Search

This paper presents a legal discourse analysis of Bill Clinton's impeachment trial held in 1998. The paper's main objective is to explore the different meanings communicated by the dexterous use of some lexical and pragmatic strategies used by discourse interlocutors involved in the trial. More specifically, the article offers a linguistic study of the testimony and statements of President Bill Clinton relating to his impeachment trial. The paper focuses on three main analytical dimensions: word selection, power relations, and questioning and answering, and the way these strategies influence the discourse participants' conversational performance in the selected trial. To this end, this study draws on a legal discourse analysis approach as discussed by Coulthard (2013) and Mey (2016), focusing on lexicalization, the notion of power, and the use of questions and answers in courtroom settings. The overarching research question is: What are the different ideological and pragmatic meanings targeted beyond the use of selected words during the trial? Results reveal that language is a powerful tool in courtroom testimonies as it helps to extract information, verify evidence, draw legal outcomes, and encode and/or decode the underpinning meanings of courtroom discourse participants. These, in turn, serve to support or defy evidence and ultimately lead to issue a legally just decision.

While Learning Analytics (LA) have gained momentum in higher education, there are still few examples of application in the school sector. Even fewer cases are reported of systematic, organizational adoption to drive the support of student learning trajectories that includes teachers, pastoral leaders, and academic managers. This paper presents one such case -- at the intersection of praxis, governance, and evaluation -- from a practitioner perspective. The paper describes the added value of data-driven approaches to create a culture of improvement in students and teachers in a comprehensive coeducational independent day school in Sydney. Evaluating the work done over the past five years to develop LA dashboards, the authors reflect on the process, the inspirations coming from theory, and the impact of the dashboards in the secondary school context. The data presented is not experimental in nature but supplies tangible evidence for the systematic evaluation scaffolded using the SHEILA policy framework. The main contribution of the paper is a practical demonstration of how managers in a secondary school drew from existing literature and observed data to 1) reflect on the adoption of LA in schools and 2) connect the dots between theory and practice to support teachers grappling with the trajectories of student learning and development, thus encouraging students to self-regulate their learning.

Racialized descriptions are a constant practice in our societies and a fundamental aspect of racial discourses. This paper uses conversation analytic tools within a Foucauldian perspective on discourse to investigate how discourses of race are (re)produced, and consequently navigated, in talk-in-interaction among speakers of Chinese. Four instances of racialized person description, taken from a larger corpus of 16 hours of casual conversation among Chinese migrants in Melbourne and their acquaintances, are explored in detail. The analysis identifies two interactional sequences, joking and accounting sequences, which allow participants to resist racialized descriptions while still orienting to the interactional preference for sociality in casual conversation. The paper argues that casual and friendly interaction may provide empirical evidence for how discourses of race are destabilized at the level of talk-in-interaction.

This keynote address discusses previous and ongoing efforts to reduce the persistent gap between research and practice in social work and offers recommendations for further bridging that gap. Key among those recommendations is the need to conduct descriptive outcome studies of efforts to adapt research-supported interventions in everyday practice settings to develop a database of case studies that can be analyzed to ferret out the factors associated with variations in client outcomes. These studies would have additional value in bridging the gap by showing agencies whether the intervention they adapted is as effective in their setting and with their clients as they hoped it would be and whether they might need to tweak it or replace it. The keynote address also discusses ways to incentivize academia-based researchers to conduct such studies and the impact of pressure on them to obtain major research funding.

The higher skills policy of the UK New Labour Government emerged from the recommendations of the Leitch Review of Skills, and was implemented in England between 2007 and 2010. The policy aimed to encourage higher education (HE) institutions to engage with employers and employer representative bodies to design and deliver HE provision that reflected the needs of employers. Using key policy documents and evidence submitted to a select committee inquiry, aspects of ambiguity and conflict in the implementation of this policy are explored. This focuses on three specific areas where disagreements amongst parties, or with government, were observed, and ambiguities of policy means and objectives. Although conflict amongst interested parties is evident, this was not extensive within the HE sector as the policy was not seen as relevant to all institutions. The demonstrable ambiguity enables the policy to be absorbed and made appropriate to the norms and culture of the HE sector. The experimental structure of the policy, while always ambiguous, lost its rationale with the change of UK government in 2010.

