Illegitimacy - Science topic

(1) Helical Time: The Torrential Flood + Circular Loops + Myth 

Imagine a raging river (a torrent) flowing in a straight path, yet with whirlpools and circular loops spinning in place above it! This is the "helical time" that governs the Muslim mind: 

The Torrential Flood: Symbolizes sacred linear time (from the Prophet’s mission to the end of the world). 

The Whirlpools: Represent the cyclical loops the mind inhabits (recurring crises, wars, mythical anticipation). 

The Myth: The symbolic layer that imbues repetition with meaning (e.g., "This crisis resembles the Companions’ strife," "The Mahdi will come"). 

A Living Example: 

In Yemen, the current conflict is not merely a civil war but a "reenactment" of the Battle of the Camel in every detail: 

The same rhetoric (Khawarij, Fitna, legitimacy). 

The same tools (tribal poetry, religious sermons). 

The same imagined end ("victory of the saved sect"). 

(2) Why Do We Reproduce the Past? The Secret Lies in "Mythical Memory" 

The Muslim mind does not perceive time as a straight line but as a "mythical library" opened during every crisis: 

Collective Memory: Stores readymade images (Saladin, the Mahdi, Ali, Muawiya... the battle of good vs. evil). 

New Events: Filtered through the past (the U.S. invasion of Iraq = "the Mongol invasion," protests = Fitna). 

Result: Reality becomes a prescripted "play," and its participants mere actors in historical roles. 

A Stunning Example: 

When a cleric is killed in an explosion, the event transforms into: 

"The Martyrdom of Hussein" (for Shia). 

"The Assassination of Caliph Uthman" (for Sunnis). 

A single event becomes a thousand events, and reality is reduced to a historical metaphor! 

(3) Colors and Myth: Codes of the Collective Unconscious 

The colors associated with "Muawiya" and "Ali" reveal: 

Muawiya: Orange/Yellow (colors of the desert, nomadism, fire). 

Ali: Black/Dark Green (colors of the earth, agriculture, wisdom). 

This is no coincidence! It reflects "color memory" inherited from ancient myths: 

In Sumerian myth: The god Tammuz (agriculture) is black; Enki (water) is blue. 

In the Torah: Cain (the farmer) is linked to the earth (brown); Abel (the shepherd) to the sky (white). 

→ The clash between "orange" and "black" perpetuates the 5,000yearold conflict between nomads and farmers! 

(4) Geography Creates Myth: Desert vs. Oasis 

Why was this myth born here specifically? 

Geography of Conflict: 

   Vast Deserts: Symbols of chaos and nomadism (orange, Muawiya). 

   Limited Oases: Symbols of order and stability (black, Ali, Adam). 

Harsh Climate: Turned survival into a struggle, morphing into a "sacred fate" in the subconscious. 

A Tangible Example: 

In ancient Egypt: Clash between Set (red desert god) and Osiris (green agriculture god). 

In Islam: Conflict between Muawiya (red/yellow nomad) and Ali (black farmer). 

→ The same myth, a different cloak! 

(5) How to Liberate the Mind from Mythical Time? (Radical Solutions) 

Fixing reality alone is insufficient; we must dismantle the "temporal structure" itself: 

A. Transform Time from "Divine Decree" to "Responsibility": 

The Mahdi: Instead of awaiting him, reframe him as a symbol of "selfdriven initiatives" (development projects, educational reform). 

Signs of the Hour: Reinterpret them as "environmental warnings" (global warming = divine caution to protect Earth). 

B. Rewrite the Myth: 

Saladin: Promote him not as a "mythical hero" but as a "strategist" who studied his era’s context and collaborated with rivals. 

The Battle of Karbala: Present it as a "lesson in crisis management", not a "sacred tragedy." 

C. Reassign Color Codes: 

Orange: Not a symbol of nomadism, but of "creativity" (fruit, energy). 

Black: Not a symbol of grief, but of "strength" (space, positive mystery). 

Conclusion: Time Is Not a Prison, But a Malleable Substance 

The problem lies not in "time" itself, but in "the mind that perceives time." By deconstructing the "temporal myth," we discover that the past is not destiny but a source of inspiration, and the future is not a prewritten script but a blank page we fill with our will. 

Yemen, for instance, may today be a stage for replaying the past, but tomorrow it could become a laboratory for a new temporality: a time where history is not erased but built upon. 

A paper titled "High Background Radiation, Lower Risks: Rethinking Radiation's Role in Cancer through a Novel Murine Study" has been published in the International Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases without my consent or authorization.

