Newly announced journal: International Journal of Global Warming

International Journal of Global Warming - to begin in 2009 - will bring all disciplines together for both local and global solutions to combat global warming and its consequences. It focuses around improvements in remediation, avoidance, efficiency, cost effectiveness, design, resource utilisation, environmental quality, energy security, and sustainable development. It also address issues related to global changes as a direct and/or indirect result of climate modification and strategies for adaptation to such changes.

Call for papers: Gender and Sustainable Development

Call for papers: Gender and Sustainable Development

A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development

This special issue welcomes papers based on new quantitative research concerning the economic, social and environmental role of women and the implications for government policies and business practices.

Original research is welcome on topics which include but are not limited to:

• Women in the workforce and economic growth
• Economic impacts of family-friendly policies
• Gender balance and innovative performance
• Female focus in poverty reduction
• Performance of male and female-led firms
• Innovation and women entrepreneurs
• Valuation of female-dominated professions
• Valuation of household work
• Effectiveness of gender quotas in public and private sectors
• Costs and benefits of engendered health policies
• Contributions of women migrants
• Gender aspects of education trends
• Women in global supply chains
• Engendered approaches to disaster risk reduction
• Sustainable consumption patterns by gender
• Gender governance approaches and climate change

Important Dates
Abstract of not more than 150 words by: 1 September 2008
Full paper submission by: 1 November 2008

Special issue: European integration, regional growth and cohesion

International Journal of Public Policy 3(3/4) 2008

• European integration, regional growth and cohesion: an overview
• Economic geography and European integration: the effects on the EU's external border regions
• The impact of EU enlargement on European border regions
• Did previous EU-enlargements change the regional distribution of production? An empirical analysis of three enlargement episodes
• Economic integration in a cross border perspective: an emerging new system of production?
• Multi-level policy making in transport: the problems for border regions
• EU cohesion policy: the debate on Structural Funds
• Ex-ante evaluation of European ICT policies: efficiency vs. cohesion scenarios

Special issue: Wind power trading in electricity markets

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 6(3) 2008

• Wind power in electricity markets: key issues and challenges
• Impacts of wind power on PJM market development
• Dispachability improvement of wind generation by the Virtual Power Producers
• Bidding and regulating strategies in a dual imbalance pricing system: case study for a Dutch wind producer
• Wind power generation in China: present status and future prospects
• Development of linear models of Static Var Compensators suitable for enhancing performance of power systems including wind farms
• Evaluation of wind power integration practices in Germany
• Integration of pump storage hydro with wind energy

Special issue: Australian views on energy security: papers from the Energy Security Symposium

International Journal of Global Energy Issues 29(4) 2008

Papers from a Symposium on Australia’s energy security hosted by the Australian Institute of International Affairs and the Australian Homeland Security Centre in Canberra in October 2006.

• The impact of energy security on Australia's international relations
• Energy security: the new cold war
• Energy competition and international relations
• Accessing energy resources in the arc of instability
• Factoring energy security into Australian foreign and trade policy: Has luck run out?
• Asia's rising complex energy interdependence
• 'Strong enterprise, weak government': energy policy making in China
• Australia's engagement in the nuclear fuel cycle: the non-proliferation dimension
• Rapporteur's report

Special issue: Transforming energy systems towards sustainability: critical issues from a socio-technical perspective

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management 9(2/3) 2008

• Energy systems in transition: contributions from social sciences
• Deploying wind power in Australia: a socio-technical analysis
• Carbon capture and storage: settling the German coal vs. climate change dispute?
• Socio-technical implications of domestic microgeneration technologies in the UK electricity system
• En'lightening' energy use: the co-evolution of household lighting practices
• Who uses innovative energy technologies, when and why? The case of fuel cell MicroCHP in households
• Systematically sustainable provision? The premises and promises of 'joined-up' energy demand management
• Socio-technical analysis of the introduction of wind power in the Netherlands and Denmark
• Governance in the energy transition: Practice of transition management in the Netherlands

Special issue: CIBAM and the Symposium on Security, Terrorism and Business

Global Business and Economics Review 10(2) 2008

[CIBAM = Centre for International Business & Management, Judge Business School, Cambridge University]

• CIBAM and the Symposium on 'Security, Terrorism and Business'
• Terrorism and business
• Ten propositions concerning security, terrorism and business
• Not quite inexplicable: exploring the Bush administration's response to terrorism
• The war on terror: in search of a definition
• War on terrorism: from the bloody clash of civilisations to a nonviolent coexistence of nations and civilisations
• Terrorism and Islamism: differences, dynamics and dilemmas
• Unintended consequences: how Somalia's business community, in search of stability, and the USA, in search of terrorists, nearly created a radical Islamic state in the horn of Africa
• Terrorism and business: a view from an insurance practitioner

Special issue: Integrated disaster risk management in the Asia-Pacific Region

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 8(4) 2008

• Evaluation method of flood disaster loss based on genetic algorithm of changeable structure
• Matter-element model of integrated risk assessment for flood control systems
• Assessment of public risk perception in North-western China
• Research on geologic hazard risk management in China based on geologic hazard survey and zoning
• A decision support system for debris-flow hazard mitigation in towns based on numerical simulation: a case study at Dongchuan, Yunnan Province
• Main meteorological disasters and their impacts on the economic and societal developments in China
• Indigenous knowledge and culture on natural resources management in the Salween canyon, Yunnan Province, China
• An application of SCGE model to assess the labour and capital related economic loss in Nankai earthquake
• Probabilistic exposure assessment to total trihalomethanes in drinking water: an EVT method
• Impact of natural disaster on the national economies in China
• The attitudes of university students towards crisis events: a survey in Beijing
• Households' choice on reconstruction of a damaged house after an earthquake: characteristics of decisions and effects of subsidies

Special issue: Knowledge management

International Journal of Business Information Systems 3(6) 2008

• Revisiting knowledge warehousing: theoretical foundations
• Knowledge maps and organisations: an overview and interpretation
• How to use KM effectively in a European context: the case of BCT in Romania
• Motives for and modes of interfirm technological cooperation: an empirical study of China's high-technology SMEs
• The IT professional and knowledge management: researching the Irish perspective
• Knowledge management within information security: the case of Barings Bank
• Capturing tacit knowledge across different domains: Knowledge Community (K-Comm)
• Tacit knowledge, organisational memory: expectations and experiences in developing a knowledge warehouse

Special issue: Advances in machining of composite materials

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 32(2/3) 2008

• Damage modes of the aeronautic multidirectional carbon/epoxy composite T300/914 in machining
• Working parameters effects on machining-induced damage of fibre-reinforced composites: numerical simulation analysis
• Model for predicting cutting forces in machining CFRP
• Orthogonal machining of UD-CFRP composites
• Analysis of delamination in drilling composite materials by core-saw drill
• The geometrical effect between stages in step drilling of composite materials
• Prediction of thrust force and torque when drilling composite materials
• Damage analysis of carbon/epoxy plates after drilling
• Predicting machinability parameters on drilling Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics using Response Surface Methodology
• An experimental and statistical study on the effect of drill geometries on force and hole quality in drilling of glass fibre reinforced plastic
• Neural surface roughness models of CNC machined Glass Fibre Reinforced Composites
• Multi-parameter surface roughness analysis in turning of polyamide composite using Polycrystalline Diamond tool
• The experimental study on machinability of new developed Al/(Sip+SiCp)
• Development of an empirical model for surface roughness in the machining of Al/SiC particulate composites by PCD tool
• Modelling cutting power and tool wear in turning of aluminium matrix composites using Artificial Neural Networks

Special issue: Successfully creating new products and services: XV ISPIM Conference

