Category Archives: Academic publications

Humanitarian logistics articles and other resources

Still some years ago, humanitarian logistics was seen as a novel and trendy field – at least in research. In practice, it is a bit more of business as unusual, agile, flexible, responsive, you name it, but still logistics.

Over time, the research buzz has stabilised a bit with dedicated conference, conference tracks, masters and doctoral programmes, and through the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management (JHLSCM). Already prior to that there have been a lot of special issues in different journals (over 10 of these since 2007). Here’s a bit of help for those just starting out in this area:

- Peter Tatham’s bibliography (which is quite frequently updated), and
- Emerald’s ListAssist (compiled and also categorised according to different topics by Ira Haavisto)

Plus a list of special issues apart from JHLSCM:

- IJPDLM: Vol.39 No.5/6/7 and Vol.40 No.8/9
- TRE: Vol.43 No.6
- IJSTM: Vol.12 No.4
- IJRAM: Vol.13 No.1 – and with a current CFP on the topic
- MRN: Vol.32 No.11
- IJPE: Vol.126 No.1 – plus articles for another one can be found in the “articles in press” section
- and other journals such as Omega and POM have special issues in their pipeline.

There are some books as well, many of which have been noted on this blog previously. No need to reinvent the wheel, rather, push the envelope :-)

That said, one cannot stress it enough that beyond looking at all the publications, humanitarian logistics research also needs to be relevant for practice. And to close the loop between practice and research, here’s a CFP for research on humanitarian logistics education and training.

Gyöngyi

Keeping up with research 2.0 – how to cite blogs, tweets…?

This is admittedly a very academic problem of geeks. Just how should one cite a blog entry or a tweet? Here are some suggestions found of course on blogs :-)

Most blogs and sharing platforms (sharing slides, pictures etc.) work with a creative commons licence. Logistikfokus explains what it means for a reference:

- Lastname, firstname (of the author of the blog entry), year, blog entry name, reference to the blog (e.g. Logistikfokus.se), URL

Tweets are quite similar but come with a funny twist, “tweet” in the end:

- Last name, first name (user name), “the tweet in its entirety”, date, time tweet.

At least this is the standard allegedly proposed (by tweet?) by the Modern Language Association.

Gyöngyi

 

 

IJPDLM Taking a Stand to Eliminate Coercive Citation Practices in Supply Chain Management and Business Logistics Research

The following is a forthcoming editorial of IJPDLM and a message from the editors to the research community:


A recent article in the Policy Forum of Science (Wilhite and Fong, 2012, p.542) suggests that coercive citation is “uncomfortably common and appears to be practiced opportunistically” in academic publishing. The authors describe coercive citation as “requests that (i) give no indication that the manuscript was lacking in attribution; (ii) make no suggestion as to specific articles, authors, or a body of work requiring review; and (iii) only guide authors to add citations from the editor’s journal.” The article also contends that coercive citation practices are “more prevalent in most business disciplines,” that journals published by commercial, for-profit companies show significantly greater use of coercive tactics, and that “the strategic nature of coercion continues to put pressure on editors to coerce.”

As editors and the publisher of the oldest journal in the field of supply chain management and business logistics strategy, we are taking a stand to discourage and hopefully eliminate coercive citation practices in our field. The good news is that none of the journals in our sub-discipline are listed in the extensive list of offender journals published in the Science article. The potential bad news is that the long-awaited arrival of impact factors for the leading supply chain management and business logistics journals provides incentive for coercive citation practices to gain currency. Our position at IJPDLM is that we are delighted to have a highly competitive impact factor (2.617 for 2011) that appears to be encouraging authors from all over the globe to submit their best work to our journal. In the first two months of 2012, we have received 50 regular submissions (not including special issues) putting us on track to receive 300 regular submissions in 2012, and suggesting that our impact factor is providing ample incentive for international authors who previously may not have considered IJPDLM as an outlet.

We have therefore decided to join the group of journal editors who are adopting the Ethical Practices of Journal Editors (EPJE): Voluntary Code of Conduct. The EPJE (published in its entirety below) is the product of discussions among a group of editors who believe that the need to affirm the integrity of our science requires a strong, public stance regarding the ethicality of business journals and more specifically on the publication processes of refereed academic journals in business disciplines. The EPJE is a non-binding voluntary process designed to create implicit and explicit social norms that will be revisited as needs evolve. The current code 1.0 (see below) permits journal editors to be included in an online “affirmation” list by contacting Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg, Editor, Journal of Business and Psychology. Alex Ellinger and Glenn Richey have already joined the editors of Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology and Journal of Management as early adopters of EPJE: Voluntary Code of Conduct and we encourage editors of the other journals in our field to join us. We believe that embracing EPJE: Voluntary Code of Conduct will leave our many global contributors secure in the knowledge that citation coercion is not part of getting published in the field of strategic supply chain management and business logistics.

