Special issue: Building community in virtual worlds

International Journal of Web Based Communities 7(2) 2011

• Binding the pair: making a historical case for avicentric self-expression within 3D virtual communities
• Experience design for communities in virtual worlds: come for the attraction, stay for the interaction
• Virtual worlds: an environment for cultural sensitivity education in the health sciences
• Building community in 21st century graduate classes through synchronous online research presentations: a case for three-dimensional learning environments
• Skipping Pong and moving straight to World of Warcraft: the challenge of research with complex games used for learning
• Interaction in web-based communities: a case study of Last.fm

Special issue: Precision metrology

International Journal of Precision Technology 2(2/3) 2011

• Dimensional metrology for process and part quality control in micro manufacturing
• Large scale atomic force microscopy for characterisation of optical surfaces and coatings
• Metrological performance verification of coordinate measuring systems with optical distance sensors
• Identification and classification of defects on highly reflective textile machinery ring components
• Influence of feature form deviations on CMM measurement uncertainties
• Precision measurement of micro-lens profile by using a force-controlled diamond cutting tool on an ultra-precision lathe
• Task specific uncertainty estimation in dimensional metrology
• Phase feedback fibre interferometer for surface profiling
• Application of modern high resolution tactile sensors for micro-objects
• Control of AFM tip wear

Special issue: Light-weight armour for defence and security

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation 2(2) 2011

Papers from the 2009 LWAG ( Light-Weight Armour for Defence & Security) Conference held in Aveiro, Portugal, 18-19 May 2009.

• Risk analysis about explosions in train carriages
• Impact of soft missiles – evaluation of load-time functions
• Impact studies of shear thickening fluids incorporated within composite structures
• The conch shell as a model for tougher composites
• Using natural cellular materials to improve blast-wave protection

Special issue: The never-ending quest for a competitive edge in higher education

International Journal of Management in Education 5(2/3) 2011

• Historical perspectives on US business organisations, strategy, and higher education institutions
• Creating a competitive advantage in Higher Education Institutions: proposal and test of a conceptual model
• Do research and education matter to business school rankings?
• The financial viability of exporting graduate business education in a developing economy
• Strategic success in international education: a multiple case study analysis of educational partnerships between Canada and China
• An academic college in the front lines of war: a study of organisational coping
• Realisation of a vision: a case study of the focus-differentiation strategy implemented by the University of Puget Sound
• Role of brand related factors in influencing students' choice in Higher Education (HE) market
• Telecommuting in higher education: faculty perceptions of strategic implications for traditional postsecondary institutions
• Strategic direction for high demand degrees: an analysis of the US pharmacy degree competitive market
• Impact of class selection reasons on online student performance: an Operations Management case study

Special issue: Sustainable public finances in a turbulent global economy

International Journal of Sustainable Economy 3(2) 2011

Papers from an INFER (International Network for Economic Research) workshop held in Klagenfurt, Austria, 29- 30 September 2009.

• What is sustainability?
• Fiscal implications of the crisis and the future of the EU fiscal framework
• Constricted, lame and pro-cyclical? Fiscal policy in the euro area revisited
• Fiscal sustainability and the accuracy of macroeconomic forecasts: Do supranational forecasts rather than government forecasts make a difference?
• Fiscal sustainability and policy implications: a post-crisis analysis for the euro area
• Debt sustainability in Germany: empirical evidence for federal states

Special issue: Global service supply chain management

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management 3(2) 2011

• Performance measurement in the healthcare supply chain
• Competitive excellence in the global supply chain
• Multi-model for planning high-complexity spectrum
• A hybrid algorithm for uncapacitated facility location problems
• Quality service: estimating software reliability for global system for mobile communications (GSM) Funtone
• Socioeconomics in supply chain management: a case study analysis of facility location decisions with GIS
• The risks and benefits associated with global outsourcing

Special issue: Intellectual capital management and learning innovation in the new era

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 8(2) 2011

• India and China as partner of choice for the Western multinational companies in the era of globalisation
• R&D transfer of MNCs: the perspective of China
• Towards innovation: a paradigm shift in the school leadership preparation programme in Singapore
• Semantic web technologies anchored in learning styles as catalysts towards personalising the learning process
• Enhancing lean training for the office environment through simulation and gaming

Additional Paper

• Organisational learning, climate change and the tragedy of the commons in China

Special issue: Computational optimisation, modelling and simulation

International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation 2(2) 2011

Papers from the workshop Computational Optimisation, Modelling and Simulation (COMS 2010), held during the International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2010), held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 31 May - 2 June 2010.

