31 October 2012

Call for papers: Indian Management in the Manufacturing and Service Industries

A special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

Indian Management Systems (IMS) are growing in the 21st century as a unique concept and trend, with substantial remodelling of the indigenous practices of ancient literature, community skills and a revival management mechanism.

The rich historical and social system of India will lead Indian management to contending with American, European and Japanese management within the 21 st century. India’s 47 million people-strong manpower will be entering the global market for the developed world’s corporate decision making by 2020 due to its demographic dividend. The world will feel the impact of Indian management effectiveness from 2020 to 2050. Its unique and scientific application will act as the change agent by the mid of this century.

This special issue aims to examine the championed Indian concepts in the global manufacturing and service industries. Contributions in remodelling and implementing systems in industrial applications may generate larger discussion. Researchers are invited to contribute empirical, conceptual and theme-based papers for industry application and impacting management strategies and decision making.

The highlights of management dimensions with adequate complimentary English words as replacements for Indian words are sought for larger clarity for readers. Articles with larger relevance to the given themes will be considered for publication. Case studies will not be considered for publication.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Pre-Vedic and Vedic period management concepts and applied doctrines for the remodeling of modern management
  • Ancient and medieval period schools, scholars and applied governance and management systems
  • Ancient military science, knowledge management, public and institutional role play, co-operative organisations’ practices, alliance, ethics and loyalty applications study for modern manufacturing and service industries.
  • Ancient and early medieval and medieval period management theories, practices and dynamics
  • Management systems of Mauryas, Sungas, Kushanas, Guptas, Pandyas, Cholas, Chalukyas, Satyaputras, Satvahanas, Palas, Harsha, Islamic rule, Mughals, Marathas, Sikhs, Rajputs, etc. for the manufacturing and service industries.
  • Management procedures and propagations by universities, schools and scholars of Indian history in scientific and applied management – Taxila, Lalitgiri, Puspagiri, Nalanda, Vikramsila, Kashi Gurukul, etc.; schools such as Mimamsa, Sankhaya, Charvak, etc.; scholars such as Chanakya, Ashwaghosha, Mogaliputta Tissa, Panini etc.
  • Technology, trade, industry, commerce, local governance, international business, infrastructure management, supply chain management, public economics, quality management, mass production and manufacturing, agriculture management, disaster preparedness, welfare management, social responsibility, family and life management, transportation and settlement of ancient and medieval periods
  • Crime, corruption, irregularities and justice delivery management systems, diplomacy, international relations, benevolence governance, alliances – socio, cultural, economic and political for empire and state management
  • Management practices of religions and cults – Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism and Sikhism
  • Revolutions and revolutionary change management of India – ancient, medieval and modern periods – Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka, Kanishka, Kharavela, Chandragupta II, Harshavardhana, Akbar, Shivaji, Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, etc.
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 June, 2013
Comments to authors: 30 October, 2013
Revised papers accepted: 30 January, 2014

Call for papers: Facebook as an Educational Tool

A special issue of International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments

With the rapid development of information and communication technology, many virtual social tools – such as Facebook, msn, Linkedin, Google +, Twitter, weblogs and wikis – are available on the Internet for people to communicate and interact with others. Among the tools, Facebook is likely to be the most popular social media platform used by students. This special issue invites papers to report on various ways of using Facebook as an educational tool for teaching and learning.

Facebook was not initially designed for educational purposes. Because of its social affordances, however, it has great potential for teaching and learning. It can be used by a teacher as a learning management system to share course resources with students and conduct discussions, by a group of students to support their group collaboration, or as a social platform to improve the student-student or student-teacher relationship.

Nevertheless, the use of Facebook may also have implementation issues. For instance, some students may not want their teachers to be their online friends, or do not want social friends to know about their academic performance in a course. Also, there might be cyber safety concerns.

Rather than reporting the use of various social media tools, this issue will focus on using Facebook as an educational tool. Research and conceptual papers related to the use of Facebook for teaching and learning, such as social learning theories, personal experiences, practical design of Facebook-mediated learning environments and implementation issues and concerns of using Facebook for teaching and learning, are welcome.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Social learning theories or models
  • Learning motivation and Facebook
  • Literature review on using Facebook in education
  • Pedagogical and social affordances of Facebook for teaching and learning
  • Instructional strategies for effective use of Facebook
  • Practical experiences of using Facebook for teaching and learning
  • Case studies of Facebook in education
  • Implementation issues and/or concerns with using Facebook for learning
  • Facebook-mediated collaborative/interactive/social learning environments
  • Design considerations for Facebook-mediated learning environments
  • Challenges of classroom management in Facebook-mediated learning environments
  • Facebook for collaborative learning
  • Formal and informal learning with Facebook
  • Teachers' professional development using Facebook
  • Effects of using Facebook for teaching and learning
  • Using Facebook as an online learning community or a knowledge building community
  • Content generation or knowledge creation on Facebook
  • Promoting 21st century competencies using Facebook
Important DatesFull paper submission: 30 April, 2013
Notification of acceptance: 15 June, 2013
Final submission: 31 July, 2013

Call for papers: Thirty Years of Research in Entrepreneurial Support

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Over the last three decades, supporting the creation of new businesses has become a major issue all over the world. Support programmes have been launched at national or regional levels to support the founders of young companies. Entrepreneurial ecosystems have emerged around key players such as incubators. The structuration and institutionalisation of this field have been made easier by national or international networks such as the National Business Incubation Association.