This work, based on research by my graduate student, Ms. Maryam Arshadi, and our collaborators, was never submitted or approved by us. Despite sending a removal request to the only email address provided by the journal, my email was returned undelivered.

This unethical publication violates research and ethical standards, raising serious concerns about the journal's legitimacy and lack of transparency. I urge the scientific community for advice, experiences, or suggestions to address this issue and protect the integrity of academic research.

Let us unite to uphold ethical publishing practices.

🔎 In response to the need for a systematic and comprehensive classification of organizational and management theories that can encompass a broad range of perspectives and theories, I have developed a new classification. This classification considers core parameters such as organizational performance (efficiency and effectiveness), factors influencing organizational performance (human beings, human groups, structure, environment, and society), and philosophical foundations of theories. The goal of this classification is to provide a more organized and practical framework for analyzing and comparing organizational and management theories.

In response to the need for a systematic and comprehensive classification of organizational and management theories that can encompass a broad range of perspectives and theories, I have developed a new classification. This classification considers core parameters such as organizational performance (efficiency and effectiveness), factors influencing organizational performance (human beings, human groups, structure, environment, and society), and philosophical foundations of theories. This classification aims to provide a more organized and practical framework for analyzing and comparing organizational and management theories.

This category conceptualizes humans within the framework of industrial modernity, adopting a mechanistic perspective that treats them as the primary resource for organizational production and efficiency. The roots of this approach can be traced back to classical economic thought and scientific management theories, which emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the theories under this category, humans are considered efficient machines tasked with delivering maximum output at minimal cost. Evidently, theories in this category view efficiency, as the organization's paramount goal, as the result of internal production factors. Consequently, external environmental factors hold no significant place in the analysis of organizational essence, performance, or management processes. Within this category, the metaphor of an organization as a machine and humans as tools of production dominates.

The level of analysis here is micro-level, focusing on individual employees. Philosophically, theories in this category regard the organization as a tangible entity and management as an objective process, both of which can be comprehended through a positivist approach. Humans, akin to other tools of production, are utilized within a deterministic cycle. Consequently, addressing organizational and managerial challenges in this category is pursued through rule-based solutions, leaving little room for innovation or inductive reasoning.

This category represents a shift from a mechanistic view of humans to an appreciation of the complexities of human interactions within organizations, with a focus on groups and interpersonal relationships as the core drivers of organizational efficiency. Emerging primarily between the 1920s and 1950s, this perspective was advanced by researchers like Elton Mayo, who demonstrated that informal relationships, emotions, and group dynamics have a more profound impact on organizational efficiency than formal and mechanistic mechanisms. This viewpoint regards humans not as passive tools but as social beings who create meaning and efficiency through their interactions with others.

The level of analysis in this category is meso-level, concentrating on groups and informal structures within work settings. It highlights that organizational efficiency stems not from mechanistic control but from a deeper understanding of employees’ needs, expectations, and social relationships. Theories within this category draw on foundations from social psychology and organizational sociology, emphasizing that workgroups are the primary units for creating meaning and efficiency.

From a philosophical standpoint, these theories still perceive organizations as real phenomena and management as an objective process, which can be understood through a positivist lens. However, they recognize that individuals, while somewhat autonomous, are subjected to forms of compulsion imposed by groups and the organization itself. Methodologically, rule-based approaches continue to dominate research in this category, though there is a transition from purely quantitative measurements to a combination of observation and interpretation in data collection and analysis.

In this category, rooted in organizational sociology and classical management theories, the organizational structure is regarded as the primary determinant of efficiency. These theories, which evolved from the early 20th century through the mid-century decades, assert that the precise design of organizational structures—including hierarchy, division of labor, coordination, and control—can maximize efficiency. Scholars such as Max Weber, with his concept of bureaucracy, and later theorists like James Thompson and Henry Mintzberg, sought to develop optimal organizational models. These models emphasize placing every component in its appropriate position, minimizing friction, and maximizing efficiency.

The level of analysis in this category is macro-level, focusing on the overall architecture of the organization. The approach underscores that efficiency arises from the intelligent design of systems, processes, and organizational relationships rather than solely from the performance of individuals or groups. Theories in this category draw inspiration from engineering sciences, cybernetics, and systems theory, while maintaining a closed-systems perspective. They posit that the closer the organizational structure aligns with a mechanical and machine-like model, the greater its efficiency. Philosophically, these theories follow the same objectivist epistemological foundations as the previous two categories, positioning the science of organization and management on the objective end of the epistemological spectrum.