• The effectiveness of derivative-free hybrid methods for black-box optimisation
• Application of derivative-free methodologies to generally constrained oil production optimisation problems
• The game-theoretical approach to Markov decision problems and determining Nash equilibria for stochastic positional games
• Adjoint-based control of model and discretisation errors for gas flow in networks
• Variable-fidelity aerodynamic shape optimisation of single-element airfoils at high-lift conditions
• The recent developments in microwave design

Special issue: Authentication and non-repudiation in biometrics and cryptography

International Journal of Biometrics 3(2) 2011

• Biometric cards with advanced signing system
• Security and privacy in electronic passports
• Biometrics for non-repudiation: security and legal aspect
• Handwritten signatures recognition using Liquid State Machine
• A robust biometric dual watermarking technique with hand vein patterns for digital images

Call for Papers: RFID Security: Advances and Challenges

A special issue of International Journal of Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is rapidly becoming pervasive within society as the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves. As RFID moves beyond the traditional supply chain applications and becomes integrated into everyday life, new security challenges must be addressed. These include the blending of RFID with sensors and the subsequent integration into the IoT.

Ultimately, the IoT will encompass critical infrastructure and control systems, e.g. SCADA systems. The effect of blending or adding RFID capability to such systems must be understood to prevent the introduction of new vulnerabilities into them. Making RFID systems secure requires new approaches to security because of the low cost and power requirements of RFID tags, coupled with their wide deployment.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Authentication of RFID interrogators (readers) and tags
• Access control policy and enforcement models for RFID systems
• Public key infrastructures for RFID networks
• Monitoring and surveillance in RFID systems
• Trust in RFID-enabled environments (e.g. supply chain)
• Secure message routing
• Privacy issues
• Novel low power and low resource encryption methods
• Physical layer security
• Digital forensics in RFID environments
• Logging and event correlation
• Threat and vulnerability modelling and analysis
• Sensor security
• Security of RFID tag data
• Secure integration of RFID with SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems

Important Dates
Manuscripts due: 30 June, 2011
Reviewer reports expected: 31 August, 2011
Revised manuscripts due: 15 October, 2011

Call for Papers: Carbon Markets: An International Perspective

A special issue of International Journal of Global Energy Issues

Recently, carbon markets have been spreading both regionally and internationally. While there is increasing public interest in so-called emissions markets to regulate the environment, there is an even greater need for researchers to analyse the sphere of carbon markets in its globality and to encompass its complexity. This special issue of IJGEI aims at developing various applications incorporating energy- and environmentally-related issues of carbon markets.

We encourage submissions of original theoretical and empirical research papers, meta-analytic reviews, and narrative literature reviews on new developments in the sphere of carbon markets, its relationship to other energy markets and regulations, and the consequent new uses of carbon markets that may be proposed at an international and/or regional scale.

We aim to report the latest advancements in the highly interdisciplinary research and development area of carbon markets, with applications in the fields of economics, econometrics, statistics, finance, engineering, management, geography, environmental policy, climate policy and political science.