Over this period, this theme has become a research trend in the field of entrepreneurship. Two complementary trains of thought dominate. The first takes an economic stance, focusing in particular on the role of location in entrepreneurial dynamics and the impact of entrepreneurial policies (Audretsch, Grilo and Thurik, 2007). What are the best entrepreneurial policies? How can programmes that support business creation be evaluated? Two evaluation models have been developed to answer these questions (Storey, 2000).

The second train of thought focuses on the key players in support and the different types of support. What determines the performances of incubators? Many works have played a role in better understanding the performances of incubators (Mian, 1997; Hakett and Dilts, 2004).

There are two aims for this special issue. The first is to present a review of current research on entrepreneurial support, and how this theme has become, in the last 30 years, a major research field in entrepreneurship. What theories have been put forward? What are the future perspectives for research?

The second aim is to offer readers a cross-referencing of entrepreneurial support, taking into account geographical and cultural specificities. The question of entrepreneurial support is effectively raised differently from one country and culture to another. In this case, can we – or should we – give a universalist reading of entrepreneurial support? On the contrary, is support only contextualised? What tools and methods should be focused on?

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Skill management and support
  • Evaluating support
  • Networks and support
  • Learning and support
  • Funding support
  • Innovation and support
  • Public policy and support
  • Managing incubators
  • Genre and support
Important Dates
Deadline for papers: 15 March, 2013
Papers returned to authors: 15 June, 2013
Deadline for revised versions: 15 September, 2013 

Special issue: Automotive mechatronics: innovations in design, analysis and implementation

International Journal of Vehicle Design 60(3/4) 2012
  • Electric Active Roll Control (EARC0
  • Development and application of a reliability-based multivariate model validation method
  • The design of a reference control architecture to support vehicle hybridisation
  • The design and development of multivariable controls with the application for energy management of hybrid electric vehicles
  • Microcontroller memory capability assessment and variant selection for reducing the cost of mechatronic
  • Study of the nonlinear control techniques for single acting VGT pneumatic actuator
  • An optimal power management strategy for power split plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
  • Dry clutch control based on electromechanical actuator position feedback loop
  • Design and control of variable braking force system on a two wheeler
  • Development of an autonomous vehicle highway merging strategy

Special issue: Optimisation and learning theory, algorithms and applications

International Journal of Intelligent Information and Database Systems 6(6) 2012

Papers from a workshop on ‘Optimisation and learning’ which took place at the Laboratory of Theoretical and Applied of Computer Science, University Paul Verlaine-Metz, France during 17–18 June 2010.
  • Scheduling of lifting vehicle and quay crane in automated port container terminals
  • Single straddle carrier routing problem in port container terminals: mathematical model and solving approaches
  • A generic model of multi-class support vector machine
  • An evolutionary approach for high dimensional attribute selection
  • Pattern discovery in annotated dialogues using dynamic programming

Special issue: Advanced techniques on nonlinear control systems

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology 44(4) 2012

Papers from the 2010 International Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control (ICMIC‘10), held in Okayama, Japan, 17-19 July 2010.

Other papers from the conference are published in various issues of International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems.
  • An entropy approach to filtering for networked control systems
  • Operator-based robust control of MIMO aluminium plate thermal process
  • Sliding mode control with fuzzy compensator of pneumatic muscle actuator
  • Identification of inverse response process with time delay using relay feedback test
  • Mobile robot 3D map building and path planning based on multi-sensor data fusion
Regularly Submitted Papers
  • An approach to offline handwritten Devanagari word segmentation
  • Task allocation in distributed computing systems using adaptive particle swarm optimisation
  • Mobile robot navigation: neural Q-learning
  • CIVD: detection of command injection vulnerabilities in web services through aspect-oriented programming

29 October 2012

Call for papers: New Cultural Catalysts in Evolving Environments: Political Change, Cultural Dynamics and Competitiveness of Firms

A special issue of European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management

A catalyst is a mechanism usually studied in chemistry. It is a substance that modifies and increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process. In social science, the term catalyst is used to refer to something that precipitates a process or event without being effected by its consequences. It is a social mechanism able to trigger changes and at the same time able to homogenise factors, languages and aims of a community that is to share a culture.

Local networks were cultural catalysts: people and institutions were held together by their common history, language, traditions and educational heritage. This shared identity allowed firms and economic players to create and maintain effective relationships because they were embedded in the same context. Local relationships allowed firms to evolve and face environmental turbulence. They have been for firms a source of material resources as well as of hidden ideas, innovation and reputation.