Theories in this category, influenced by the emerging role of corporate social responsibility, expand the traditional organizational goal of efficiency to include the concept of effectiveness. This category adopts a systemic and interactive view of efficiency and effectiveness, defining the organization not as a closed system but as a dynamic, living entity engaged in continuous interaction with its social environment. Emerging primarily in the 1970s and beyond, this perspective argues that organizational efficiency and effectiveness result not only from internal factors but also from complex, multifaceted interactions between the organization and society.

Thinkers who introduced the concept of open systems, as well as figures like Peter Drucker and Michael Porter who highlighted the importance of creating synergies between organizational and societal interests through social responsibility, transparency, and accountability, belong to this category.

The level of analysis in this category is trans-organizational and inter-organizational, focusing on the intricate relationships between organizations and their external environment. Efficiency and effectiveness are redefined not merely as economic productivity but as an organization’s ability to create social value and align with environmental demands. Theories in this category draw upon disciplines like sociology, institutional economics, and organizational studies, advocating that the boundary between organization and society is not a fixed line but a dynamic, interactive space.

Philosophically, the epistemology and methodology in this category lean towards interpretivist and subjectivist paradigms, though organizations are still largely perceived as real and objective entities. The inclusion of concepts such as social values, however, often necessitates the adoption of nominalist ontologies as well. Furthermore, this category grants individuals a higher level of autonomy within organizational contexts compared to prior categories.

In this category, organizational effectiveness is regarded entirely as a product of broader social systems, where organizations have minimal agency in shaping their goals and directions. This radical approach, rooted in critical theories and post-structuralism, perceives organizations not as independent entities but merely as reflections of larger societal structures. Thinkers like Michel Foucault, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida argued that organizations are mere reproductions of dominant discourses, power relations, and societal structures, with little to no autonomous role in defining their objectives and trajectories.

The level of analysis in this category is distinctly macro, focusing on discursive and cultural dimensions and emphasizing the role of organizations in reproducing and mirroring social structures. Effectiveness is not defined by the achievement of organizational objectives but rather as a direct outcome of social, cultural, and historical processes. Theories within this category draw inspiration from critical theories, post-structuralism, and historical sociology, contending that organizations act as passive entities that merely reflect societal structures rather than independently shaping them.

This perspective shifts organizational knowledge entirely towards interpretivist and subjectivist philosophical foundations, spanning ontology, epistemology, methodology, and the view of human agency and values. However, regarding human agency, influenced by anarchist thought, the shift in perspective becomes even more radical.

💬 Please share your views in the comments section. Your insights will be invaluable for refining and enhancing this academic framework!

#Management #Organization #TheoriesOfManagement #OrganizationalDevelopment #Efficiency #Effectiveness #Research #AcademicDiscussion #OrganizationalTheory #ComparativeAnalysis

I hope this academic post resonates with the goals of your research and facilitates meaningful discussions on ResearchGate. Should you require any adjustments, let me know!

Implementing biannual admissions in colleges and universities is an innovative strategy that can significantly enhance access to higher education. However, it comes with various challenges that institutions must address to ensure a smooth transition and maintain high education standards. Here, we discuss these challenges and the potential advantages of such a system and propose solutions to facilitate its successful implementation.

· Faculty and Staff: The need for additional faculty and administrative staff to handle the increased workload associated with multiple admissions cycles is a primary concern. This includes recruitment, training, and retention of qualified personnel.

· Infrastructure: Ensuring classrooms, laboratories, and other facilities can accommodate more students throughout the year is crucial. This may require infrastructure expansion or optimization.

· Budgeting: Financial planning must be adjusted to account for the costs associated with biannual admissions, including staffing, facility maintenance, and additional student services.

· Curriculum Planning: It is complex to synchronize curricula for students admitted in different cycles to ensure they receive a cohesive learning experience. This includes aligning course offerings, prerequisites, and program requirements.

· Exam Schedules: Coordinating examination schedules and grading periods for two cohorts can be logistically challenging and may require significant adjustments to existing academic calendars.

· Standardization: Maintaining consistent academic standards and quality of education across both cohorts is essential. This ensures that teaching methodologies, assessment standards, and learning outcomes are uniformly applied.

· Support Services: Providing adequate student support services, such as counselling and academic advising, to accommodate the additional cohort is necessary to ensure all students receive the support they need.

· Awareness: Informing prospective students, parents, and stakeholders about the new admission cycles is vital for successful implementation. Effective communication strategies must be developed to reach a broad audience.

· Coordination: Ensuring efficient communication between departments to manage the dual intake process requires robust coordination mechanisms.

· Opportunities: Students who miss the regular admission cycle for various reasons have another chance to enrol, reducing barriers to higher education.

· Flexibility: Greater flexibility allows students to join programs at times that better suit their circumstances, potentially increasing overall enrollment.