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 8(2) 2008

Papers from the XV International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) Conference held in Oslo, Norway 20-24 June 2004

• Measurement criteria of the relevance of the Innovation Management methods and tools
• The exploration of future service innovations in the radically changing business environment within the electricity distribution industry
• innovationEnterprizer: system for evaluating and managing corporate innovation
• Information behaviour in value characteristics deployment approach to increasing customer satisfaction by combining product and service
• Proximity, mobility and aesthetics in strategies for innovation management
• Systems thinking and learning in innovation process
• In search of corporate renewal: focus on corporate venturing
• Discovering business innovation, channel collaboration and value delivery in international research odyssey

Call for papers: Revenue Management in Emerging Areas

Call for papers: Revenue Management in Emerging Areas

A special issue of International Journal of Revenue Management

This special issue considers all emerging areas of revenue management other than conventional airlines and hotels applications. While all types of papers related to applications in the emerging areas are welcome, papers related to applications of revenue management in the emerging economies in developing countries are preferred.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to:

• Retail
• Broadcasting
• Railways
• Electronic auctions
• Food products
• Car rentals

Important Dates
Full paper due: 31 January, 2009
Notification of acceptance and review results: 1 April, 2009
Final version of paper due: 1 September, 2009

Call for papers: Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

Call for papers: Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice from an Industrial and Systems Engineering Perspective

A special issue of European Journal of Industrial Engineering

In recent years, it has been recognised that industry is paying more and more attention to the formalisation of complex system analysis and design by seeking better ways to improve efficiency in the design process to meet time, cost, and performance requirements. Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation (MDO) has emerged as an industrial and systems engineering discipline that focuses on the development of new design and optimisation strategies for complex systems.

The design and optimisation of complex, high-performance systems require the use of more and more sophisticated modelling tools. Nevertheless, their scope is generally limited to a single disciplinary domain or to specific subsystems. In this context, the search for the best design solution is in general driven by the trade-offs between different teams; each one specialised in a discipline or in a specific system aspect.

The overall optimisation performance is pursued with a number of methodological, organisational, and technical difficulties such as complex modelling and representation issues, computational efforts, and close collaboration between different teams. MDO is considered a methodology for complex systems design that coherently exploits the synergism of mutually interacting phenomena and domains. The main scientific challenges of MDO are concerned with the development of strong and efficient numerical techniques and with the computational organisation required for the necessary coupling of models and tools employed in interacting disciplines.

Interest in MDO has intensified in the last years, as recent advances in computational, optimisation, and simulation technology have presented significant opportunities to solve MDO problems. Different research streams are highlighting many topics of common interest, such as modelling and optimisation methodologies, uncertainty and robustness analysis, integration techniques, approximation and metamodelling methods. Reducing time and cost of the design while pursuing both accuracy and robustness of solutions and the integration between structural and control design aspects is still of primary interest for the project teams. However, the use of these methods for coupled multidisciplinary problems remains an open challenge in many industrial engineering areas, even if innovative methods and software solutions are now available to be used in multidisciplinary applications.

This special issue provides the threefold opportunity to explore new perspectives, to receive a “feedback from the field” trying to bridge the gap between theory and practice of MDO, and to promote and transfer the knowledge of methods for MDO.

We are inviting people from both academia and industry to submit papers on their recent research experience considering emergent approaches and results to be applied to MDO problems.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Development of suitable formulation of multidisciplinary design problems
• Optimisation methods incorporating both structural and control design;
• Simulation-optimisation methods
• Robust optimisation
• Metamodelling methods and metamodels management
• Sensitivity analysis
• Practical applications of MDO techniques

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 20 December, 2008
Notification of the Initial Decision: 30 March, 2009
Notification of Acceptance: 30 June, 2009

Call for papers: Engineering and Computational Technologies in the Life Sciences

Call for papers: Engineering and Computational Technologies in the Life Sciences

A special issue of International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology

With the rapid advance of biotechnology, in particular genomics and proteomics, research in the life sciences has been dramatically revolutionised. Modern life-science research is therefore calling for wider interdisciplinary methodologies to provide useful and rapid tools for aiding the process of targeted therapeutic interventions and biomarker discovery. One has recently become aware of novel notions in medicine and biology such as personalised medicine and computational systems biology where the adoption of information, engineering, and computer aided technologies is foreseen to play a critical role for the success of such significant biomedical findings to come.

This special issue aims to bring together various current and high-impact life-science problems addressed by novel approaches in engineering, computer science, information technology, physics, and mathematics. Its objective is not only to highlight current topics in computational life sciences including bioinformatics, computational biology, and health informatics, but also to serve as a melting pot where principles of different disciplines can be combined to form a richer integrated research platform in computational life sciences.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) new methods and/or novel applications of the following approaches to solving problems in life sciences:

• Image processing, analysis and understanding
• Pattern classification and recognition
• Computational intelligence methods
• AI and machine learning
• Information retrieval and mining
• Optimisation and decision making
• Signal processing
• Fractals and chaos
• Numerical analysis
• Computational mechanics
• Control theory
• Prediction models

Important Dates
Paper submission due: 3 October, 2008
Acceptance notification: 3 November, 2008
Final papers due: 1 December, 2008

Call for papers: Value Chain Management – Linking Australia and its Global Partners

Call for papers: Value Chain Management – Linking Australia and its Global Partners

A special issue of International Journal of Value Chain Management

The value chain approach entails the concept of value adding at the macro and micro levels. The value adding elements permeate across countries, organisations and departments. In today's rapidly evolving business environment, Australian organisations can no longer afford to operate in silos but need to coordinate their activities at both the national and international levels to compete in an increasingly global value chain and network environment.

The intent of the special issue is to investigate innovative and effective applications of value chain approaches in Australia for management in a global business environment. Authors are encouraged to submit both theoretical and applied articles addressing the theme of the special issue.

Topics of relevance to the special issue include but are not limited to the following:

• Technical production
• Economics
• Banking and finance
• Logistics
• Electronic commerce
• Risk management
• Management
• Marketing and customer relationship management
• Supply chain management
• Operations management
• Information technology management
• Value chain approaches in key Australian industries, e.g. agriculture, education, hospitality, financial services

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 31 October, 2008
Notification of acceptance/rejection to authors: 1 Feb, 2009
Submission of final manuscript: 1 April, 2009

Call for papers: Ambient Sensing and Intelligence for Distributed Pervasive Applications

Call for papers: Ambient Sensing and Intelligence for Distributed Pervasive Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems

Sensor networks are an enabling technology of Ambient Intelligence. The pervasive nature of unobtrusive sensors distributed in the environment, either embedded or transportable by mobile carriers, enables fine-grain capture of environmental or ambient information that provides the basis of intelligence for higher-order cognitive systems, i.e. systems with capabilities to perceive, reason, learn, and react intelligently to their environment. Such systems in turn are envisioned to have wide ranging applications from intelligent wildlife and building structure monitoring, to humanistic and social endeavors such as health and elderly care service provisioning.

This special issue is intended to foster and stimulate innovations in cross-disciplinary designs and methodologies in the fields of sensor networks and ambient intelligence.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Cognitive wireless sensor networks
• Cooperative and distributed sensor localization
• Context-aware reasoning and inference for sensor/RFID-based systems
• Intelligence support for sensor network management
• Sensor networking in heterogeneous wireless environments
• Sensor data fusion for ubiquitous embedded computing
• Ambient intelligence system architectures, applications, and services
• Testbed implementation and experimental trials

Important Dates
Manuscripts due: 1 February, 2009
Acceptance Notification: 1 May, 2009
Final Manuscript Due: 1 June, 2009

Newly announced journal: European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management

European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management - to begin publication in 2009 - is the official scholarly publication of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Management and Competence (IACCM). It aims to widen and deepen the discussion about issues regarding the influence of cultural differences and diversity on the management of organisations of all kinds. Of particular relevance is the question of how culture affects both managers and decision-makers in situations involving the cross-cultural transfer of knowledge, values and experiences.