Does it pay off in terms of citations to issue an article as a working paper before it is published in a refereed journal? We show empirically that the answer is yes, using 3167 articles published in five of the top journals in economics between 2000 and 2010. The effect is an around 25% higher number of citations on average across the investigated journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) has given us an excellent example of what happens when the conditions for learning are created for teachers, rather than teaching them in the traditional professional development way from the "outside" in. For 7 years, the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ontario Teachers Federation have collaborated on a program that asks three questions: What did you learn? What did you learn about leadership? And how will you share what you have learned with others? Teachers write a proposal and are supported by the collaboration. Evidence shows this to be a powerful, sometimes life-changing experience for teachers as well as a powerful professional development effort that has far-reaching success.

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is a hybrid method designed to bridge the gap between qualitative and quantitative research in a case-sensitive approach that considers each case holistically as a complex configuration of conditions and outcomes. QCA allows for multiple conjunctural causation, implying that it is often a combination of conditions that produces an outcome, that multiple pathways may lead to the same outcome, and that in different contexts, the same condition may have a different impact on the outcome. This approach to complexity allows QCA to provide a practical understanding for complex, real-world situations, and the context of implementing interventions. There are guides for conducting QCA in primary research and quantitative systematic reviews yet, to our knowledge, no guidance for conducting QCA in systematic mixed studies reviews (SMSRs). Thus, the specific objectives of this paper are to (1) describe a step-by-step approach for novice researchers for using QCA to integrate qualitative and quantitative evidence, including guidance on how to use software; (2) highlight specific challenges; (3) propose potential solutions from a worked example; and (4) provide recommendations for reporting.

This study organized a participatory action research team to investigate Council on Social Work Education policies and their effect on the teaching and production of evaluation at the master's level. Data were collected in the form of 282 theses, 27 surveys, and 7 telephone interviews with field instructors to examine the use of evidence-based practice with students in field instruction. The study results indicate that students produced fewer theses and practice-based research papers compared to conceptual papers. Although field instructors valued evaluation in social work practice, the majority of respondents did not feel adequately prepared to engage students in its use in field instruction. The study suggests ways in which schools of social work can bridge the gaps between research and practice through evaluation. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to musculoskeletal diseases such as rickets and osteomalacia, but vitamin D supplementation may also prevent extraskeletal diseases such as respiratory tract infections, asthma exacerbations, pregnancy complications and premature deaths. Vitamin D has a unique metabolism as it is mainly obtained through synthesis in the skin under the influence of sunlight (i.e., ultraviolet-B radiation) whereas intake by nutrition traditionally plays a relatively minor role. Dietary guidelines for vitamin D are based on a consensus that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations are used to assess vitamin D status, with the recommended target concentrations ranging from ≥25 to ≥50 nmol/L (≥10–≥20 ng/mL), corresponding to a daily vitamin D intake of 10 to 20 μg (400–800 international units). Most populations fail to meet these recommended dietary vitamin D requirements. In Europe, 25(OH)D concentrations

In 1975, the fourth Annual Conference of the British Educational Administration Society (BEAS, now BELMAS) had as its theme "Autonomy and Accountability in Educational Administration". In their concluding comments, the editors of the published Proceedings wrote: "Our concern has been with accountability and autonomy, not as alternatives, but as significant and meaningful concepts which need to be better understood in relation to each other, having regard to specific organisational settings." This is the same connection that the then newly installed coalition government made 35 years later in their 2010 schools White Paper, a major policy document. The emphasis on this theme had persisted and indeed grown sharply during the intervening period. This trajectory is outlined in the article but its main purpose is to analyse the forces underlying what has become a preoccupation in English schools policy, making some reference to international evidence and practice. It is argued that the last six words of the quotation above from the 1975 editors' conclusion, "having regard to specific organisational settings", were particularly significant and are highly relevant to an explanation of the staying power of these concepts. (Contains 4 notes.)