Now local contexts are less significant. Businesses have no borders and firms increase their competiveness through the relationships they forge around the globe. In a globalised world characterised by strong competition and a high level of technological transilience, change and innovation are primary sources of competitive advantage. To be innovative, firms need to build profitable relationships in order to obtain necessary knowledge. While relationships are still the cornerstone of successful business, they are no longer local but global. To succeed globally, firms need to adapt to different cultural contexts and promote hybridisation. They need mechanisms able of stimulate change while preserving their own identities.

Theoretical and empirical explorations are needed to understand how firms’ cultural catalysts can be created, how they work, and how they can help manage adaptation and cultural hybridisation.

Examples of questions that could be addressed include but are not limited to:
  • What is the meaning of cultural catalysts, and to what extent are they important for firms and organisations?
  • Do countries continue to be cultural catalysts?
  • How is globalisation changing the role of countries and the meaning of local identities?
  • How are political dynamics changing the meaning of identities?
  • If countries are loosing their role as cultural catalysts, at what level is hybridisation important and which effects will it produce?
  • How do cultural catalysts affect firms' competitiveness?
  • At what level of analysis do cultural catalysts play their role?
  • Are transnational firms able to build their own cultural catalysts? Should they be cultural catalysts themselves, and how could they succeed in this sense?
Important Date
Submission deadline: 31 January, 2013

Call for papers: Vehicle Energy Management and Control

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Performance

With increasing pressure from legislation and highly competitive global markets, automotive OEMs and suppliers are actively seeking solutions to reduce emission levels and improve fuel economy. In this process, vehicle energy management (VEM) remedies the problem of integrating green engineering into the development process while continuing to improve vehicles’ drivability and performance.

New vehicle architectures such as electric vehicles, hybrids and mild hybrids are equipped with ever more complex control and electronic systems that change the set-up of the traditional vehicle development process. VEM enables us to make important design decisions that impact emission and fuel consumption early in the development process, while maintaining or even improving drivability and passengers’ thermal comfort. VEM studies thus need to be integrated into the existing vehicle development process and combine mechanical, thermal, electrical and control engineering in a single environment.

In order to further promote excellence of research in vehicle energy management, this special issue is intended to focus on state-of-the-art research and developments together with continuing efforts and the major technological challenges in VEM and control, and the integration of energy management strategies into the development process.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Energy management strategies in electric, hybrid and hybrid-electric vehicles
  • Intelligent energy management and control
  • Trade studies on various vehicle performances related to energy management and control
  • Engine sub-systems such as fuel injection and valve actuation including control strategies
  • Thermal engine systems and controls including thermal management, exhaust and HVAC
  • Transmission and driveline controls
  • Optimisation methods in relation to VEM and control
  • Under-the-hood systems and electrical auxiliaries
  • Energy management and drivability
  • Energy management, fuel economy and contributory factors
Important Dates
Manuscript submission deadline: 30 April, 2013
Reviewers' reports and decisions: 31 July, 2013
Final manuscripts due: 30 September, 2013

Call for papers: Green Growth and Sustainability: New Challenges for an Economics of Quality

A special issue of International Journal of Sustainable Development

The recent multidimensional crisis that affected most of the countries in the world has amplified the process of degradation of employment and social fragmentation. In this context, the current challenge consists in promoting green growth towards a low-carbon economy.

Making economic growth and development compatible with stabilising the climate and with a sustainable environmental footprint will require a drastic shift towards clean development and green, low-carbon economies. This will imply a great transformation of activities as far-reaching as the transformation brought about by the so-called Industrial Revolution. This transformation process addresses the critical issue of quality with respect to economic activities, resources and capital goods.

The rationale for green growth and “clean” development has mostly been presented as a win-win situation for the environment and for economic development. However, the current literature on economic growth and the environment shows that environmental sustainability can only be consistent with sustained economic growth if certain conditions are met.

This special issue will address the new challenges for an economics of quality in the context of the green transition towards sustainability. It aims at studying the conditions for a coincidence of the time frame for addressing environmental degradation, economic development and sustainability. The issue will explore how an effective transition process over time can be created in dynamically complex systems.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • The process of green growth regime with respect of technological and organisational innovations, economic growth and sustainability.
  • The conditions for a transition towards the green growth regime.
  • Forms of investment in different capital goods.
  • Transition and the notion of adjustment costs.
  • The economic and social impacts of the green growth regime.
  • Macroeconomic context (industrialised, emerging and low-income economies).
  • The role of macroeconomic policies/investment rules for the transition towards a green growth regime.
  • Green growth, sustainability and the extension of the standard national-income-accounting framework.
  • Green transition and the labour market: jobs and skills formation, lifelong education.
  • Green transition and firms: human resources, technological innovation and organisational changes, knowledge.
  • The financing of investments in back-bone assets and the provision of public goods.
  • Green growth, green transition and equity.
Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 31 December, 2012
Notification of review: 20 January, 2013
Submission of revised manuscripts: 1 March, 2013