The scope of the journal is further widened by a close cooperation with the European chapter of the Society of Intercultural Education Training And Research (SIETAR Europa).

First issue: The Botulinum Journal

The Botulinum Journal provides an international source of information encompassing varied fields, including microbiology, biochemistry, biophysics, biotechnology, proteomics, genomics, pharmacology, toxicology, drug development related to different forms and types of botulinum neurotoxins, and also Clostridium botulinum.

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

Special issue: Theoretical and experimental developments in nanoscale heat and mass transfer in nanostructures and nanocomposites

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 2(3) 2008

• On the heat transfer of the anatase titanium dioxide nanocrystals
• Carbon diffusion into steel during diamond chemical vapour deposition
• Diffusion of nanoparticles in gases and liquids
• Electrical and thermal transport in thin-film nanotube composites with applications to macroelectronics
• Distribution of impurities and minor components in nanostructured conducting oxides
• Thermal design analysis of compact heat exchanger using nanofluids

Special issue: Competence and incompetence of public managers

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management 1(2) 2008

• A human capital management assessment tool for identifying training and development needs: application to Egyptian public organisations
• Changing competencies for human resource management: examining e-government scorecard and Federal Human Capital Survey evidence
• Aligning leadership and competences in recruitment and staff development: an empirical analysis in the context of regional public administration
• An archetypal approach to bureaucratic and post bureaucratic managements: the case study of a French public service establishment
• Using performance management to meet changing citizen needs in the Mauritian context: a case of the health sector

Special issue: Trombay Symposium on Desalination and Water Reuse: TSDWR 2007 (Part 2)

International Journal of Nuclear Desalination 3(1) 2008

• Innovative seawater intake for reverse osmosis desalination plants
• Water scenario in India
• Brackish water desalination technologies
• Experiences with the conventional pretreatment system in the seawater reverse osmosis plant at Kalpakkam
• R&D areas for next-generation desalination and water purification technologies
• Improvement in motor performance during high-pressure pump starting at NDDP, Kalpakkam
• Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD): new sustainable desalination process
• Review and evaluation of desalination cost and costing methodologies
• Cogenerative seawater reverse osmosis. Part 1: elements characteristics

Special issue: Intellectual capital measuring and reporting: lessons from some countries

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 5(1) 2008

• IC and KM in a macroeconomic perspective: the Portuguese case
• Intellectual capital and real options: agency theory and the dynamics of R&D investments
• Building the intellectual capital of African enterprises in a knowledge economy: impediments and requirements
• Intellectual capital reporting media in an Australian industry
• The intellectual capital disclosures of technology-driven companies: evidence from Indonesia
• Intangibles disclosure, market performance and business reputation – the case of Spain

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation

International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation - to begin publication in 2009 - will discuss the new bio-inspired computation methodologies derived from the animal and plant world, such as evolutionary algorithms, ant colony optimisation and swarm intelligence.

Call for papers: Innovative Cutting Tool Technologies for Modern Machining Challenges

Call for papers: Innovative Cutting Tool Technologies for Modern Machining Challenges

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

With over 100-years of development, the “cutting tool” is still one of the key elements inseparable from high-productivity, high-precision machining operations. Driven by advanced material processing and fabrications, cutting tools have been evolving to have, e.g., the hardest-ever coating and the smallest-ever configuration. In parallel, many emerging machining technologies, such as micro-scale machining, minimum-lubrication machining, and machining of abrasive materials, etc., all require new cutting tools with performance uncharacteristic of conventional tooling. These cutting tools, either with unique materials or geometry, encounter sophisticated loading during machining and exhibit distinct thermomechanical behaviour. In addition, tool wear monitoring using new sensor technologies and tool life predictions using neural network approaches, etc. are equally important to advance the overall production and manufacturing systems.

This special issue emphasises innovative technologies and methodologies related to fundamentals and practices of cutting tools. We invite the submission of high quality research papers related to various aspects of cutting tools, including cutting tool developments, material structures related to tool performance, as well as tool wear monitoring and tool life predictions.

Suitable topics include but are not related to:

• Cutting tools for meso/micro-scale machining
• Tool materials with extreme properties and structures
• Cutting tools with advanced coatings, coated drills or endmills, etc.
• Novel tool wear/failure monitoring
• Tool life predictions using advanced statistical approaches

Important Date
Submission: 30 August 2008

Call for papers: Building Community in Virtual Worlds

Call for papers: Building Community in Virtual Worlds

A special issue of International Journal of Web Based Communities

The aim of this special issue is to collect and to share studies related to the ways in which community can be fostered and sustained in virtual worlds for a variety of purposes.

The use of three-dimensional immersive virtual worlds is gaining popularity in education, gaming, the military and industry. According to Gartner Research, by 2010, 80% of Internet users will have a virtual persona, and 80% of Fortune 500 companies will have a presence in a virtual world. Although still emerging as a whole, some virtual worlds have developed into viable online communities already. For example, Second Life is a fantasy-oriented virtual world with an active membership of more than 12 million users. Cyworld, a Korean web-based virtual world, counts 90% of South Koreans under-30 – and 25% of the total population – among its users. Membership in worlds such as Club Penguin and Webkinz – designed to connect children and adolescents – is growing, as well.

Virtual worlds combine aspects of gaming, social networking, role-play, and simulations. They are viewed by many as a natural extension of 2-D social networking sites -- particularly for a generation of "digital natives" accustomed to using social and immersive technologies to form and to join online communities for both work and recreation. These environments offer significant advantages over more traditional web-based environments, particularly in the areas of communication and collaboration. Virtual worlds enable a sense of presence and co-presence, fostering the creation of communities for learning, work and play in ways previously unavailable. Still, there is much to be learned about how to design, to develop, and to use virtual worlds effectively to cultivate communities and meaningful interactions within them.

Guiding questions for this special issue will include, but are not limited to:

• What types of communities can be expected and/or developed using virtual worlds?
• How are virtual worlds uniquely suited to the creation of communities?
• What strategies are most effective in creating community in virtual worlds?
• How are presence and co-presence manifest in unique ways in virtual worlds?
• What is the impact of presence and co-presence in the creation of purposeful communities?
• How can virtual worlds best be designed as both formal and informal spaces for learning, socializing, communicating, or other intentional or serendipitous purposes?
• What kinds of tools and capabilities must be imbedded in virtual, immersive worlds to promote the creation of different types of communities (i.e. task-oriented, socially-oriented)?
• What research questions are most important as virtual worlds continue to evolve for specific purposes?