This study was conducted to determine the success for the diffusion of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) white paper Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and personal interviews were utilized to collect data and purposeful sampling was used to identify one NCAA Division I university in the state of Texas. Athletic personnel and faculty senate members were asked to complete the SoCQ and participate in an interview for the study. Findings provide evidence that the participants share common concerns in relation to the adoption of the COIA white paper such as creating a balanced approach to academics and athletics, increasing campus pride, and academic integrity. Participants also felt that meaningful collaboration among faculty and staff members can prove beneficial to helping individuals take ownership in the adoption process. (Contains 1 figure.)

This position paper briefly presents evidence-based findings pertaining to the language of labels for people with hearing loss that relate to stigma, expectation levels, stereotypes, and self-fulfilling prophecies. These constructs are important for auditory-based practitioners, administrators, policymakers, students, families, and persons with hearing loss. The implications of what is written and said about people with and without hearing loss should be judiciously considered. Researchers and practitioners should avoid classifying children with typical hearing as "hearing," because this implies that children with hearing loss do not hear--a stereotype largely rendered obsolete as a result of hearing technology and the early intervention practices of the 21st century. (Contains 2 figures.)

This paper explored the link between information literacy (IL) and other factors that enable or inhibit the utilisation of research evidence in policymaking in Zimbabwe. The study assumes that if policymakers possess appropriate IL skills to access, assess, synthesise, and apply research evidence, they will naturally use the evidence to inform their policy decisions. Face-to-face interviews with 26 policymakers -- technocrats selected from the Parliament of Zimbabwe and two ministries, Industry and Commerce, and Youth, Sport, and Recreation -- produced evidence to inform the findings and conclusions. Data synthesis using thematic content analysis confirmed the findings. The results show that while IL skills are critical in enabling policymakers' use of research evidence, multiple other factors also influence the use of research evidence in policymaking due to the complexity of the process. The political and socioeconomic context plays a profound role because of the intricate and nonlinear nature of the policymaking process. Therefore, enhancing evidence use in policymaking revolves around strengthening IL skills at the individual level, including institutional and the broader policy ecosystem, by acknowledging and leveraging personal and institutional relationships. This insight illuminates the need to reorient IL programmes to link them to these other factors.

The agencies responsible for tertiary education quality assurance in Australia and New Zealand have established regulatory regimes that increasingly intersect with tertiary institution policy management. An examination of university meta-policies identified good practices guiding university policy and policy management. Most Australian and half of New Zealand universities have developed meta-policy, or policy on policy, with the most comprehensive articulating policy definitions, range and application of policy instruments, categorisation, approval authorities and policy cycle stages. Sound meta-policy provides an essential framework for good policy-making, and is the key to the development of positive policy outcomes. Increasing tertiary sector regulation provides a contemporary imperative to embrace university meta-policy as one mechanism to embed good practice policy process to facilitate these improved policy outcomes.

This article uses curriculum-making frameworks to analyse and reconstruct the Chinese curriculum-making model and unpack the dynamics, complexity and constraints of China's curriculum reform since the early 1990s. It argues that curriculum reform is China's main human capital development strategy for coping with the challenges of the 21st century, and that the state plays an important role in the reform of curriculum-making mechanisms and in the social distribution of knowledge, skills and dispositions through curriculum making. Data are drawn from a discourse analysis of public texts, such as official documents and curriculum standards. This study has four major findings. First, China uses curriculum reform as a key strategy to counter manpower-related global challenges and to empower the country in the 21st century. Second, to this end, China has re-oriented its curriculum making from a state-dominated model to one that is state-led, expert-assisted and evidence-based. Third, China's new curriculum reflects the increasing tension between globalization and nationalism; while preparing its students to compete globally, China also urges them to identify with and take pride in the nation's achievements and culture. Fourth, Chinese curriculum reform for the 21st century may not unfold as the state expects, as it is constrained by curricular and extra-curricular factors.

Prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorder have risen dramatically over the past few decades (now estimated at 1:50 children). The estimated total annual cost to the public purse in the United States is US$137 billion, with an individual lifetime cost in the United Kingdom estimated at between £0.8 million and £1.23 million depending on the level of functioning. The United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has enshrined full and equal human rights--for example, for inclusion, education and employment--and there is ample evidence that much can be achieved through adequate support and early intensive behavioural interventions. Not surprisingly, most governments worldwide have devised laws, policies, and strategies to improve services related to autism spectrum disorder, yet intriguingly the approaches differ considerably across the globe. Using Northern Ireland as a case in point, we look at relevant governmental documents and offer international comparisons that illustrate inconsistencies akin to a "postcode lottery" of services.

This position paper argues that students' understanding and acceptance of evolution may be supported, rather than hindered, by classroom discussion of creationism. Parallels are drawn between creationism and other scientific misconceptions, both of the scientific community in the past and of students in the present. Science teachers frequently handle their students' misconceptions as they arise by offering appropriate socio-cognitive conflict, which highlights reasons to disbelieve one idea and to believe another. It is argued that this way of working, rather than outlawing discussion, is more scientific and more honest. Scientific truth does not win the day by attempting to deny its opponents a voice but by engaging them with evidence. Teachers can be confident that evolution has nothing to fear from a free and frank discussion in which claims can be rebutted with evidence. Such an approach is accessible to children of all ages and is ultimately more likely to drive out pre-scientific superstitions. It also models the scientific process more authentically and develops students' ability to think critically.

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the discussion and reflection of a classroom training activity as a method to improve the quality of competency-based assessment in the courses of Mathematics and "Bahasa Indonesia." The Introduction describes the theoretical perspectives and the concept of competency-based curriculum as well as competency-based assessment. It also outlines a practical example of competency-based instruction in Mathematics and "Bahasa Indonesia," as well as the structure of the new curriculum as a competency-based framework, an approach to assessment using summative or formative assessment. Furthermore, the paper explores active learning and active assessment with an example from a Bahasa Indonesia course using assessment observations and ongoing assessment as examples for competency-based assessment. Finally, the paper concludes with a detailed analysis of a method to collect evidence through analysis and compiling evidence through observation. There is a short identification analysis on participative learning and participative assessment in competency-based assessment.

This paper provides a brief overview of the history of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), its prominence in the literature, and its use within the educational community. It then provides a critical analysis of the literature base linked to UDL checkpoint 1.2 by examining the relevance to the current trends in education and technology and alignment with checkpoint 1.2 and/or UDL as a whole. Using these criteria, the paper reports how much of the literature base was out-of-date or disconnected to UDL. Given UDL's prominent position in educational policy, further research into its effectiveness is necessary. Implications are discussed.

Background: Brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS) bridge research and policy or practice, and can elevate the role of evidence in decision making. However, there is limited integration of the literature across different sectors to understand the strategies that BIBS use, the skills needed to carry out these strategies, and the expected outcomes of these strategies. Aims and objectives: In this review, we characterise the strategies, skills, and outcomes of BIBS across the literature in education, environmental, health and other relevant sectors. Methods: We included 185 conceptual and review papers written in English that included descriptions or conceptualisations of BIBS in the context of knowledge transfer or research use in the education, environmental, health, or other relevant sectors (for example, social services, international development). For each included paper, we extracted and coded information on sector, BIBS strategies, skills, and outcomes. Findings: Our review revealed five strategies used by BIBS that were emphasised in the literature. Specifically, 79.5% of papers mentioned facilitating relationships, 75.7% mentioned disseminating evidence, 56.8% mentioned finding alignment, 48.6% mentioned capacity building, and 37.3% mentioned advising decisions as strategies used by BIBS. Additionally, papers described skills and expected outcomes that were common across these strategies as well as those that were unique to specific strategies. Discussion and conclusions: We discuss implications of these findings for understanding how BIBS interface with knowledge users and producers as well as directions for future research on BIBS and the professionalisation of BIBS roles.