· Reduced Gap: Reducing the gap between school completion and higher education can help maintain students' academic motivation and momentum, potentially leading to better academic outcomes.

· Enrollment Numbers: Institutions can potentially achieve higher enrollment numbers, improving financial stability and resource utilization.

· Diverse Student Body: Biannual admissions can attract a more diverse student population with varied academic timelines, enriching the campus community.

· Hiring: Recruiting additional faculty and administrative staff is essential to manage increased workloads. This might also involve creating flexible working conditions to attract and retain talent.

· Facilities Management: Expanding or optimizing the use of current facilities, possibly through staggered class schedules or online/hybrid learning models, can accommodate more students.

· Modular Courses: Implementing modular course designs that allow students to start at different times without falling behind can offer greater flexibility and continuity in education.

· Rolling Admissions: Creating overlapping course schedules to accommodate students starting at different times ensures that all students can progress through their programs efficiently.

· Advising and Counseling: Expanding academic advising and mental health services is crucial to support a larger student body. This includes hiring more advisors and counsellors and offering online support services.

· Orientation Programs: Offering multiple orientation sessions tailored to each admission cycle helps new students integrate into the academic community and understand institutional resources and expectations.

· Marketing and Outreach: Launching comprehensive campaigns to inform potential students and parents about the new biannual admissions policy is critical. This can include social media, webinars, and partnerships with schools.

· Internal Coordination: Establishing a centralized coordination team to manage communication between departments can ensure smooth implementation and address any issues promptly.

· Online Platforms: Utilizing online admission systems to streamline both cycles' application and enrollment process can improve efficiency and accessibility.

· Data Management: Implementing robust data management systems to track and analyze student data from both cohorts efficiently supports informed decision-making and continuous improvement.

· UGC Guidelines: Aligning institutional policies with University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines and ensuring compliance is necessary for legitimacy and standardization.

· Feedback Mechanisms: Establishing feedback loops to improve the biannual admissions process based on stakeholder input continuously helps refine the system and address concerns effectively.

Colleges and universities can effectively manage the transition to a biannual admission system by addressing these challenges with strategic solutions. This approach can enhance flexibility, access, and diversity, benefiting students and institutions.

I generated an I-Optimal DoE with only numeric factors (4 of them) with responses. After conducting my experiments, I was getting some strange ANOVA R squared values for some responses that weren't lining up with the correlation that the actual results were showing me. Now one of these numeric factors was Raster angle (as my research is about 3D printing). Two of the four levels of the raster angle are alternating, which means that it's -45/45 and 0/90. (the other numeric levels being 0 and 45), thereby making the levels: -45/45, 0, 45, 0/90

Originally when I created the DoE, I simplified the comprehension of the framework and used -45, 0, 45, 90. However, while it worked for some responses and I got very favourable R squared values (for surface roughness etc.), the tensile test was not producing any values at all! (i.e. R squared values were literally zero). I was very confused, and intuition led me to changing the Raster Angle factor to Nominal Categoric in the DoE table.

By just doing that and re-analysing my responses, my Tensile Strength R squared values went from 0 to 0.86, 0.82, 0.76. After conducting backward elimination technique, most of the other responses I was targeting produced close to or better R squared values than before including their predicted R squared values. What I realised however is the predicted R squared values for some of them (e.g. Surface Roughness) changed from 0.642 (when Raster Angle was still numeric) to -0.007, until I reduced the model using Backward elimination, which led it to becoming 0.8357.

So the question I re-iterate: is this allowed regarding the legitimacy of my data after creating the DoE and already having my responses? The meaning behind what the values are on the surface level remained the same (as well as at the experimental level). The difference is the type of factor Design Expert perceives it to be now I'm assuming?

لطالما حاولت تل أبيب تثبيت كيانها في منطقة لا تتشابه و أنظمتها السياسية و الاجتماعية و الثقافية بالخصوص ، باعتمادها على قوة " القهر" الدولية في مرحلة تاريخية من تأسيس النظام الدولي ، و مع المساندة الاستراتيجية التي توليها الإدارات الأمريكية المتعاقبة و الحكومات البريطانية و الفرنسية و عقدة " الذنب " الألمانية الأوروبية بمعاقبة الفلسطينيين على خطأ جسيم قامت به أوروبا. و من أجل التكفير عن الخطيئة من جهة و عدم الاستعداد لإحتضان يهود الشتات من جهة ثانية و انتهاك الصهاينة المتطرفين للقانون الدولي الغربي من ثالثة ، تطرح مسألة أحقية اليهود بالوجود مرة أخرى ، ليس بسبب عودة النازيين إلى حاضرنا و لكن عندما أصبح الصهاينة نسخة ثانية من النازية نفسها ؟!