Important Dates
Deadline for abstract submission: 1 October, 2008
Deadline for paper submission: 1 December, 2008
Notification to authors: 19 January, 2009

Special issue: Working in the automotive industry

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 8(2) 2008

• A survey of best practices in automotive supplier development
• Relocation and East-West competition: the case of the European automotive industry
• Industrial action and working conditions in a green field site: the case of the FIAT-SATA assembly plant in southern Italy
• A company in transition: Fiat Mirafiori of Turin
• The organisational limits to professional qualification changes
• Demand for knowledge workers in the vehicle industry
• Regional development and the reorganisation processes in the automobile industry

Special issue: Damage in electronic materials

International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity 2(1/2) 2008

• Fracture toughness characterisation of electronic materials and interfaces
• Thermomigration in lead-free solder joints
• Impact of miniaturisation on solder joint reliability
• Reliability of PWB microvias for high density package assembly
• Damage mechanics of solder joints – viscoplasticity, implementation, simulation, and verification
• Effects of radiation damage in GaN and related materials
• Thermodynamic framework for coupling of elasto-viscoplasticity and nonlocal anisotropic damage for microelectronics solder alloys
• Accelerated aging and thermal-mechanical fatigue modelling of Cu-plated through holes with partial solder filling
• Estimating fatigue damage model constants with maximum likelihood method
• Microstructure evolution based acceleration factor determination for SnAgCu solder joints during thermal cycling

Special issue: Knowledge management in research-intensive organisations

International Journal of Learning and Change 3(1) 2008

Revised papers from a workshop at the 23rd European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS) colloquium, held 5-7 July 2007 in Vienna, Austria.

• Lending a helping hand: voluntary engagement in knowledge sharing
• 'It's not my community' – insights from social identity theory explaining community-failure
• Knowledge management in consultancies and high-tech companies: a social systems perspective
• Integrative technologies and knowledge gatekeepers: bridging the gap between epistemic communities in the case of stem cell science
• Linking exploration and exploitation: how a think tank triggers a managerial innovation

Additional Papers

• A high precision prediction model using hybrid Grey dynamic Model
• The empirical relationship among Organisational Learning, Continuous Improvement and Performance Improvement

First issue: International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health

International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health contributes to the improvement of public health, nationally and internationally, through quality research and a better understanding of the science involved in food safety, nutrition and dietetics, food studies, food and restaurant management, and public health.
There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

First issue: International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation

Most of the research and experiments in the field of engineering have devoted significant efforts to modelling and simulation of various complicated phenomena and processes occurring in engineering systems. International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation provides a multi-disciplinary approach to the development and advances in modelling and simulation, contributing to the understanding of different complex engineering systems.

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

Special issue: Trust in virtual organisations

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations 5(3/4) 2008

• Trust in virtual organisations: a synthesis of the literature
• Trust and the virtual environment: research and methodological considerations
• Trust-enabling decision support system for e-tourism intermediation
• Customer trust in virtual environments in service sectors (a case study in Poland)
• Analysing trust as a means of improving the effectiveness of the virtual supply chain
• Modelling trust recognition and evaluation in an electronic environment
• A multitheoretical approach for solving trust problems in B2C e-commerce
• Building trust and commitment in a global organisation
• A framework for a network-level performance measurement system in SME networks
• Organising for networking and virtual teams – the effects of the legal environment

Special issue: External control versus self regulation in learning

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 18(3) 2008

• Meta-Tutor: an online environment for knowledge construction and self-regulated learning in clinical psychology teaching
• Knowledge building in collaborative learning: towards enhancing the response of primary schools to the impacts of HIV/AIDS
• A case study about supporting the development of thinking by means of ICT and concretisation tools
• Like pedagogical design, educational system design can benefit from a framework-oriented approach
• Effects of synchronous coaching in teacher training
• The effect of adaptive performance support system on learning achievements of students
• Towards understanding self-organisation: How self-regulation contributes to self-organisation?

Call for papers: Dynamic and impact behaviour of cellular materials

Call for papers: Dynamic and impact behaviour of cellular materials

A special issue of International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation

Cellular materials have unique mechanical and physical properties, such as their specific strength and stiffness. Their constitutive behaviour also makes cellular materials indicated for energy absorption (crashworthiness, impact, ballistics, blast-wave, heat exchange, etc.) These characteristics, among others, make cellular materials highly adapted to the development of multi-functional, lightweight and cost-effective applications in areas such as structural engineering, aerospace, automotive and defence. The use of these materials has increased in various areas of science and technology due to their special mechanical and physical properties. As result of their properties and potential applications, there is a high demand for cellular materials and a need for thorough understanding of their behaviour.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to the characterization of the dynamic and impact behaviour of cellular materials and their applications. Authors are invited to present their research work on metallic, polymeric and natural cellular materials, experimental and numerical approaches and research on the development of related technologies and applications.

Topics covered by this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Mechanical behaviour of cellular materials
• Impact and energy dissipation with cellular materials
• Structural applications
• Crashworthiness applications
• Metallic, polymeric or natural cellular materials
• Numerical modelling and simulation approaches
• Material characterisation
• Experimental testing and characterisation
• Novel cellular materials

Important Date
Submission: 31 December 2008

Special issue: Using technology for innovation and knowledge sharing in SMEs: sociotechnical approaches

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies 2(3) 2008

• Small firm networking: contents and nature of knowledge sharing and learning
• Identifying innovation opportunities: using the internet to facilitate university-SME knowledge creation
• Socio-technical factors influencing channel use for knowledge-sharing in regional SME networks
• Information technology, communication and networking in software companies of northern Finland
• A socio-technical approach to broadband diffusion by SMEs
• Knowledge management and innovation in UK energy sector SMEs: is there a close link?
• Knowledge management, absorptive capacity and organisational culture: a case study from Chinese SMEs

Special issue: Cross-cultural leadership

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 8(3) 2008

• The role of organisational culture in construction company alliances
• Leadership skills and competencies for cross-cultural construction projects
• Impact of leadership and power on successful ERP adoption
• A cross-cultural study of leadership styles among executives in Bulgaria and Finland
• Organisational culture of joint venture projects: a case study of an international JV construction project in Hong Kong
• Temporary project cultures

Special issue:Legal gap analysis, phobias and techno leaps

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 7(1) 2008

• New phishes in the pond: a wake-up call for China in the context of management of computer crime
• The independent regulatory body: a new regulatory institution in the privatised telecommunications industry (the case of Indonesia)
• Principal differences in financial reporting bases in the Czech Republic: comparison of IFRSs and Czech accounting standards requirements
• XBRL – the tool for automated semantic readability of electronic financial statements
• The technological and legal aspects of communications and information security: a case study of the Olympic Games
• Fear of e-shopping – anxiety or phobia?
• The protection of internet domain names in Israel and Palestine

Special issue: The role of information systems in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): the context within developing countries and economies

International Journal of Enterprise Network Management 2(3) 2008

• Top management support and IT adoption in the Taiwanese small and medium enterprises: a strategic view
• Implementation of information technology: evidence from Indian SMEs
• The e-business performance measurement in SMEs
• Opportunities and the spread of information and communication technologies: evidence from the Indian clusters of small- and medium-sized enterprises
• Planning, designing and implementing an enterprise network in a developing nation
• The negative effects of using information and communication technology in a Taiwanese enterprise
• Performance drivers of ERP systems in small- and medium-sized enterprises

New Designers International 2008: 3rd International Undergraduate Student Product Design Competition

International Journal of Design Engineering is one of the organisers of New Designers International 2008 (NDI–2008): 3rd International Undergraduate Student Product Design Competition

The competition is open to final year undergraduate product and industrial design student projects worldwide (for projects completed between August 2007 and September 2008). Submissions are invited from students studying Product design, Industrial design, Furniture Design, 3D Design, Packaging Design, and related areas.

Full details at http://www.admec.ntu.ac.uk/ndi/ndi.html

Call for papers: Growth

Call for papers: Growth

A special issue of International Journal of Opportunity, Growth and Value Creation

This special issue spotlights the growth of entrepreneurial enterprises. Growth is at the core of entrepreneurial activities and subsequent development, and is reflected by the exploitation of opportunities and subsequent organizational development. The issue will thus draw attention to shedding new light on the sources, processes, and outcomes associated with organisational growth, particularly in the context of entrepreneurial firms. As we acknowledge that growth is a multidimensional phenomenon, papers that address growth from multiple levels of analysis are very welcome.