It is necessary to foster teachers' ability to design and implement instructions that encourage students to construct evidence and engage in argumentative discourse. The argument of this paper is that the continuous reflection and discussion as well as regular practice on instructional designs will promote pre-service science teachers' (PSSTs') competence to guide students in providing evidence. An in-depth analysis on PSSTs' instructional designs provided evidence for this argument. For this purpose, this study implemented an action research (AR) in which PSSTs' instructional designs were analyzed before and after the three-week reflection and discussion on instructions that they conducted in groups of three or four in a science education course. The author of this paper, who is also the instructor of the course, analyzed these instructional designs to identify PSSTs' level of guidance by using the rubric that she created with expert judgment. Two other researchers and the author coded each category in the rubric independently. She scored the PSSTs' level in each category from 1 to 3 and then calculated their total score for the design. She also made paired samples t-test on the scores of each category and in total scores to identify how the PSSTs' instructional design guides students to use evidence before and after the continuous reflection and discussion of their instructional designs. The results suggested that integrating continuous reflection and discussion into her teaching improved PSSTs' guidance in providing evidence. Concluding remarks will be made for the further implications of this study.

Purpose: This paper examines the innovative potential of micro-credentials which, arguably, is compromised if not for a particular attribute of the digital format: evidence. Evidence allows for an artifact of learning (e.g. project, writing sample) to be included in a digital micro-credential. Micro-credentials that include evidence can support individualized learning; elucidate learners' qualifications; and make assessment and credentialing processes more inclusive. Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper explores the subject of higher education micro-credentials which are increasingly being offered as formal (albeit smaller and digital), credit-bearing credentials, far removed from the Open Digital Badge movement from which they originated. This paper presents a case for safeguarding the qualities of micro-credentials that allow for innovative practice, before micro-credentials become entirely subsumed into conventional assessment and credentialing practices. Findings: A review of the literature indicates that evidence, when used effectively, can support the innovative potential of micro-credentials. This subject is examined from the perspective of three categories of evidence, which are identified and illustrated through specific examples from the literature. Originality/value: This paper fulfills a need to address the features of micro-credentials that, if used effectively, can challenge traditional assessment and credentialing paradigms. Evidence is rarely discussed in the literature and has not been thoroughly examined from this perspective. Additionally, faculty who develop and implement micro-credentials face numerous challenges when attempting to include evidence in micro-credentials. This paper explores those challenges and offers several recommendations for practice.

Governments and education systems worldwide have tried using additional cash transfers to encourage school enrolment and attendance, and to reduce the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. There are now many strands of evidence on the success of such schemes. This paper presents the results of international structured reviews of the existing evidence, coupled with a natural experiment in India and Pakistan, and a summary of the new findings from a 14-year evaluation of the impact of the Pupil Premium policy in England. The paper addresses the key issue of whether funding is best provided to poorer regions, to schools, families, or individual students. The synthesised results are clear. However, the results differ slightly in terms of whether attendance or attainment is the key objective, and with the age of the students, and the level of development of any education system. Regardless, cash transfers need to have conditions attached, and these conditions must be audited. A key condition for giving money to schools, rather than individuals, should be that it is only used to provide evidence-led programmes and processes.