In view of this, this issue expects to enhance the state-of-the-art in instrumentation and the political insight required for managing the various problems and challenges in designing efficient and effective carbon market regulation.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Energy modelling, trading, carbon finance
• Economic modelling, engineering
• Statistical analysis, econometrics
• The geography of carbon markets
• How to manage an international/regional carbon market
• The political science theories behind the development of carbon markets
• Specific risks related to design features of carbon markets
• Carbon markets risk assessment
• Data quality issues for modelling and policy evaluation
• Design options in climate policy
• Governance of carbon markets risks
• Other issues related to the international/regional development of carbon markets

Important Dates
Submission deadline (early submissions encouraged): 1 September, 2011
First-round reviews: 30 October, 2011
Camera-ready version: 15 December, 2011

Special issue: The future of Eurasian logistics

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics 3(2) 2011

• Advantages and disadvantages of managing own ships by a third party ship management company: an empirical investigation
• The role of logistics service providers in the implementation of a differentiated supply chain
• Finland-Russia rail transport deregulation: future scenarios of market development
• An entropy-based approach to simultaneous analysis of supply chain structural complexity and adaptation potential
• In-transit distribution as a strategy in a global distribution system
• Utilising e-learning in Russian transport logistics sector
• Potential of connecting Eurasia through Trans-Siberian Railway

Special issue: Emerging markets – Part II

International Journal of Business Environment 4(1) 2011

Part I appeared in International Journal of Business Environment 3(4) 2010

• Crisis in the D&E markets: invest, lay dormant or run for cover
• Modern corporate sector and corporate governance experience in Sri Lanka
• Understanding customers' service experience: review and research propositions
• Consumers' perspectives on the selection of air ticket purchasing channel
• Exploitation versus exploration: the influence of manufacturing flexibility and the environment

Call for Papers: Intelligent Transportation Systems

A special issue of World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is an emerging discipline that is well-recognised in both the academic world and the industrial world. ITS endeavours to incorporate computation, information and communications technology into vehicles and transportation infrastructures. These endeavours are carried out with the aims of improving transportation times, enhancing vehicle safety, reducing vehicle wear, decreasing fuel consumption and upgrading navigation systems.

An additional and important advantage of many recent intelligent transportation systems developed around the world is the assistance and support provided for drivers. These systems can help drivers and alert them to obstacles and unsafe situations.

Furthermore, these systems can also (partially or even completely) substitute the driver. Today, "automatic pilot" is not a term used only to refer to aircraft, but is also used to refer to a wider range of transportation, including trains, etc. The human driver steps in only in emergency conditions or in other exceptional circumstances. These systems do not only make driving easier, but also help to prevent many potential accidents.

This special issue intends to cover a variety of models of intelligent transportation systems. We welcome papers dealing with any aspect of ITS, including but not limited to:

• Telematics
• Drive-by-wire
• Intelligent traffic management
• Transportation planning tools
• Computational transportation systems
• Automatic travel behaviour detection
• Sustainable transportation
• Collision alert technology
• Tyre pressure monitoring systems
• Global position systems (GPS)
• Sensor networks
• Inter-vehicular networks
• Automatic vehicle testing
• Vehicular collision detection
• Embedded vehicular systems
• Vehicular sensors
• Vehicle hardware /software systems
• Vehicular signal processing
• Driver assistance systems

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 15 September, 2011
Notification of acceptance before: 15 December, 2011
Submission of final, revised manuscripts before: 15 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Business Case for Sustainability: Rhetoric or Reality?

A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development

Accounting for the environmental, economic and social (or sustainability) impacts of organisational strategies and actions has been a growing area of practice and research in recent years. Sustainability requires a balanced approach along the triple bottom line – environmental, economic, and social performance. Business practices in this area encompass provision of information within organisations to help managers at different levels to appreciate the potential corporate sustainability impacts of their decision.

For many years, companies have integrated social and environmental concerns into business strategies. Yet there is still a lack of empirical evidence to examine the “business case for sustainability”. Without a better understanding of how to make decisions about sustainability, managers can’t make timely and appropriately ‘right’ decisions in practice.

The focus of this special issue is the manner in which business practices can help to instil, encourage and embed among decision-makers an awareness and appreciation of the importance of environmental and social sustainability in strategic and operational decision-making, and the importance of stakeholder management and communications about such sustainability issues. In particular, papers are sought that provide novel empirical insights, ideally through case studies, into these practices.