Subject Coverage

Topics of interest to this issue include, but are not limited to:

• Influence of founder/team characteristics on growth
• Influence of strategy, particularly innovation and entrepreneurial, on growth
• Influence of the task/external environment on growth
• Management and control of fast/rapidly growing enterprises
• Measuring entrepreneurial growth across various stages of development
• The (temporal) relationship between growth and other performance indicators
• Theory on growth: resources, capabilities, networks, and barriers
• Role of institutions, such as government, incubators, and agencies, in firm growth

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 15 August 2008

Call for papers: Integrating Web Applications

Call for papers: Integrating Web Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology

The Web is the largest knowledge repository, and the rationale behind its great success is that the information it stores is available in friendly formats through friendly interaction mechanisms. This obviously causes problems if the information a web site provides is useful to feed an automated business process since, in general, it is not easy to integrate friendly web sites programmatically.

Our main goal is to study the problems related to integrating web applications that provide a user interface and no programmatic interface. Usually, such applications are a source of valuable information, but they are not easy to reuse due to the inherent problems that integrating them into automatic business processes poses.

From a research point of view, this topic is attracting a variety of communities: the software engineering community is interested in methodologies to help engineers build solid solutions to real-world integration problems; the database community is very interested in the development of structured query languages for the web; the artificial intelligence community focuses on techniques to extract data from web pages and verify them; and so on. Although this research topic is of broad interest, we are convinced that the community that might well be more interested in this field is the community involved in web services, since such applications are extremely difficult to integrate in automatic business processes described in, say, BPEL (Business Process Execution Language).

We are chiefly interested in the research areas and topics listed below, although others may well be considered if they are clearly aligned with our motivation:

• Enterprise application integration
• Enterprise information integration
• Mashups
• Reference SOA-based architectures
• Methodologies
• Practical experiences
• Commercial and state-of-the-art systems

Important Dates
Deadline for Submission: 31 October, 2008
Notification: 28 November, 2008
Final Submission: 12 December, 2008

Call for papers: Family Firms: Financing, Corporate Governance and Succession Issues

Call for papers: Family Firms: Financing, Corporate Governance and Succession Issues

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Most standard textbooks develop financial and organisational theories for big corporations only. Such models often assume listed corporations, dispersed ownership, separation between ownership and control, active capital markets, and so on. It is clear that such models are not valid for family firms, which have a complete different dynamic. Financing management has different characteristics than those of big corporations. Organisational structures are designed in a diverse way. Various legal and tax issues might come into play. This special issue is devoted to the specific dynamics of family firms and its impact on financing, corporate governance and succession planning.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Financing problems (bank financing, short-term financing, equity-gap, etc.)
• Corporate governance
• Organisational aspects
• Succession planning
• Growth issues
• Investment strategies
• Strategic planning
• First- versus next-generation family firms
• IPOs of family firms
• Governmental policies
• Financial reporting issues
• International comparisons

Important Dates
Abstracts, paper outlines (or full papers) should be submitted by: 15 September, 2008
Completed papers should be submitted by: 15 November, 2008

Call for papers: Process Control for Mechanical Micromachining Processes

Call for papers: Process Control for Mechanical Micromachining Processes

A special issue of International Journal of Nanomanufacturing

In current biomedical, electronics and aerospace industries, as the dimensions of miniature component devices are continuously scaling down with stringent nanoprecision requirements and complex 3D features, various microfabrication methods have been developed for different applications. Compared to other existing miniature fabrication technologies, the mechanical micromachining process is one of the most appealing methods due to its non-dependence on workpiece materials and geometry, energy and space saving, fast productivity and surface quality. However, the process itself is not well understood at this current stage and there is a lack of research and study. Many uncertainties intrinsically exist in the process that complicate the operation and affect the final products’ quality.

Therefore, the goal of this special issue is to publish the current state-of-the-art control methods in micromachining processes and provide a forum for developing the future directions for different machine setups in order to achieve better products with higher manufacturing productivity.

The subject coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to, topics that address:

• Accurate position control to improve the final products geometry accuracy and surface quality
• Various process control techniques to fulfill various parameter goals, such as force, power, temperature, surface roughness
• Process optimisation methods to improve the productivity and reduce the cost
• Embedded sensor and actuator systems
• Autonomous health monitoring and diagnostic techniques
• Control of micromachining processes for non-homogeneous materials, such as composite materials, human bones
• Control of micromachining processes for soft materials, such as human tissues

Research that spans several fields is particularly welcome.

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 December 2008
Communication of peer reviews to authors: 27 February 2009
Deadline for revised manuscripts: 31 May 2009

Call for papers: Product Design, Manufacturing Processes and Continuous Improvement

Call for papers: Product Design, Manufacturing Processes and Continuous Improvement

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

Current production systems must be oriented to solve the strict requirements associated with increasing demands in terms of dimensional precision, tensile strength, fatigue response, energy efficiency and overall costs in manufactured components, as well as the exigent conditions derived from the strong competence with other companies in the same markets. In order to guarantee the success of enterprise activity in spite of the exigent needs provoked by these factors, the totality of phases involved in the production chain should be subject to a continuous analysis and optimisation oriented to minimise dispersion in the control parameters of manufacturing methods, and enhance the reliability of components and systems that can be obtained.

For this reason, a great effort is needed not only in the promotion of advance techniques for material processing, optimisation of existent manufacturing equipment and processes, and modelling and characterisation of workpiece behaviour according to selected working conditions, but also in the development of new solutions based on automation of manufacturing operations by robotic applications, the refinement of prior phases dedicated to identification of required functionalities and generation of product design, the prediction of possible failures and upsets in the machines and devices employed for the consecutive operations, and the improvement of frictional behaviour and energy wastes during the expected life of final components.

Topics covered by this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Automation and robotics
• Advanced manufacturing systems (computer integrated manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems, etc.)
• Product design
• CAD/CAM/CAE/CAPP
• Continuous improvement
• Production methodologies (lean manufacturing, agile manufacturing, etc.)
• Manufacturing processes (machining, metal casting, metal forming, welding and joining, processing of plastics and composites, powder metallurgy, etc.)
• Micro and nanomanufacturing
• Dimensional measurement
• Total productive maintenance
• CNC machines architecture

Important Date
Submission: 31 March 2009

Special issue: Automotive marketing and distribution in Europe

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 8(1) 2008

• Another look on product diversity: some new propositions to design profitable product ranges
• Managing product life cycle in the auto industry: evaluating carmakers effectiveness
• Intermediation in downstream automotive supply chains – a review of the role of internet technology
• Supply chain-oriented performance measurement for automotive spare parts
• Dealer-carmaker relationship: the theories of the duality of trust and of power-dependence
• The consolidation of the automotive parts aftermarket sector in transitioning economies: the case of Poland
• Business strategies and key success factors for automotive retailers: the case of dealer groups in Italy

Special issue: Tooling materials and their applications from research to market

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 3(2/3) 2008

Papers from the the 7th International Tooling Conference: Tooling materials and their applications from research to market held in Turin, Italy 2-5 May 2006