The theme of the 10th annual National Rehabilitation Educators conference emphasized research and teaching ideals in the areas of clinical supervision, evidence-based practice in rehabilitation, rehabilitation counseling process, effective rehabilitation counseling training strategies, accreditation and licensure, rehabilitation ethics, and various rehabilitation outcomes. There was a wealth of information presented in person by practitioners, educators, or graduate students at the conference that reflected a discipline comprised of individuals eager to move research forward and improve the quality of rehabilitation education and service delivery. When the "Call for Proposals" was initially disseminated, there was concern as to whether there would be enough proposals to fill the conference; however, the opposite was the case. There was indeed no shortage of quality proposals and interest in participating, clearly reflecting the evolution of the field's success. Conference presenters did an incredible job of delivering their ideals, providing a vision for the future, and expressing the inevitable needs marked by the evolution of the field of rehabilitation counseling. This paper presents the proposal abstracts as listed in the conference program proceedings with contact information of the principal presenter. In this way, persons unable to attend the conference may benefit as well.

Given the emphasis on evidence-based practice (EBP) in the 2010 Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors, it has become even more critical for rehabilitation educators and rehabilitation counselors to understand EBP, how to implement it in teaching and in practice, and how to access available EBP resources. This paper defines and describes EBP, provides a brief introduction to the most common EBPs related to rehabilitation counseling, and examines several sections of the Code of Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors which direct counselors to the use of EBP in practice. Resources and suggestions for incorporating EBP into rehabilitation education and rehabilitation counseling practice are provided. (Contains 1 table.)

In a cloud computing environment, traditional digital forensic processes (such as turning off the computer to image the computer hard drive) can be disruptive to businesses because the data of businesses may be co-mingled with other content. As technology changes, the way digital forensics acquisitions are conducted are also changing. The change in methodology affects the way this subject matter is taught in programs and institutions. Methods to teach digital forensic acquisition methods in a cloud computing environment are limited due to the complexity of the cloud environment. This paper explores how a panel of expert practitioners viewed evidence acquisitions within the cloud environment, the implications for digital forensic education, and suggestions on how the education field can prepare students for technological changes in digital forensic acquisition processes where cloud computing environments are concerned and also help develop new methodologies. The paper offers a classroom case scenario as an example on how new methodologies and tools can be used in the classroom.

Necessary optimality conditions for a bilevel optimization problem are given in the paper by Kohli (J Optim Theory Appl 152: 632–651, 2012). Recently, the same author corrected his results in the note (J Optim Theory Appl 181:706–707, 2019). In this work, we have pointed out that some of the new modifications are wrong. We correct the flaws and present an alternative proof for the main result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

McKinney (2018) has argued that for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to advance within a discipline, the integration of SoTL must be closely examined and opportunities for growth in SoTL must be recognized and discussed. To that end, this paper reflects on the degree to which SoTL is integrated into communication sciences and disorders (CSD) by examining a variety of topics: perspectives and theories historically valued by our discipline, existing supports for SoTL at various levels (i.e., individual teacher-scholars, departments, institutions, and the CSD discipline as a whole), the application of SoTL findings in teaching and learning. Four specific recommendations are made because of this examination and reflection.

In current educational research communications, especially in English and increasingly also in German publications, the term "evidence" refers to international homogenizing gold standards and is often linked to European evidence policies, large scale assessments and justified and proven knowledge. Against the background of international communication and the related circulation of terms and concepts, this paper analyses German and English OECD publications that recommend the development of educational research in 1970s and 90s. In England, the OECD and thus the external perception of their own education system hardly played a significant role due to years of awareness of the need for reform. Rather, Hargreaves's lecture (1996) about the disappointing effects of educational research when compared with the achievements of evidence-based medicine was decisive for the evidence movement. In addition, non-university institutions have gained legitimacy through acting as "evidence" providers for the school system. Based on analyses of German educational research literature, we show that "evidence" appeared in neurological, medical, technological, and economic texts in the 90s and early 2000s. Usage of "evidence" increased after the PISA shock in 2000 and is now linked to the expression of disciplinary development into empirical educational research. However, based on relatively stable patterns of communication and interpretation in two academic cultures, it is shown that the connectivity of an epistemological term like "evidence" does not necessarily reduce misunderstanding.