Special issue: Technology support for innovative teaching and learning

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 22(3/4) 2012
  • English autonomous learning on the Blackboard Academic Suite
  • Evaluation of a web-based assessment tool for learning grammar at the primary school level
  • Investigating the use of English vocabulary learning strategies in web-based and multimedia learning environments
  • A case study on students' satisfaction with a network-based course
  • Constructing a web-based course for the second degree program in a university
  • Constructing teacher identity through technology field practice
  • Innovation and practice of the teaching monitoring method for the digital media technology programme
  • Measurement of colour brightness in the design of web-based courses
  • Network-based course construction for independent and interactive learning of engineering graphics
  • Application of a web-based remote virtual laboratory on innovative teaching of electronic circuits

Special Issue: Selected topics on sensor networks

International Journal of Sensor Networks 12(2) 2012

Papers from the 4th International Workshop on Sensor Networks (SN 2011) held with the IEEE 31st International Conference on Distributed ComputingSystem (ICDCS 2011), in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 20-24 June 2011.
  • Water temperature sensing with microtomography 
  • Error analysis of range-based localisation algorithms in wireless sensor networks
  • A weighted average-based external clock synchronisation protocol for wireless sensor networks
  • An efficient data collection scheme through multi-path routing structures in wireless sensor networks


Special issue: Intelligent image processing

International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications 4(3/4) 2012
  • Streaming of medical images using JPEG2000 Interactive Protocol
  • Moving license plate segmentation by region and corner-based approach
  • Combining approaches for early diagnosis of breast diseases using thermal imaging
  • Improving a dynamic ensemble selection method based on oracle information
  • Study of geostatistical functions applied to automatic eye detection
  • Segmentation of mice cerebral structures: application in Trisomy 21
Additional Papers
  • Particle swarm optimisation algorithm with iterative improvement strategy for multi-dimensional function optimisation problems
  • Spectral and spatial feature classification of hyperspectral images based on particle swarm optimisation


26 October 2012

Newly announced title: International Journal of Business Intelligence and Systems Engineering

Beginning publication in 2013, International Journal of Business Intelligence and Systems Engineering will focus on business intelligence and decision support, together with system strategy, policy and application. It also covers production planning, scheduling and operation management along with advanced information systems, including theoretical foundations, infrastructure, architecture and algorithms.

Newly announced title: International Journal of Semantic and Infrastructure Services

Beginning publication in 2013, International Journal of Semantic and Infrastructure Services will deal with the evolution of semantic approaches in enhancing computing infrastructure to manage big data sets which are being gathered by researchers on a daily basis. This perspective acknowledges the complexity of the future computing environment as an interface between data semantics and infrastructure services over different data-infrastructure scales as well as the reflexive characteristics of computing systems.

Newly announced title: International Journal of Qualitative Information Systems Research

Beginning publication in 2013, International Journal of Qualitative Information Systems Research offers a focal point and forum for those wishing to publish research relevant to using, applying, developing, innovating, evaluating, and drawing implications from, qualitative information systems research. It will  consider what, how and why people plan, adopt, use, develop, implement and manage IS/IT projects.

Media partner for Unconventional Gas Conference 2013

Inderscience is a media partner for the 6th Annual Unconventional Gas Conference to be held in London, UK,  6-7 March 2013.

Journals involved are:

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy
International Journal of Global Energy Issues

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal TechnologyInternational Journal of Petroleum Engineering
International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 

Call for papers: Context-Awareness Services and Sensor Network Applications for Smart Space

A special issue of International Journal of Sensor Networks

Smart Spaces (SS) represent an advanced communication environment featuring daily life objects that continuously involve and are focused on final non-expert users. SS has rapidly emerged as an exciting new paradigm that tends to include different active research fields such as ubiquitous and context-aware computing.

SS environments have recently raised tremendous interest from both the academic and industrial research communities as one of the most promising application fields for ubiquitous computing services.

This special issue will provide a comprehensive forum focused on context-aware computing and wireless sensor networks (CAC-WSN) for smart space. The issue will provide an opportunity for academic and industry professionals to discuss the latest issues and progress in the area of CAC-WSN, such as ubiquitous and context-aware computing, context-awareness reasoning and representation, location-awareness services, architectures, protocols and algorithms of WSN, energy, management and control of WSN, etc.