Tel Aviv has always tried to establish its entity in a region whose political, social and cultural systems in particular are not similar, by relying on international “coercive” power in a historical stage of the establishment of the international system, and with the strategic support given by successive American administrations and the British and French governments and the complex. The German-European "guilt" of punishing the Palestinians for a serious mistake committed by Europe. In order to atone for the sin on the one hand, and for the lack of willingness to embrace the Jews of the diaspora on the other hand, and for the extremist Zionists’ violation of Western international law on the third, the issue of the Jews’ right to exist is raised again, not because of the return of the Nazis to our present, but when the Zionists became a second version of Nazism. Herself?!

Dear colleagues,

I require urgent assistance regarding the authenticity of the "Plasma Science and Technology" journal. Upon investigation, I found two websites bearing the same name and ISSN number "ISSN: 1009-0630":

This discovery raises concerns about the legitimacy of one of these platforms. I seek your expertise in discerning the genuine journal from any potential fraudulent counterpart.

Your prompt assistance in clarifying this matter is greatly appreciated.

Warm regards,

Example: Africa is a label for a continent. It has no overall leader or rulership, it is devided into countries. But now we are being told Africa is trying to sue Israel. But who is Africa? If "they" win, who gets the reward and how will it be fairly distributed around the continent of Africa? Or will only some people claim to have been successful in taking a country to court, and use it to show off against other African nations? I thought in order for a continent to take a country to courts, it would have to gather the signatures of every leader of each African country? If not, how does it work?

On the other side, there's Israel, the whole country's label. But within Israel are some people doing some things whilst others are not. Why should some people of Isreal get a reputation for genocide when it was just some other people using the Isreal label? How would others do trade and judge them in the future? It's not precise enough.

I don't think it is a legal move for a continent to sue a country and I'm struggling to see how this process is allowed, who personally will gain a reward from this, who will lose what etc?

It seems like an unfair trial with unfair uses of public legal systems both locally and globally. All because of labeling again. Like "them/they" issues.

Can anyone explain this process or direct me to further information I could read?

Selectivity, blatant intransigence, and passing on the narrative of a strategic ally to Washington without the common Palestinian-global voice give the impression of American isolationism and exclusivity at the expense of the values and ideals it promotes.

To demonstrate the legitimacy of this intervention.

The decision to revoke a PhD based on the publication of the Thesis in a predatory journal is a complex and nuanced matter. In spite of this, publishing such a paper in a predatory journal may indicate a lack of academic rigour and quality control, as such journals often have lax peer-review processes and minimal academic standards, despite the fact that PhDs are the highest academic qualifications awarded based on rigorous research and scholarly contributions to a field. The credibility of a PhD degree is vital, not just for the individual who earned it, but also for the academic institution awarding it. As a result, if a PhD thesis is published in a predatory journal, it raises questions about the academic standards and the quality of research conducted, potentially undermining the legitimacy of the institution's degree. Also, I am aware that predatory journals tend to exploit the author-pays model, preying on researchers not aware of the journal's reputation, so revoking a PhD might serve as a deterrent and reinforce the importance of ethical behaviour. Finally, if a PhD thesis with serious methodological or conceptual flaws is published in a predatory journal, it may contribute to misinformation. In such cases, revocation of the PhD could be interpreted as a measure to protect the integrity of the discipline and prevent the spread of misleading research that is out of standard.

Whats your opinion about legitimacy of espionage in International Law?

Articles published in the last 5-10 years focusing on the relationship between organizational legitimacy and corporate reputation.

Mencius/Confucius wrote the following some estimated 2,400 years ago:

"‘The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the least 民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕" (see book 7, part 2)"

As Li-Chia Lo explains, Mencius is here giving an explanation for the term "min ben" 民本 which, due to its adherence to sovereignty, is controversial among liberal democrats.

I find this controversy confusing, though, as liberal representative democracy has always been strongly adherent to the (at least) Westphalian nation-state. In fact, in practice it seems that the state is considered the most important in liberal democracies, the land (resources) secondmost, and peoples last. One could argue that the liberal democratic state is simply a synonym for an Emperor. Like an Emperor, the state must find ways to stay atop the "slippery egg" of legitimacy (as John Keane puts it from time to time), it must continue to prove its worth to the people in its capture lest they revolt, and it must also keep its power away from the people lest the elites lose it (and therefore lose their privilege or, as some paternalists see it, allow anarchy caused by state failure).