Case studies, conceptual papers, review papers, methodological papers, and quantified analyses of sustainability management and business cases are most welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• An investigation of the complex and multifaceted nature of the business case for sustainability
• The role of top management commitment and scope for operational-level innovation in sustainability management
• The impact of social and environmental sustainability in fostering organisational and corporate change at different levels
• Stakeholder management and communication in sustainability management
• Identification and connected actions of potential sustainability impacts flowing from decisions: risks and opportunities; reputation.

Important Date
Submission deadline: 1 August, 2011

Special issue: Management of security technology and policy

International Journal of Technology Management 54(2/3) 2011

• Linking information engineering and security engineering with a problem solving perspective
• Exploring the relationships between IT capabilities and information security management
• Securing intellectual assets: integrating the knowledge and innovation dimensions
• Security model applied to electronic records management: experiences and results in the nuclear sector
• An integrated approach to the optimal selection of security tools using analytic hierarchy process and goal programming
• IS practitioners' views on core factors of effective IT governance for Taiwan SMEs
• Auditing methodology on legal compliance of enterprise information systems
• Ethical issues for internet use policy: balancing employer and employee perspectives
• Investigating effects of security incident awareness on information risk perception
• Technology-push and need-pull roles in information system security diffusion

Special issue: International financial risk modelling and management

International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance 3(1) 2011

Papers from the 44th Euro Working Group on Financial Modelling meeting held in San Josè, Costa Rica, 7-9 December, 2009.

• Capital structure choices
• Entrepreneurship insolvency risk management: a case of Latvia
• Assessing securitisation and hedging strategies for management of longevity risk
• International cross-listings on CEE-stock exchanges
• Local bias dynamics and the risk adjusted portfolio return

Special issue: Innovation and learning: timeless challenges in education

International Journal of Innovation and Learning 9(3) 2011

Papers from TL2009, the IASK (International Association for Scientific Knowledge) Teaching and Learning Conference, held in Porto, Portugal, 7-9 December 2009.

See also
International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education 3(3) 2010
International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education 3(4) 2010
International Journal of Intercultural Information Management 2(2) 2010
International Journal of Learning and Change 5(3) 2010

• Learning together: designing effective e-classrooms
• Assessment of the online forum
• Innovation in teaching microeconomics and macroeconomics in university
• A three-tier model of reading instruction supported by technology
• 'Do U txt?' – Using 'txting' to learn maternal languages: a Portuguese case study
• Rehearsing for an audience: students learning science through video production
• Learning in a virtual laboratory: educational applications of three-dimensional animations

Special issue: Contemporary issues in global economy and policy analysis

International Journal of Trade and Global Markets 4(2) 2011

Papers from the conference track Quantitative Approaches to Public Policy - in honour of Professor T. Krishna Kumar - at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Public Policy and Management, held in Bangalore, India, 9-12 August 2009.

For other papers see International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 3(3) 2010

• Sustainable debt and deficits in Emerging Markets
• Securitisation, ratings and regulatory practices
• Export intensity and financial leverage of Indian firms
• Rain, rain, go away? The investment climate, state–business relations and firm performance in India
• Macroeconomic effects of public investment in infrastructure in India
• Econometric and stochastic general equilibrium models for evaluation of economic policies

Special issue: Legal aspects of mobile commerce and pervasive computing: privacy, marketing, contracting and liability Issues

International Journal of Private Law 4(2) 2011

• Why privacy discussions about pervasive online customer profiling should focus on the expanding roles of third-parties
• Should geographic location data be regarded as sensitive? – some thoughts
• A comparative analysis of legal aspects of electronic contracts in Brazil
• What we know and what we do not know – the legal challenges for international commercial contract formation in a pervasive computing environment
• Payments made by means of mobile phones
• Allocating liability in the event of fraudulent use of electronic payment instruments and the Belgian mobile payment instrument PingPing
• The liability of mobile operators for the content of independent content providers to mobile commerce networks in the European Union: does self-regulation pave the way for new EU rules?
• From legal code to digital code: making software services rights-aware
• Cross-border litigation and ADR mechanisms in disputes concerning mobile computing in the EU