such as hydrogen fuel cells, and deals with innovative solutions for the technical challenges enabling these new propulsion technologies.

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

First issue: International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management

The first issue of International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management has just been published.

The aim of the journal is to provide an international forum and refereed reference in the field of electronic customer relationship management (ECRM). It also deals with the interaction, collaboration, partnership and cooperation between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger enterprises in a customer relationship. More innovative analysis and better understanding of the complexity involved in a customer relationship are essential in today’s global businesses. Therefore, manuscripts offering theoretical, conceptual, and practical contributions for ECRM are encouraged.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue

Special issue: Use of sustainable development indicators

International Journal of Sustainable Development 10(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Use of sustainable development indicators.

Article titles:
* Introduction to the key issue concerning the use of sustainable development indicators
* Political uses of social indicators: overview and application to sustainable development indicators
* Information at the interface between supply and demand for indicators: the use of a model with estimated parameter values as a base for indication in multicriteria analyses
* Scientists dealing with stakeholders' demand for coral reef management indicators: methodological approach and issues
* MONET indicator system: the Swiss road to measuring sustainable development
* Communicating scientific knowledge to actors: how do indicators respond to stakes in relation to the development of the fishery sector in the Guinea Republic?
* Sustainability and vulnerability indicators for decision making: lessons learned from Honduras
* Design of sustainability indicators of the production systems in Brazilian semi-arid area by the * A multicriteria participation-based methodology for selecting sustainable development indicators: an incentive tool for concerted decision making beyond the diagnosis framework
* Joint construction and appropriation of indicators by users, managers and scientists: the case study of Port-Cros and Porquerolles tourist frequentation observatory
* Top-down/bottom-up approach for developing sustainable development indicators for mining: application to the Arlit uranium mines (Niger)
* In search of coastal zone sustainability by means of social carrying capacity indicators construction: lessons learned from the Thau lagoon case study (Region Languedoc-Roussillon, France)

First issue: International Journal of Management in Education

The first issue of International Journal of Management in Education has just been published.

It aims to publish papers which analyse all aspects of international education, providing researchers and professionals from education with the opportunity to discuss the most demanding issues regarding the development and leadership of education at all levels and in all areas of education management. Similarly, it is interested in how international or intercultural questions can produce problems which are ethical in nature or which have ethical consequences with regard to the management in education.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue

First issue: International Journal of Intercultural Information Management

The first issue of International Journal of Intercultural Information Management has just been published.

The journal publishes papers analysing all aspects of international and intercultural issues with regard to information management. It welcomes all scholastic researches addressing how international or intercultural questions can produce information systems/information technology (IS/IT) related problems, which may involve changing management concepts, modelling, methodologies, and business process engineering/re-engineering as well as ethical and security concerns.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue

Call for papers: Advances in Reliability Methods and Probabilistic System Identification Techniques

Call for papers: Advances in Reliability Methods and Probabilistic System Identification Techniques

A special issue of International Journal of Reliability and Safety

Uncertainties are present and inevitable in many engineering decision making problems. Strategies to reduce them or to account for their effects have become increasingly important. Recent years have seen advances in the use of probabilistic concepts and analysis methods in engineering reliability assessment, system identification and health monitoring. The general trend has been towards applications for complex engineering problems that are characterised by a large number of uncertain/design variables, advanced stochastic model description, nonlinear system behavior, multiple-failure criteria, etc. This special issue aims at bringing together recent research findings in the application of probabilistic methods in reliability analysis, system identification and health monitoring.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• stochastic mechanics and random vibrations
• reliability analysis and decision making
• reliability-based design and optimization
• Monte Carlo methods and their applications in engineering systems
• system identification and health monitoring, addressing the effects of uncertainties

Contributions to fundamental theory, methodology development, solution techniques and applications, as well as state-of-the-art reviews are welcome.

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 28 February, 2008
Notification of acceptance: 30 April, 2008
Submission of final manuscript: 30 June, 2008

Special issue: Wireless sensor networks

International Journal of Sensor Networks 2(5/6) 2007 is a special issue: Wireless sensor networks, comprising enhanced papers from IEEE ICC 2006 Wireless Ad hoc and Sensor Networks Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey, June 2006.

Article titles:
* Self-healing sensor networks with distributed decision making
* Design and application of enhanced communication protocols for wireless sensor networks operating in environmental monitoring
* A flow-based reliability measure for wireless sensor networks
* On constructing low interference topology in multihop wireless sensor networks
* Improving gateway safety in wireless sensor networks using cognitive techniques
* Implementation and performance evaluation of nanoMAC: a low-power MAC solution for high density wireless sensor networks
* Mining and visualising wireless sensor network data
* SUMP: a secure unicast messaging protocol for wireless ad hoc sensor networks
* SHORT: shortest hop routing tree for wireless sensor networks
* Multiple-input turbo code for secure data aggregation and source-channel coding in wireless sensor networks
* A prototype underwater acoustic sensor network platform with topology-aware MAC scheme
* Range-free sensor localisation with ring overlapping based on comparison of received signal strength indicator
* Stochastic binary sensor networks for noisy environments