In addition, the issue will publish high-quality papers which are closely related to the various theories and practical applications in CAC-WSN. Furthermore, we expect that the issue will be a trigger for further related research and technology improvements in this important subject.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2012 International Workshop on Context-Aware Computing Applications and Services via Wireless Sensor Networks (CAC-WSN 2012), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Context-awareness in smart spaces
  • Ubiquitous and context-aware computing
  • Context-aware models and control
  • Context-awareness reasoning and representation
  • Location-awareness services
  • Adaptive and context-based multimodal interaction
  • Context-awareness in energy-efficient computing
  • Use of context-aware technologies for HCI
  • Context-aware advertising
  • Social agents and avatars
  • Autonomous actors
  • Understanding human activity
  • Architectures, protocols and algorithms of WSN
  • Energy, management and control of WSN
  • Resource allocation, services, QoS and fault tolerance in WSN
  • Performance, simulation and modelling of WSN
  • Security and monitoring of WSN
  • Deployments and implementations of WSN
  • Energy optimisation for WSN
  • CAC-WSN applications and services
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 30 June, 2013
Acceptance/rejection notification: 30 November, 2013
Final manuscript due: 31 December, 2013

Call for papers: Knowledge Intelligence and Innovation for a Sustainable Growth – KnowInG

A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development

The considerable economic crisis is raising new challenges for the different sectors of the European and, in particular, Mediterranean regions, involving cultural, social and economic factors aimed to be used creativity to develop new knowledge and innovation in production, business activities, policies, culture and social environments.

The EU project, Knowledge Intelligence and Innovation for a Sustainable Growth - KnowInG (funded by the STC programme MED), promotes the enhancement of cooperation among key institutional and economic actors and the “knowledge economy” by launching a transnational dialogue platform on policies, tools and strategies for attracting and creating “innovation". Creativity, policies, tools, actors, knowledge and innovation are the axes of research of the project.

In this context, starting from experiences of the project, this special issue aims to stimulate scientific debate for the emergence of new models of policies involving actors from local to transnational levels, and new tools enhancing processes of knowledge building and sharing using virtual innovation environments.

Professors, scientists and researchers from public and private research institutions and universities are invited to submit their contributions.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  •  From local to transnational strategies and policies for innovation: theories, methodologies and models
  • Policies for innovation: case studies, guidelines and best practices
  • Economic, social and cultural issues of local and transnational policies on innovation
  • Knowledge economy/integration, innovative companies and clusters
  • Actors of innovation: case studies
  • Higher education system and production system synergies for knowledge, creativity and innovation
  • Virtual and real communities on innovation, creativity and knowledge
  • Internet of the future, creativity, knowledge and innovation
  • Tools for innovation: case studies
Important Dates
Manuscripts due: 8 March, 2013 (extended)
Acceptance notification: 30 March, 2013
Final manuscripts due: 30 April, 2013

Call for papers: Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles – Drives and Technologies

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Performance

Electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) are rapidly evolving as most promising alternatives in low emission and fuel efficient vehicles. The pace of developments in EV and PHEV technologies, however, has been affected by various challenges in a highly adverse manner. These include high costs, sizing problems, power management and limited driving range.

 This special issue is intended to focus on state-of-the-art developments in drives and power management technologies for EVs and PHEVs, particularly the developments in practical power electronics, electric machines and motor drives solutions for the automotive industry.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Power electronic converters, bidirectional AC/DC and DC/DC converters
  • Novel machine designs for propulsion
  • Advanced motor drive solutions and control technologies
  • Modelling and simulation of EV/PHEV power trains
  • Innovative EV/PHEV architectures
  • Battery storage technologies
  • Coordinated charging and grid demands
  • Smart power management strategies
  • Fuel cell-based EV/PHEV architectures
  • Ultracapacitor-based hybrid storage systems
  • Smart charging infrastructures for EVs and PHEVs
Important Dates
Manuscript submission deadline: 30 April, 2013
Reviewers' reports and decisions: 31 July, 2013
Final manuscripts due: 31 October, 2013

Call for papers: Vehicle Ride Comfort and Performance

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Performance

Ride comfort performance of road and off-road vehicles is an important customer satisfaction issue, and is increasingly being integrated within the total vehicle development process. Vehicle ride vibration coupled with constrained drivers’ sitting postures has been associated with a number of musculoskeletal disorders among vehicle drivers, in addition to annoyance, discomfort and loss of productivity, particularly for commercial road and off-road vehicles.

 The ride comfort performance of vehicles, however, is related to a multitude of factors related to human driver attributes, vehicle design, operating conditions and road/terrain conditions in a highly coupled and complex manner, while the present state of knowledge is insufficient for defining precise objective measures of ride performance for integration in the vehicle development process.

 The subjective sensations of vehicle ride comfort show extreme variabilities and strongly rely on individual preferences, the support properties of seats, vehicle vibration and noise and workstation design coupled with vehicle handling. The objective measures of vehicle ride comfort and annoyance, on the other hand, rely mostly on the nature of the vibration and noise of the vehicle.

 Although developments over the past few decades have evolved into valuable guidelines and standards to assess and limit the drivers’ exposure to vehicle vibration and shock, the subject of assessment and control continues to pose an array of multi-disciplinary challenges. The chassis, suspension and tyres are the key design factors affecting objective and subjective ride comfort performance, while the designs are heavily weighted for realising greater handling performance opposed to ride comfort. High speed work vehicles such as articulated steer vehicles, particularly, encompass difficult challenges for suspension designs to achieve an acceptable compromise between ride and directional stability performance.