In short, I see more similarities between minben theory and liberal democratic theory than differences. Perhaps this is why there is discomfort among our liberal democratic peers about minben for it exposes the "Emperor/dictatorship" of electoral democracies (David Beetham recognized this dictatorship across more than 40 years of publishing democratic theory - so this is not a new position either).

Have a read of Li-Chia Lo's essay and let us know what you think. We'll be seeing more of these discussions between languages and their respective contested concepts.

I am thinking of ordering some cells expressing luciferase from this company. I was not able to find any rating from anyone, so I am just wondering if they are scammers or a company that actually provides these services. Does anybody have any experience with them?

Thanks

*UPDATE*

I ended up reaching out to them. It was a very negative experience, out of being a legitimate company (which I personally doubt), they kept us waiting for more than 4 months for a cell line to be delivered. Was never delivered and kept asking for sending them money before they ship the cell lines. It does not sound good to me. I would personally recommend avoiding this company.

Yes, a fashion designing and training institute could potentially be used as a front organization by individuals or groups with ulterior motives. While the majority of fashion designing institutes operate with legitimate intentions to provide education and training in the field of fashion, there have been cases where such institutions have been exploited for other purposes.

Here are a few reasons why a fashion designing and training institute could be used as a front organization:

It's important to emphasize that while these risks exist, the majority of fashion designing institutes are genuine educational institutions. However, if you have concerns about a specific institute, it's advisable to conduct due diligence, research their background and reputation, read reviews and testimonials, and verify their legitimacy through official channels.

If you suspect any illegal or unethical activities within a fashion designing institute or any other organization, it's important to report your concerns to the appropriate authorities, regulatory bodies, or law enforcement agencies.

I disagree with the thesis of this article from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and I am curious to hear thoughts from others.

The article claims that the APCs in MDPI journals results in lack of scientific quality, that MDPI journals self cite, and that MDPI is predatory. The article focuses on Nutrients, but implicates the entire publisher as well. I tend to disagree with these claims based on my own experience with this publisher.

Regarding the self citation issue, I find the idea ridiculous. The authors are independent actors, the publisher has no hand in what the authors choose to cite. Further, the journals within the publisher are not a single entity, each journal has it's own editors and research focus. I don't see how it's an issue if authors from an article from 1 MDPI journal cite another if the research is relevant.

Regarding the quality and predatory claims. we have published plenty in MDPI , including in Nutrients, and the peer reviews were thorough from my personal experience. Additionally, I have reviewed at least 23 papers from MDPI. I am very thorough, and find that I reject 40% of the time and request major revisions the other 60%, trying to maintain strict quality control with respect to the methods and legitimacy of the results. My rejections are almost always taken into account, in one recent case the academic editor of IJMS (international journal of molecular sciences) rejected based on my review report alone (due to serious methodological flaws) without any other review reports being submitted (there are usually at least 3 reviewers per article for this journal). The times it's not immediately rejected during the first review report (due to discrepancy in recommendations from other reviewers), it is often rejected in later reports if the issues are not addressed. I assume there are bad experiences from others, but that's likely true with any journal and publisher.

As I said, curious to hear thoughts

The US recently intercepted and shot down a Chinese balloon flying over US territory. The US claims that it was a “spy balloon”. In a press conference, the US indicated that they were aware of 39 other countries who also had intercepted Chinese balloons over their countries. When queried by a journalist as to how the US had come by this information and which countries these were, the US spokesperson replied that they had their means of acquiring this information but would not disclose how. The current tensions between China and the United States open up interesting questions regarding espionage and foreign policy during rising global tensions. Espionage by countries, including allies, is a common occurrence. In response to the above, your essay should: a. Critically discuss this statement in relation to the legitimacy of spying among states. In your essay, contextualise the current US-China tensions (that have grown since 2018), and what the “spy balloon” saga may mean for US-China relations (e.g. from a foreign policy perspective). b. Why would China exploit a seemingly low-tech form of espionage when they have hundreds of satellites orbiting the earth? Ensure your essay has an introduction and conclusion, as well as a detailed bibliography and is properly referenced throughout.

Friedel Marquardt avers the following:

"[The] naming and recording of various definitions of democracy gives place to those definitions that may not have been considered or acknowledged before, often eclipsed by more prominent definitions like liberal democracy. Identifying a manifestation as 'democracy' and applying the term to it has the effect of recognising a wide range of practices as democratic. It gives them legitimacy among the other more prominent democracies identified." (For more, please read Marquardt's essay here: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/who-gets-a-say-in-the-meanings-of-democracy/)

Which practices around you, perhaps ones you conduct yourself, are not formally part of the "canon of democracy" but should be?

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year!!!!

Just wondered how do we determine the legitimacy of the conferences? Is there a way to differentiate which one is genuine?