This paper describes a student-centered approach to teaching and learning physics in a high school classroom. The teacher designs and uses a 5E learning cycle to teach series and parallel electric circuits. This article provides an example of the implementation of 5E model for a physics lesson to address three-dimensional learning-science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. In this lesson, students could make predictions, exchange ideas, and collect and analyze data to construct evidence-based explanations about electric circuits, Ohm's law. This type of lesson design is effective to enhance students' engagement in scientific practices and develop conceptual understanding.

Educational assessments, from kindergarden to 12th grade (K-12) to licensure, have a long, well-documented history of oppression and marginalization. In this paper, we (the authors) ask the field of educational assessment/measurement to actively disrupt the White supremacist and racist logics that fuel this marginalization and re-orient itself toward assessment justice. We describe how a justice-oriented, antiracist validity (JAV) approach to validation processes can support assessment justice efforts, specifically with respect to language assessment. Relying on antiracist principles and critical quantitative methodologies, a JAV approach proposes a set of critical questions to consider when gathering validity evidence, with potential utility for language testers.

Predatory journals are a blemish on scholarly publishing and academia and the studies published within them are more likely to contain data that is false. The inclusion of studies from predatory journals in evidence syntheses is potentially problematic due to this propensity for false data to be included. To date, there has been little exploration of the opinions and experiences of evidence synthesisers when dealing with predatory journals in the conduct of their evidence synthesis. In this paper, the thoughts, opinions, and attitudes of evidence synthesisers towards predatory journals and the inclusion of studies published within these journals in evidence syntheses were sought. Focus groups were held with participants who were experienced evidence synthesisers from JBI (previously the Joanna Briggs Institute) collaboration. Utilising qualitative content analysis, two generic categories were identified: predatory journals within evidence synthesis, and predatory journals within academia. Our findings suggest that evidence synthesisers believe predatory journals are hard to identify and that there is no current consensus on the management of these studies if they have been included in an evidence synthesis. There is a critical need for further research, education, guidance, and development of clear processes to assist evidence synthesisers in the management of studies from predatory journals.

Checking for possible inconsistency between direct and indirect evidence is an important task in network meta-analysis. Recently, an evidence-splitting (ES) model has been proposed, that allows separating direct and indirect evidence in a network and hence assessing inconsistency. A salient feature of this model is that the variance for heterogeneity appears in both the mean and the variance structure. Thus, full maximum likelihood (ML) has been proposed for estimating the parameters of this model. Maximum likelihood is known to yield biased variance component estimates in linear mixed models, and this problem is expected to also affect the ES model. The purpose of the present paper, therefore, is to propose a method based on residual (or restricted) maximum likelihood (REML). Our simulation shows that this new method is quite competitive to methods based on full ML in terms of bias and mean squared error. In addition, some limitations of the ES model are discussed. While this model splits direct and indirect evidence, it is not a plausible model for the cause of inconsistency.

This paper investigates readers' recognition of unsourced evidentials in texts in association with critical reading. To this end, we involved four Iranian postgraduate students at an Australian university in a collective case study where each student read four Persian texts and participated in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data analysis employed critical discourse analysis and discursive power relations to examine participants' positionalities and subjectivities. Our findings in general confirm the students' recognition of unsourced evidential in texts as an indication of critical reading. More specifically, it was revealed that linguistic sources (e.g. Persian indefinite suffix '-i'), as well as socio-cultural factors such as normalization embedded within the Persian oral narrative and discourse, play significantly in identifying unsourced evidentials. Pedagogical implications for critical reflection on texts containing instances of unsourced evidentials are suggested.