 This special issue is intended to focus on state-of-the-art developments in technologies and methods addressing subjective and objective vehicle ride enhancements and customer satisfaction.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Developments in criteria for assessing subjective and objective vehicle ride comfort
  • Biodynamic/biomechanical modelling of drivers/passengers and applications to seating and vehicle design
  • State-of-the-art reviews of ride comfort assessment methods, standards and guidelines, and their limitations
  • Analytical and experimental methods in tyre-terrain (soil) dynamics
  • Characterisation of multi-axis ride vibration environments of vehicles, and assessment of ride comfort
  • Practically implementable active/semi-active and advanced passive axle suspensions
  • Optimal secondary suspension (seat and cab) designs and their adaptation
  • Controllable actuators and vibration isolation mounts
  • Developments in MR suspension and mounts
  • Rigid and flexible multi-body modelling techniques for vehicle ride dynamics
  • Vehicle pitching, beaming, shaking, impact harshness, brake judder on driver ride sensation
  • Vehicle ride evaluations - measurement methods, instrumentation and analysis methods
  • Road test simulation methods for suspension tuning, full vehicle ride evaluations and optimization
  • Correlations between analytical/field ride measures and subjective comfort sensations
Important Dates
Manuscript submission deadline: 30 April, 2013
Reviewers' reports and decision: 31 July, 2013
Final manuscript due: 31 October, 2013

Call for papers: Lean Six Sigma Developments in Manufacturing Applications

 A special issue of International Journal of Lean Enterprise Research

The manufacturing sector is vital for the well-being and development of any country’s economy. Organisations in this sector are currently facing numerous challenges in the market place. Some of the most significant challenges include intense global competition, handling cost pressures and adapting to different consumer needs and expectations. ‘Lean manufacturing’ and ‘Six Sigma’ have been recognised as two of the most effective strategies employed by manufacturers to overcome these challenges and thus achieve business excellence.

This special issue aims at presenting the latest research and/or application developments of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma or lean Six Sigma (as an integrated approach) in the manufacturing sector. This issue will be of special interest to academics, researchers, students, consultants and industrialists involved in the research, implementation, management and improvement of manufacturing organisations and their processes.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 23rd International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers, practitioners and consultants who are unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following lean manufacturing, Six Sigma or lean Six Sigma (as an integrated approach) areas:
  •  Implementation and application in manufacturing organisations and processes
  •  Best practices in the area
  •  Strategies and cultural changes towards their adoption
  •  Development of new tools and techniques
  •  The role of leadership
  •  General operational and quality improvements using these strategies
  •  Application of these strategies in the supply chain of manufacturing organisations
  •  Leagile manufacturing and supply chains
  •  Lean and green operations
  •  System modelling and simulation
  •  Lean thinking
  •  Cases study
  •  Other related topics
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 20 October, 2013
Notification to authors: 31 January, 2014
Final versions due: 31 March, 2014

Call for papers: Information Technology and Automation

A special issue of International Journal of Information Technology and Management

Information science has become an important research field to the development of modern society, especially as information techniques have facilitated, accelerated and promoted research on and applications in automatic systems.

The main objective of this special issue is to present highly innovative research papers on recent trends and challenges in the field of information technology and automation. Its aim is to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians and industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development activities in information technology and automation.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2012 International Conference on Information Processing and Intelligent Computing (ICIPIC12), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Engineering management
  • Business intelligence and applications
  • Industrial bus control applications
  • Mathematical modelling
  • Machine learning and pattern recognition
  • Web service and information management
  • Financial management and applications
  • Education in informatics communication technology and applications
  • Information system applications
  • Information technology in education
  • Sensors and applications
  • Signal and image processing
  • Identity and trust management
  • Pervasive information systems
  • Secure information systems architecture
  • Social aspects of information technology
  • Computer science and engineering
  • Electrical engineering and applications
  • Project and quality management
  • Data mining technology and application
  • Industrial design
  • Intelligent detecting technology
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 January, 2013
Notification to authors: 15 March, 2013
Final versions due: 15 May, 2013

25 October 2012

Inderscience publishes 50,000th paper

The Inderscience Online Collection has gone over the 50,000 mark for published papers online.

The 50,000th paper published was Potential use of transport and dispersion model output to supplement Allied Tactical Publication-45 hazard area prediction templates by Nathan Platt and Leo Jones, discussing the effect of wind changes on NATO’s early warnings for nuclear/chemical/biological incidents.
The paper was published in the International Journal  of Environment and Pollution 48(1-4) 2012

The Inderscience database represents a major research collection and may be searched free of charge. Full-text papers are available to subscribers and pay-per-view users, unless otherwise marked.