Thank you.

Hi everyone! I am currently conducting research on how the U.S. federal government’s response to COVID-19 shaped its perceived legitimacy among Americans, and is this mediated by affective polarization. My variables are:

IV: Party identification (“Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a Democrat, a Republican, or Independent?” A follow up question was used: “Which of the following parties do you identify with the most? Strong Democrat, Not very strong Democrat, Strong Republican, Not very strong Republican, Independent, Independent - Dependent, Independent - Republican.”)

DV: Legitimacy (Six scale items were measured across a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)

Mediator: Affective Polarization (8-point trait item scale to measure positive and negative attitudes towards a respondent’s preferred political party compared to their opposed one - Democrat and Republican: "delighted,” “angry,” “happy,” “annoyed,” “joy,” “hateful,” “relaxed” and “disgusted.” A Feeling Thermometer was also used).

This is my first survey analysis and my first time using R, and needless to say there's been a steep learning curve on teaching myself how to use the software.

Question: does anyone have a good idea on where to start to tackle this? Do I start with CFA, re-measure Cronbach's Alpha for the scales? How do I aggregate the multi-items scale items? Is it necessary for me to use or discard one measure of the other? You're help is very much appreciated :-)

I am trying to build a stronger understanding on the two aspects of governance capacity and legitimacy and I want to identify some core literature and potential theoretical framing surrounding the topic

I am working on the process of institutional legitimacy and authority erosion in conflict situation.

The project seek to explore the effects of the land use conflict on institutional authority and legitimacy in conflict management and resolution and its implication on state building.

Should chemistry and monoculture be reduced in sustainable and ecological agriculture and agricultural techniques referring to natural ecosystems should be developed?

Many studies show that the most effective organic farming involves cultivating a formula that refers to natural, complex, biologically multispecies ecosystems.

The formula of ecological agriculture consisting in cultivating many different plant species side by side, referring to the formation of a natural ecosystem, allows to eliminate chemical plant protection products and reduce biological fertilization.

Only the use of biologically neutral machines and technical devices for crops to correct the functioning of organic crops would allow the improvement of this formula and the pursuit of sustainable agriculture.

Only the question of the legitimacy of using or possibly resigning from the creation of new, more resistant to various diseases and pests of new varieties of cultivated plants through the application of genetics engineering would remain to be considered.

It is not about creating new species of plants or animals through genetic manipulation techniques, but about breeding more resistant to diseases and pests new crop varieties as a perfecting cultivation formula referring to the natural ecosystem.

Crops referring to the natural biological system should be improved by the creation and introduction into these complex crops of these new varieties of crop plants in order to restore biological balance, which was previously significantly reduced through the widespread use of monoculture crops grown under classical agriculture.

In this way, it is possible to recreate sustainable agriculture in the future in areas where formerly monocultural farming crops or reclamation areas were previously operated.

Therefore, I would like to ask you:

Should chemistry and monoculture be reduced in sustainable and ecological agriculture and agricultural techniques referring to natural ecosystems should be developed?

Please, answer, comments.

I invite you to the discussion

Thank you very much

Best wishes

If the judges don't are elect for popular voting, why would they have - in terms philosophical, and not in legal terms - legitimacy to fail to apply a law approved democratically by legislative?

I faced such a problem. I have a nonlinear system for control synthesis and I should compare not only my controllers but also a linear version of my system to describe the legitimacy of this linearization. But it never occurred to me how to compare it in numerical. We often do it in a frequency domain for linear systems comparing bandwidth, gain, or phase margin. And we have a numerical result. But I can't do the Laplace transform (for example) because of no superposition principle being. I heard about nonlinear Fourier transform but I doubt that it could help me

Dear all,

I am interested in measuring how managers may consider themselves as "legitimate" towards:

- their team members

- their hierarchy

- or even their professional network (their peers).

Do you know any measurement scale (psychometric measurement scale) for this?

Thank you

Salomée

Responsible leadership defined in my research is the following “to build and cultivate sustainable and trustful relationships to different stakeholders inside and outside the organization and to co-ordinate their action to achieve common objectives (e.g. triplebottom-line goals), business sustainability and legitimacy and ultimately to help to realize a good (i.e., ethically sound) and shared business vision.”(Maak & Pless., 2006).

I would like to approach this concept empirically, as such it was my idea to combine the well known list of Fortune magazine's most admired companies (as a reputational indicator) with governance scores of companies made by Asset4 (as a ethical/legitimacy indicator).

I was wondering if anyone knows of an alternative method or if any research has done something similar as I cannot seem to find any empirical approach beyond surveys and interviews.