Reference
Wilhite, A.W. and Fong, E.A. (2012), “Coercive citation in academic publishing”, Science, Vol. 335 (3 February) www.sciencemag.org

Ethical Practices of Journal Editors (EPJE):
Voluntary Code of Conduct 1.0

I [name], currently serving in the role as [editor-in-chief/associate editor] of [journal], although also bound by the ethical standards already in place at my journal, its sponsoring professional association, and/or my disciplinary field in general, affirm, as an individual editor and scholar (not on behalf of my journal or sponsoring association) the importance of the following practices:

  1. Refraining from coercive citation practices.  Namely, in both public submission guidelines, and well as within the peer review process, authors will be encouraged to omit citations that are irrelevant to a paper’s main thesis. Specifically, I will refrain from encouraging authors to cite my journal, or those of my colleagues, unless the papers suggested are pertinent to specific issues raised within the context of the review.  I acknowledge that any blanket request to cite a particular journal, as well as the suggestion of citations without a clear explanation of how the additions address a specific gap in the paper, is coercive and unethical.
  2. Encouraging my journal, its staff, and its sponsors and publishers to keep marketing strategies separate from the peer review process (if applicable). This could include but is not limited to using author or reviewer databases for mass marketing purposes; allowing publishers to use the peer review systems to market online access or subscription information; and allowing publishers’ financial motives to drive strategy that has a non-science-based bearing on the peer review process.
  3. In recognizing the global dialog regarding data fraud, research integrity, and implicit pressures on authors to manipulate findings, hide results, etc., I will, whenever possible and appropriate given the scope of my journal, to encourage: a) data transparency including identifying potential conflicts of interest, b) citing of archival data sources properly, and for one-off data collections, describing the full set of variables and other publications emerging from the data sample under review; c) to consider publishing theoretically/methodologically-relevant null results; d) to support substantive and important replication efforts; e) and to discourage opportunistic and atheoretical  post-hoc hypothesizing.
  4. Communicating these and other relevant ethical standards to my associate editors and board members, and to conveying these principles within appropriate public forums (e.g., editors’ panels at professional conferences). Authors who feel that these practices have been violated should be encouraged to bring their questions, with reference to this Code, to the attention of the Editor whose actions (or whose publisher’s/sponsor’s actions) may be in question.
  5. I approve of this Code and its signatories being posted on a public Internet site.

“Women use cars for time management”

… would probably sum up this article (Jain et al., in press). Here’s the twist: The caring aspect of women may lead to the choice of other transportation modes (notably more sustainable ones) otherwise but is outweighed by the question of time management related to the schooling of dependent children. In other words, if you run back and forth to school and the hobbies of your kids (who doesn’t cry out loud at people calling that “logistics”?), you stop caring about the environment. Quite an issue to take into account from a sustainable behaviour perspective. I wonder how personal carbon emission budgets would affect this though.

Gyöngyi

PS. Loved the interesting method of the article though.

New book: Relief Supply Chain for Disasters: Humanitarian, Aid and Emergency Logistics

Out at last, a more research-oriented anthology on humanitarian logistics called “Relief Supply Chain for Disasters: Humanitarian, Aid and Emergency Logistics“.

And if the entire book isn’t necessary, one can always get just individual chapters on e.g. different types of partnerships, comparisons of different disasters, various aspects of peacekeeping activities (e.g. local sourcing in peacekeeping) etc., greening relief supply chains, or even an analysis that looks into the impact of disasters in light of the logistics performance of a country. Enjoy!

Gyöngyi

First issue of JHLSCM now online

Following up on its announcement, the first number of the brand new Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management is finally out – follow this link!

And the next one’s already in the publication process :-)

Gyöngyi

PS edited 3.6. – the journal has a free access period right now, check it out!

Literature review made easy

There are lots of literature reviews and conceptual papers out there so this is not the thing. This “ListAssist” is making the start easier listing key articles and book chapters in particular areas denoting their content but also their methods. There are three within the area of “operations and logistics management”: logistics and supply chain management, humanitarian logistics, and sustainable technology management. A good start making research – and teaching – somewhat easier.

Gyöngyi

New book: Humanitarian Logistics

Fresh from the oven, it arrived today on my desk, Christopher & Tatham‘s new book on “Humanitarian Logistics: Meeting the challenge of preparing for and responding to disasters“. It collects important insights from practitioners as well as academics. A wonderful read.

Recently, another book came out as well, Pamela Steele‘s “Humanitarian Logistics: A career for women“. It is a mosaic of inspiring stories of humanitarian logisticians, mostly from the field – and complements the academic view rather well.

The next related book (called “Relief Supply Chain for Disasters: Humanitarian, aid and emergency logistics“) is on its way, coming out in May and in that coinciding with the first number of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management.  Stay tuned :-)

Gyöngyi

Anniversaries – getting old, riping, or setting the agenda?

People tend to see birthdays as an excuse to dwell over the meaning(lessness) of life, age, or experience. Funny that we rarely see the age of people the same way we see e.g. reserve wine, cured cheese, antique furniture, relicts, glaciers… Journals, on the other hand – can be outdated, change direction and name (who recalls titles such as the Journal of Purchasing, Integrated Manufacturing Systems, or the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Materials Management?) – or continue to set the agenda. Funnily enough, IJPDLM’s 40th anniversary issue is more of an outlook to the future than a recall of history. IJOPM did not celebrate its 30th this year, nor JOM last year, though who knows, there may be a celebration of “30 years of SCM” in 2012, marking the anniversary of Oliver and Webber coining the term (allegedly in 1982 though I am yet to come across the original). Or then enter SCM 2.0, at least according to Christopher and Holweg (2011), and with that, enter an embracing of volatility and turbulence, and a move from dynamic to structural flexibility. Setting the agenda, as always.

Gyöngyi

International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management in ISI

Another logistics / SCM journal made it into the ISI: The International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. This was the message from Thomson Reuters:

I am happy to inform you that the International Journal of Physical
> Distribution & Logistics Management has been selected for coverage in
> our products Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences (CC/S&BS)
> and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).

We are happy, too :-)

Gyöngyi

PS Now it is just time to wait for the actual rates and ranks of all the logistics journals that got in recently.