Special issue: Security and privacy issues

International Journal of Security and Networks 7(2) 2012

Papers from IEEE SmartGridCom 2011 held in Brussels, Belgium, 17-20 October 2011 and IEEE CCNC 2012, held in Las Vegas, USA, 14-17 January 2012.
  • Managing hybrid packet filter's specifications
  • Rapid anomaly detection for smart grid infrastructures through hierarchical pattern matching
  • An adaptive tit-for-tat strategy for IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA protocol
  • Intrusion prevention with two-level user authentication in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks
  • MAC aggregation protocols resilient to DoS attacks

Special issue: Issues on economic development, FDI and management

International Journal of Trade and Global Markets 5(3/4) 2012

Papers from the International Conference of International Business (ICIB 2011), held in Thessaloniki Greece, 19–21 May 2011.
  • Modelling volatility during the current financial crisis: an empirical analysis of the US and the UK stock market
  • Can e-management improve the Indonesian SMEs?
  • The impact of economic integration on FDI: applied study on ASEAN
  • Current account balance in Albania and the influence of different factors on i
  • Effects of obligatory compensation from previous experience on unemploymen
  • Greek sovereign credit market dynamics: Credit Default Swap and bond spreads' linkages
  • Regional business development in the Western Balkans: roots and causes of failure
  • Social impact assessment of FDI in energy projects: Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline as a case study
Additional papers
  • Commodity prices and the US money supply in the long run
  • Competitiveness gap and host country effects of FDI in the new OECD


Special issue: Electric discharge-based multi-scale machining processes and systems

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems 5(5/6) 2012
  • Optimisation of surface integrity model using response surface methodology for EDMed AISI D2 tool steel
  • A review on various research trends in micro-EDM
  •  Multi-objective optimisation of electrical discharge machining of metal matrix composite Al/SiC using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm
  • Experimental investigations into electrical discharge deep hole drilling of Inconel 718 using copper-tungsten electrode
  • Biocompatibility of the electrical discharge machining process on titanium surfaces
  • Effects of powder mixed dielectric on electro discharge machining (PMEDM) of HSS tool steel
  • Investigation of single pulse discharge on silicon: crater and plasma characteristics
  • Artificial neural network modelling and multi objective optimisation of hole drilling electro discharge micro machining of invar 
  • In-situ machining of varied-shaped and arrays of microelectrodes using reverse micro-electrodischarge machining
  • Mapping the material removal behaviour of micro deep hole drilling EDM process

Special issue: Materials selection and design

International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity 6(2-4) 2012
  • Additive manufacturing technology and material selection for direct manufacture of products based on computer aided design geometric feature analysis
  • Materials selection using COPRAS and COPRAS-G methods
  • Digital logic and knowledge-based system for the automotive piston material selection
  • Experimental and numerical investigation of grooves shape on the energy absorption of 6061-T6 aluminium tubes under axial compression
  • Turbine blade material selection using fuzzy analytic network process
  • Eco-material selection assisted with decision-making tools, guided by product's attributes; functionality and manufacturability
  • The effect of N-doping on the electronic structure of graphene nanoribbon
  • Material selection in biomedical applications: comparing the comprehensive VIKOR and goal programming models
  • Material selection for light-weight naval crafts using the modified digital logic method: dealing with ranking abnormalities
  • Selection of gear material using compromise ranking method
Additional Papers
  • Effect of temperature and voltage on LED luminaries reliability
  • Non-linear strain invariant failure approach for fibre reinforced composite materials
  • A new silicon nanowire arrays solar cell based on gradient optical gaps nanometre thin film
  • Numerical investigation on the thermal reliability and layout optimisation of printed circuit board level
  • Modelling and optimisation of PMSM-precision reducer system with Modelica

Special issue: Modern tools of industrial engineering: applications in decision sciences

International Journal of Applied Management Science 4(4) 2012
  • Towards a formalisation of the linguistic conditional preference networks
  • A fuzzy integrated approach for the selection of academic papers to a special issue
  • Multi-criteria governmental crop planning problem based on an integrated AHP-PROMETHEE approach 
  • Evaluating purchasing decisions via benefits of socially responsible purchasing
  • A robust fuzzy linear regression model for forecasting electricity consumption of residential sector in Iran
  • Performance measurement of a manufacturing company using fuzzy analytical network process
  • α-ordered linear resolution method for lattice-valued logic system based on lattice implication algebra

Special issue: Advances in sustainable supply chain management theory and practice

International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics 3(3) 2012
  • Green supply chain management: the development of supply chain carbon maps
  • Introducing the environmental profile of green supply chains to assess their environmental capability
  • Bi-objective-optimisation of an international transportation problem for CO2-efficient schedules
  • Sustainable supply chain management in the agricultural sector: a literature review
Additional Paper
  • Quantifying the relationship between geometric buildability factors and formwork productivity: the case of walls