I am the director of the police academy at Dallas College in Dallas Texas USA. I am also a graduate student in Applied Criminology and Police Management at Cambridge University, UK. Scholars I'm reading are keen on talking about the dearth of material on police training efficacy. Concerned about that, and about legitimacy-related issues, I thought I'd put a feeler out.

Cmdr. Jeffrey Seif

Here we analyse the legitimacy of government actions during the Covid-19 pandemic (lockdowns, social distancing, and masks) and the way they restrict individual choice and derail society by appealing to the masses. Rather than focusing on scientific research on the actual virus, we focus on the set of arguments typically provided by pro-measures individuals to show that they are based on the concepts of cognitive misery, lazy option, and problem substitution. We discuss some of the most notorious slogans and provide counterarguments to show that governments, media, experts and other institutions have been led by the inertia of a confusing problem based on arbitrary and entangled grounds. Our conclusion is that governments, media, and industry are forcing “one-liners” (slogans) upon the true minority under attack: the single individual. Only when the single individual manages to become a sufficiently strong power, consideration of personal choice is granted.

Looking for studies on how academics' climate footprint (personal and professional choices) affect their scientific credibility/legitimacy in the eyes of the public/other actors. Thx in advance!

Specific drivers to digital trust are safety, security, reliability, privacy, and data ethics. Likewise, a survey by KPMG (2015) includes reliability, credibility, transparency, integrity, and security. In a survey conducted by Accenture (2015), the six pillars of trust include security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance. Likewise, environment, experience, attitudes, and behavior are the identified drivers of digital trust, according to the 2017 Digital Evolution Index (Mastercard, 2018).

We are interested in the pecularities of macro-cultures in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia, besides our Western perspective on what shapes digital trust at the workplace .

Our Focus of Attention is digital trust among employees and their perspective about his/her own experience as a worker, his or her attitude towards the employing organization, as well as his or her behavior in the society as a whole. Specifically, the research is primarily aimed at measuring digital trust in the workplace with an emphasis on people, technology, and process. The study excluded digital trust as perceived by a specific cohort of consumers.

Logically, in life we heard statement in TV, Radio or Social Media that claimed the human economic status (income, savings, price and etc) made people to behave unethically (buying illegal goods, involve in illegal consumption and etc).

Theoretically, economic influence in this discussion refer to all factors that influence individual purchase/use decision for example disposable income (Chen et.al, 2010), product price and tax (Martinez et. al, 2018).

But are there any researches investigate this connection?

In the never ending debate on the legitimacy or otherwise of euthanasia and PAS (Physician Assisted Suicide) can we separate religion from medicine?

I'm interested in finding out what your business school/ university does in order to raise awareness of the role of researchers and their publications.

To many people, we sit in front of a computer and drink coffee all day. Then sometimes we "go off jet setting" for an "academic jolly" ... just saying!

Recently I have received an invitation from "Horizon Journals" (http://aksjournals.com/about.php) who are in a process of recruiting reviewers... Now in another letter they ask for a "proof of scientific degree" and point to some "suitable" verification service (worth 70 USD) called "Egghead Verification Services" (http://eggheadverificationservices.info). All this sounds dubious, don't you think?

Do you think it can be a legitimate service? Have you heard of "Horizon Journals"? Do you know about other similar cases?

In summary: What do you think about increasing the credibility of publishing scientific articles globally?

This summer, I participated in two very stimulating international conferences where hundreds of scholars (sociologists, geographers, urbanists mainly) gathered and exchanged ideas. On numerous occasions I witnessed speakers struggling to convey their thought on the state of their research because of their insufficient knowledge of English. Beside the instances where the speaker barely could articulate a sentence in English, one could also mention the interesting cases of Mexicans presenters being asked questions in English by a Spanish listener or a largely French audience being welcome in English by a French speaker who had difficulties reading her English text. (On a personal note I could also mention the time spent at preparing not the actual content or structure of my presentation but at finding out and practicing how you pronounce some of the words...)

If we accept that each has a valuable contribution to make, then it seems to me (taking into account another discussion I started too long ago…) that we can either accept the status quo or question its legitimacy. We could consider it is to everyone individual responsibility to master English, or we could propose that everyone, including English native speakers who are necessarily favored by this situation, has a responsibility to address the issue.

My question is : could we imagine different ways of exchanging ideas that would allow to mitigate, in part, the inequalities inherent to English use in a conference?

For example could the question period more formally include time for this issue (translation questions and their implications, clarifications, questions asked in other languages)?

I have heard that international meetings like the World Social Forum have tackled the issue in the past but I do not know if they have an official position or strategies to address it. Do you?