• Thermal fatigue behaviour of hot-work tool steels: heat check nucleation and growth
• Influence of aging on microstructure and toughness of die-casting die steels
• Properties of double dispersed tool steels
• Austempering effect on structure properties and performances of hot-work tool steel
• Toughness and microstructure stability in hot-working tool steels subjected to washout in molten aluminium
• Micro-abrasive wear of boride layers on AISI D2 tool steel produced by the thermoreactive process
• Examination on surface films of plasma nitrided and post-stream oxidised H13 steel
• Developing PVD zirconium-oxide coatings for use of thixoforming of steel
• Laser shock processing as a method of decreasing fatigue of a die-casting die made of maraging steel
• Identification and validation of a continuum damage model applied for the lifetime prediction of H11 tool steel
• Damage mechanisms in materials for cold forging dies under loading conditions typical for dies
• Size effect in transient thermal fatigue testing and thermo-mechanical screening of coatings
• Cyclic behaviour simulation of X38CRMOV5-47HRC (AISI H11)-tempered martensitic hot-work tool steel
• Experimental conditions and environment effects on thermal fatigue damage accumulation and life of die-casting steel X38CrMoV5 (AISI H11)
• Fatigue–oxidation interaction models for life prediction of hot-forming tools steels under transient thermomechanical loadings
• Thermal fatigue properties of hot-work tool steels
• Isothermal aging kinetics of NiAl precipitates in a secondary hardening steel
• Deep cryogenic treatment of AISI M2 high-speed steel
• Advanced low-friction tool steel for metal processing: properties and industrial experiences
• On adhesion of work material in metal forming
• Profile and shape grinding of high alloyed steels
• A study of the strengthening mechanisms in the novel precipitation-hardening KeyLos® 2001 steel
• Adaptive system for electrically driven thermoregulation of moulds for injection moulding

Special issue: Nanotechnology in France. Part I: C'nano Nord-Ouest

International Journal of Nanotechnology 5(6/7/8) 2008

A compilation of selected contributions from the Centre de Compétences Nanosciences Nord Ouest (C’Nano Nord Ouest): laboratories from the Basse-Normandie, Bretagne, Haute-Normandie, Nord-Pas de Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie and Poitou-Charentes regions.

• The C'nano competence centres
• Active emitters based on nanostructured Si
• Atomic resolution analyses of nano-structured materials by atom probe tomography
• Small scale mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials: in situ diffraction studies
• Fundamental studies in nanosciences at the Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics, and Nanotechnology (IEMN)
• Mechanically-activated solid-state synthesis of nanoparticles of HfB2, HfC and HfN from partially hydrated hafnium tetrachloride
• The in situ polymerisation for the elaboration of nanocomposites materials with controlled properties
• Evolution of grain size in oxide dispersion strengthened tungsten alloys during their elaboration by ball milling and sintering
• PLA nanocomposites: quantification of clay nanodispersion and reaction to fire
• Glass and glass-ceramics transparent from the visible range to the mid-infrared for night vision
• Design of new M@ZnO nanocolloids: synthesis and shaping
• Hydrophilic monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles and their functionalisation with fluorescent chromophores
• Redox-active organic monolayers deposited on silicon surfaces for the fabrication of molecular scale devices
• Nanostructured molecularly imprinted polymer films as synthetic recognition layers
• Interaction of non-ionic detergents with biomembranes at the nanoscale observed by atomic force microscopy
• Nanometric metal wire as a guide for THz investigation of living cells
• Ballistic nanodevices for high frequency applications
• Multiply-charged ion nanobeams
• Variable temperature magnetic force microscopy of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films grown on (LaAlO3)
• Nanoscale investigations of switching properties and piezoelectric activity in ferroelectric thin films using piezoresponse force microscopy
• Physical properties of magnetic metallic nanowires and conjugated polymer nanowires and nanotubes
• Transient self-organisation of supercooled water confined inside nano-porous materials
• Sliding and translational diffusion of molecular phases confined into nanotubes
• Cognitive ability process at the molecular level

European Journal of International Management to be included in SSCI

European Journal of International Management has just been selected for coverage in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). This is a notable achievement for a journal that began publication only a little over a year ago.

First issue: International Journal of Management and Network Economics

International Journal of Management and Network Economics is devoted to the study of network industries (e.g. telecommunications, energy, air transport) and reflects the need for new and adapted management and economic theories, models and frameworks in the current dynamic, complex and evolving business environment.
There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

First issue: International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design

Computational biology and drug design are complementary disciplines that hold great promise for the advancement of cutting-edge research and development in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design provides a common platform for the cross-fertilisation of ideas, and to help shape knowledge and scientific achievements by bridging these two very important and complementary disciplines into an interactive and attractive forum.

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

Call for papers: Focusing on Electronic Feedback: Feasible Progress or Just Unfulfilled Promises?

Call for papers: Focusing on Electronic Feedback: Feasible Progress or Just Unfulfilled Promises?

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

Technology enhanced assessment, with its current emphasis on electronic feedback, is of current strategic importance as it forms part of the growing global e-learning industry. One of the many challenges of higher education today is to provide students with clearer and more detailed feedback after they have submitted their assignments and as an integral part of electronic formative assessment. There is more than ever a need for a pedagogically-driven model for e-feedback that will empower students to take more control of their own learning and become more reflective.

This Special Issue addresses a number of themes with respect to e-feedback which include, but are not limited to:

• E-feedback in assessment
• E-feedback as part of a holistic, dialogic process
• Socially responsible and effective feedback
• Theoretical influences on e-feedback and their implications for the construction of new systems
• How can e-feedback help students take control of their own learning?
• How can the qualities of e-feedback be improved to support students?
• How does e-feedback contribute to the effectiveness of learning environments to promote learning? How can its contribution be assessed?

Important Dates
Notification of Intent to Submit: As soon as possible
Paper Submission: 15 October 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 28 February 2009
Final Version: 30 April 2009

Call for papers: Web-based Communities and Healthcare

Call for papers: Web-based Communities and Healthcare

A special issue of International Journal of Web Based Communities

In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of individuals accessing health-related web-based communities. Such communities are concerned with a diverse range of health-related topics (e.g. cancer, depression, coronary heart disease, disability etc) and participation is increasingly being recognised as having an important contribution in the self-management of chronic illness.

Papers may address the theme of web-based communities and healthcare from a variety of perspectives. The following questions are offered as stimulus for potential authors:

• Does participation in health-related web based communities lead to changes in clinical and psychosocial outcomes?
• How do patients integrate information obtained from web based communities into their treatment-related decisions?
• What role do web based communities play in empowering the patient, especially within the doctor-patient consultation?
• How do patients assess the credibility of information conveyed within a web-based community?
• What factors underpin disclosure of personal health-related information within the web based community?
• What factors underpin perceptions of satisfaction with health-related web based communities?
• Are there socio-demographic differences in the ways in which individuals access, use and benefit from web based communities?
• How do privacy concerns impact upon the support process for individuals accessing web based communities?

Important Dates
Deadline for summary submission: 30 September 2008
Deadline for paper submission: 30 November 2008
Notification to authors: 31 December 2008
Deadline for camera ready papers: 31 Jan 2009

Special issue: Effects of environmental changes on population health and biodiversity in the Southern Pacific Basin

International Journal of Environment and Health 2(1) 2008

• Understanding biological impacts of ENSO on the eastern Pacific: an evolving scenario
• Effects of climate change generated by southern oscillation on human health
• ENSO and cholera in South America: what can we learn about it from the 1991 cholera outbreak?
• A statistical model for assessing the relationship between meteorological variables and the incidence of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in a Peruvian endemic area
• Effects of ENSO 1997–1998 on the distribution of small pelagic fish off the west coast of Baja California
• Effects of dredging on subtidal macrobenthic community structure in Mejillones Bay, Chile
• Diatoms as bioindicators of pollution in the Mantaro River, Central Andes, Peru
• Hypoxia and other environmental factors at high altitude
• Improved drinking water and diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in developing countries: a critical review

Special issue: Innovative pedagogy in sport management and marketing

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 4(2/3) 2008

• International sport management: creating an international learning and teaching community
• 'Making the case' for using the case method in sport management education
• Authentic assessment in a sport management degree granting programme: design elements for a sport and law course
• Diversity training in a sport management class: the effects of different frames on students' attitudes towards organisational diversity
• Are we teaching corporate citizens? Examining corporate social responsibility and sport management pedagogy
• Teaching sport sponsorship sales through experiential learning
• Innovative pedagogy in sport marketing: the annual SPAD field trip
• Evaluating the effectiveness of role playing in the sport management curriculum
• Applying Wilber's All Quadrant, All Level (AQAL) Integral approach to sport management internship curricula

Special issue: Work change in the era of ICTs

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 7(4) 2008

• The impact of offshoring on the evolution of the IT workforce within the UK
• Learning through ICT-enabled social networks
• ProLink: a semantics-based social network for software projects
• Human resources as facilitators of the adoption of information and communication technologies
• Individual capacity for culture acquisition: a business asset to be enhanced
• Effects of technological change on the skills and competencies of software development professionals: a case study on the transition from ABAP to JAVA

First issue: International Journal of Biometrics

International Journal of Biometrics addresses the fundamental areas in computer science that deal with biological measurements. It covers both the theoretical and practical aspects of human identification and verification.
There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Social Network Mining

International Journal of Social Network Mining - to begin publication in 2009 - will publish experimental and theoretical work on social network analysis using data mining techniques. Applications will include the discovery and analysis of communities, personalisation, the analysis of user behaviour, security and privacy-preservation, social network modelling and social network infrastructure construction.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems

International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems - to begin publication in 2009 - will cover topics related to the engineering (including development and evaluation) of computer-based systems employed in mission and safety critical applications. These feature increasingly large, distributed and heterogeneous architectures, which complicate their design and analysis and context awareness, environmental factors and their interaction with systems of different natures have become very important aspects.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Auditing Technology

International Journal of Auditing Technology - to begin publication in 2009 - will deal with the emerging tools, techniques, and issues applicable to a variety of audit engagements, with special emphasis on evolving technologies utilised in audits of information systems and internal controls mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley and related corporate governance regulations.

Call for papers: Mobile Data Services in Electronic Business

Call for papers: Mobile Data Services in Electronic Business

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Business

This special issue seeks submissions that examine the current use and future market potential for mobile data services. Since 2002, when the "Mobile Internet" became widely accessible in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, predictions of rapid adoption have been made for other key markets as well. Services, content and supporting business models have developed along with advanced networks and devices that can improve the user experience.

However, five years later, the rates and expectations for adoption of mobile data services by consumers remains a question, with some seeing signs of rapid growth, others maintaining expectations for specialised markets, and others remaining sceptical about the overall mass market potential for these services. In this issue, we seek submissions that describe general use patterns and the overall market for mobile data services in key markets with a view to describing the current situation as well as factors that may influence further development of mobile data service markets.

We seek timely submissions that examine key national markets in depth, as well as cross cultural comparisons of use patterns, demographic breakdowns, trends and forecasts based on data.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Measurement and analysis of cross-cultural differences in mobile service usage

* To what extent are cultural factors relevant?
* Are there truly significant differences in user behavior and preferences across different markets?
* Does the value proposition in emerging economies differ from that in the industrialized markets?

• Demonstration of business implications for new services development

* What sectors, demographic groups, etc. appear most interested in mobile data services: e.g. will the younger generation pave the way for more innovative use of mobile services?
* Are there transferable lessons, general diffusion dynamics that can be applied to markets for mobile data services and applications?

• Examination of factors supporting adoption: social, cultural, technological, economic - Are existing models and frameworks for technology diffusion useful/relevant?
• In depth country studies, comparative studies of mobile data service use in 2 or more markets.

Important Dates
Deadline for Submission: December 1, 2008
Notification of acceptance: April 1, 2009
Publication Schedule: September 2009

Call for papers: The Impact of Rapid Manufacturing on the Engineering Design Process

Call for papers: The Impact of Rapid Manufacturing on the Engineering Design Process

A special issue of International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing

The engineering design process includes a set of activities arranged in a specific order with the clearly identified inputs and outputs. The objective of this process is to satisfy customer requirements and management objectives. This process is considered efficient when output of the process satisfies general customer and defined requirements, meets management objectives and customer deadlines, and all these with reduced costs and resources. For this purpose, many companies have established a concurrent design process for their products. Technologies such as rapid prototyping, rapid tooling and rapid manufacturing are designed to support this systematic and integrated cycle.

The next technological evolution in the rapid prototyping technology is rapid manufacturing (RM). RM is the automated fabrication of products directly from digital data. Some RM processes make use of available RP technologies to manufacture finished parts. Some new technologies have also been developed in support of the RM applications.

The main advantage of RM is its ability to produce customised parts. Studies have shown that many companies and agencies are considering the applicability of RM technologies to produce customised products. Conventional manufacturing technologies such as mass production are the most economical approach for production of large volume of components, although for high variety components (customised parts) this method is infeasible due to the high cost of operations. RM has the ability to produce large amounts of customised parts at a relatively low cost.

The purpose of this special issue is the publication of research reports and application descriptions in the advancement of RM technologies and its impact on the engineering design process including manufacturing and automation for the 21st century’s customer-focused product.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Engineering design process
• Systems engineering and processes
• Collaborative design and development
• Concurrent engineering
• Product variety
• Feature-based technologies
• CAD and CAM Integration
• Impact of RM on the design process
• Input methods and analysis
• RM process categories
• Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) considerations
• Materials considerations
• Application of available technologies
• New technologies developments and implementation
• Process optimisation
• Mass customisation
• Medical applications
• Case studies

Important Dates
Abstract of proposed articles: 30 September, 2008
Full paper submission for the invited articles: 15 December, 2008
Notification of reviews: 1 February, 2009
Revised manuscript submission: 31 March, 2009
Notification of acceptance: 2 May, 2009
Final Paper: 30 May, 2009

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing - to begin publication in 2009 - will publish research results and application descriptions that deals with the advancement of Rapid Response to Manufacturing (RRM), especially engineering design and rapid manufacturing in an integrated form.

Call for papers: Advances in Drilling of Composite Materials

Call for papers: Advances in Drilling of Composite Materials

A special issue of International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials

Nowadays, the use of composite materials has increased in various areas of science and technology due to their special properties, namely for these application in aircraft, automotive, defence and aerospace as well others advanced industries. Drilling is a frequently practiced machining process in modern industry owing to the need for component assembly in composite structures. Articles with experimental and computational methods applied in drilling of composites are welcome.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to experimental and computational topics on drilling of composites (polymeric matrix composites (PMCs); metal matrix composites (MMCs); ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), hybrid composites, etc).

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

• Drilling technology: drills and special drills, cutting parameters, cutting forces, cutting temperatures, chips, tool wear and tool life, hole surface roughness
• Modelling of conventional drilling: analytical and numerical models
• Structural damage: evaluation methods, delamination and others types of damage
• Non traditional drilling processes: laser, water jet (WJ), abrasive water jet (AWJ), etc
• Microdrilling technology
• Artificial intelligence applied to drilling of composite materials

Important Date
Submission: 30 June 2009

Special issue: Macro-engineering: how to deal with global problems?

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 8(3) 2008

• Aims, obstacles and potential stakeholders of macro-engineering projects
• Two proposals for unlimited fresh water
• Two scenarios for a solar world economy
• Kra Canal (Thailand) excavation by nuclear-powered dredges
• The environmental pyramid: a new way to deal with solid toxic waste
• Antarctica: a southern hemisphere wind power station?
• Mining water from gypsum
• How to stop or slow down lava flows
• Capturing the nature of cooperation, unstable cooperation and conflict over international rivers: the story of the Indus, Yarmouk, Euphrates and Tigris rivers

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology - to begin publication in 2009 - will deal with scientific and technological investigations of nanomaterials in biology and medicine, with emphasis on their biomedical implications and impacts upon biosphere.

First issue: International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research publishes a broad range of original experimental and theoretical papers that deal with behavioural and healthcare concerns.

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

Call for papers: Web 2.0 Goes Academia: Innovative Scenarios for Socio-technical Communities

Call for papers: Web 2.0 Goes Academia: Innovative Scenarios for Socio-technical Communities

A special issue of International Journal of Web Based Communities

Web 2.0 and Social Software focus on new or existing software systems which are influenced by human communication and collaboration, or, to put it another way, Web 2.0 is heavily reliant on social interaction, and so social web-based applications generate and require a human-centred design approach.

The number of users of Web 2.0 applications in private settings (e.g., leisure) is very high. However, in organisations and institutions, Web 2.0 concepts or such combined applications are still at an early stage. The same is true for universities. There are some Web 2.0 tools in universities, in particular Wikis and Blogs, but the usage of these tools for supporting teaching, learning or research is not yet fully developed. How can Web 2.0 support community-based learning or research processes in academia?

The aim is to collect proposals for academic practice with Web 2.0, to specify research questions dealing with Web 2.0 in academia or to discuss new research methods and their challenges in this topic (e.g., e-ethnography). The special issue wants to share practical experience or research results about using Web 2.0 in teaching and research, for example, e-learning goes Web 2.0, scientific communities go Web 2.0 or research publications go Web 2.0. Therefore, we strongly encourage researchers and practitioners who have ideas or experience of using Web 2.0 applications in academia to submit a paper.

Research questions the special issue will focus include, but are not limited to:

• What Web 2.0 applications exist in universities, in research or in learning?
• Do Web 2.0 applications in academia make a difference to existing Internet applications like email, content management systems or newsgroups?
• Do you have success stories or success criteria of Web 2.0 usage in academic fields?
• What changes are observable or essential when introducing Web 2.0 concepts in teaching or research settings?
• How can we introduce Web 2.0 applications in the academic world?
• What is the negative side of Web 2.0 in Academia with respect to plagiarism and "Wikipedia-only" references in student theses?

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 18 July, 2008
Notification to authors: 12 September, 2008
Deadline for camera ready papers: 31 October, 2008

Call for papers: Intelligent-based Modelling, Control, Fault Simulation, Detection, Diagnosis and Tolerant Schemes in Electrical and Process Automatio

Call for papers: Intelligent-based Modelling, Control, Fault Simulation, Detection, Diagnosis and Tolerant Schemes in Electrical and Process Automation Systems

A special issue of International Journal of Automation and Control

This Special Issue deals with AI-based modelling, fault simulation, diagnosis and tolerant control technologies, real time implementations, verifications and applications to industrial systems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Model order reduction
• Control methodologies and its design
• Fault tolerant and control
• Chaos control systems
• Fault detection and diagnosis
• Motion control and intelligent robots
• Application to power plants, power systems, space vehicles, bio-process systems, wind and solar systems, chemical, textile, paper industries, surface transportation systems, ships, welding, cutting, thermal, pipe mills and cryptography systems

Important Dates
Paper due: 30 November, 2008
Acceptance notification: 15 February, 2009
Final paper version due: 15 April, 2009

Special issue: Design for the environment

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal 5(1/2) 2008

• A review of ecodesign and environmental assessment tools and their appropriateness for electrical and electronic equipment
• Eco-efficiency as a road-mapping instrument for WEEE implementation
• Integrating the end-of-life evaluation and planning in the product management process
• Life cycle costing for strategic evaluation of remanufacturing systems
• Planning models for the dismantling of electrical and electronic equipment under consideration of uncertainties
• The development of an ecodesign product – the ecomouse case study
• The MEFLO method's application for the feasibility assessment of energy recovery from municipal solid waste in a small integrated municipal service system
• Sustainable consumption: a crucial aspect of research in economics

Special issue: Traditional, alternative and complementary medicine

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 5(2) 2008

• Nutraceuticals, functional foods and botanical dietary supplements; promote wellbeing and underpin public health
• Opportunities and threats for biological screening of medicinal plants: Importance for the pharmaceutical industries in developing countries
• Plant medicines: a herbalist's perspective
• Authentication of medicinal plant material by DNA fingerprinting
• Integrative Medicine, chronic disease and Tibb
• Complementary Therapies education for the 21st century
• Content of magnesium in Ginkgo biloba leaves
• The future of traditional medicine

Special issue: Marketing in small- and medium-sized enterprises

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 6(2) 2008

• An exploratory study conceptualising marketing thought in entrepreneurial medium-sized firms in high-tech and conventional industries in France, Germany and Italy
• Cross-channel cooperation: on the collaborative integration of online and offline business models of e-entrepreneurs and traditional SMEs
• Clusters, social networks and marketing collaboration in small firms: exploratory evidence from Chile and Scotland
• An exploratory analysis of the strategic marketing choices implemented by the UK biopharmaceutical SMEs
• Implementation of an agile marketing approach for the manufacturing-based SME
• Effect of customer orientation and innovativeness on business performance: a study of small-sized service retailers
• International strategic marketing of small construction consultancy firms: the case of Cypriot firms

Special issue: Advances and challenges in web, grid and P2P computing

International Journal of Web and Grid Services 4(1) 2008

Papers from the 21st IEEE International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA2007), held at Niagara Falls, Canada from 21–23 May 2007.

• A distributed coordination protocol in an order-heterogeneous group
• Estimation of trustworthiness for P2P systems in a collusive attack
• A recovery mechanism for errors caused by a late subjob in a system handling SLA-based Grid workflows
• Harnessing user contributions and dynamic profiling to better satisfy individual information search needs
• Design, field experiments and evaluation of a web-based remote medical care support system
• A tele-immersion environment for traditional Japanese crafting system over the Japan Gigabit Network
• Parallel lossless data compression using the Burrows-Wheeler Transform
• Spam filtering using Kolmogorov complexity analysis

Special issue: Coverage problems in sensor networks

International Journal of Sensor Networks 3(3) 2008

• Event-driven sensor deployment using self-organizing maps
• Coverage and latency aware actor placement mechanisms in WSANs
• Minimum-cost sensor arrangement for achieving wanted coverage lifetime
• Improved n 1-cover discovery using perimeter coverage information
• Coverage problems in wireless sensor networks: designs and analysis
• Energy-efficient connected-coverage in wireless sensor networks

Special issue: Tools, systems and methods for the sustainable reclamation and reuse of urban wastewater in Mediterranean countries

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 33(1) 2008

Papers from the First International Conference on Sustainable Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reuse (SUWTR) held on 15-16 September 2005 in Nicosia, Cyprus.

• Appraisal of social and cultural factors affecting wastewater reuse in the West Bank
• Towards sustainable water resource management: a case study in Limassol Cyprus
• New methodical way for sustainable farming systems using treated sewage water in irrigation in Jordan
• Development of monitoring and evaluation system for wastewater issues in Palestine
• Development and implementation of indices for the quality of treated effluent
• Sustainable wastewater management in developing countries: are constructed wetlands a feasible approach for wastewater reuse?
• Constructed wetlands for urban grey water recycling
• The application of duckweed (Lemna sp.) in wastewater treatment in Jordan