Special issue: Management theory and practices in China

International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets 4(4) 2012
  • Job resources and employee engagement in a Chinese context: the mediating role of job meaningfulness, felt obligation and positive mood
  • Negotiating with the Malaysian Chinese: versatile partners for business expansion in Asia
  • Cosmopolitan cultural identities and management practice: challenges of Chinese returnees
  •  Changing consumer markets and marketing in China
  • Constructing evaluation criteria for China's integrated public finance performance auditing

Special issue: Entrepreneurs under pressure: the tensions and dark sides of entrepreneurial life

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing 4(4) 2012
  • The costs of entrepreneurship
  • Identifying sources of occupational stress in entrepreneurs for measurement
  • Entrepreneurs' health - the importance of psychosocial working conditions and individual factors
  • Corruption and the ethical context of country-level entrepreneurship
Additional Paper
  • Entrepreneurship policy as institutionalised and powerful myths

24 October 2012

First issue: International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy

The first international journal devoted entirely to fostering/understanding issues interconnecting diplomacy and economy, International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy  deals with topics such as economic diplomacy, commercial diplomacy, export promotion, diplomacy and globalisation, NGOs and diplomacy, and financial diplomacy and the IMF, WB, OECD.

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

Special issue: Integration of emotional and technological values in the design of pleasurable products and systems

International Journal of Product Development 16(3/4) 2012
  • Designing for to kalon: how the unity of beauty and good inspires interactive product design
  • A sound-based protocol to study product emotions
  • Assessing emotion in human-product interaction: an overview of available methods and a new approach
  • Remote assessment of intangible product experiences - challenges and implications
  • The role of surprise on persuasion in industrial design
Additional Papers
  • A development process for functional products: hardware, software, service support system and management of operation
  • Modelling and simulation of functional product system availability and support costs

Special issue: Tools for international business and entrepreneurship

Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development 6(3/4) 2012
  • Entrepreneurial orientation and organisational performance: the role of managerial traits
  • Stock market movement and macroeconomic influences: evidence from Saudi Arabia
  • Emerging market strategy development and implementation
  • Halal products: the views of Muslim consumers across Malaysia
  • Organisational justice, organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction: what is the relationship?
  • Impact of performance pay on enhanced employee performance: mediating role of work motivation and pay satisfaction

Special issue: Action learning for organisational practice

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 12(4) 2012
  • Complex problem solving through action learning: implications for human resource development
  • Action learning for developing nurses in South Korea
  • Action learning for middle manager development: the case of an Australian state-based large organisation
  • The pivotal and powerful role of the action learning coach
  • Socio-cultural mediated action in action learning for human resource management and human resource development

Special issue: Foresight and new trajectories

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy 8(4) 2012
  • Validity of foresight derived from the evaluation of past activities in Japan
  • A regional foresight process to cope with demographic change: future radar 2030 (Zukunftsradar 2030)
  • Anticipation of developments in industry sectors with future scenarios and creation of business models using a multi-stakeholder approach
  • Corporate foresight - a field report
Regular Papers
  • Impact of information technology industries on urban form: a case study of Indiranagar in Bangalore
  • Undergraduates' perception on causes, coping and outcomes of academic stress: its foresight implications to university administration

Special issue: Advanced challenges and research trends in cloud and grid interoperability

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering 7(4) 2012
  • Gaining the profits of cloud computing in a public authority environment
  • Data contracts for cloud-based data marketplaces
  • An architecture for enterprise PC cloud
  • Self-adaptive QoS-aware resource allocation and reservation management in virtualised environments
  • Task scheduling in budget-constrained cloud computing systems to maximise throughput
  • A DevOps framework to shorten delivery time for cloud applications
Submitted Paper
  • Vector median filter based on non-causal linear prediction for detection of impulse noise from images

Special issue: Transparent computing and services

International Journal of Cloud Computing 1(4) 2012
  • TransOS: a transparent computing-based operating system for the cloud
  • Transparent mobile service terminal: an overview
  • Analysis and a case study of transparent computing implementation with UEFI
  • SMILE: streaming management of applications and data for mobile terminals
  • Transparent services selecting and loading with wearable devices
  • A privacy protection model for transparent computing system

Special issue: Enterprise engineering

International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering 2(3) 2012

Papers from the ‘Enterprise Engineering’ track at an ACM Symposium on Applied Computin.
  • Process performance management - a systematic problem analysis and identification of design principles
  • Applying the principle of separation of concerns to business process design
  • Analysing the relations between strategic and operational aspects of an enterprise: towards an ontology-based approach
  • Evaluation of business applications
  • Designing consumer-aligned services using business value modelling

Special Issue: 13th International Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 14(1-4) 2012

The conference was held in Paris, France, 1-4 June 201.
  • A fluctuating plume model for pollutants dispersion with chemical reaction
  • Comparative investigation of Source Term Estimation algorithms using FUSION field trial 2007 data: linear regression analysis
  • Method for comparison of large eddy simulation generated wind fluctuations with short-range observations
  • Potential use of transport and dispersion model output to supplement Allied Tactical Publication-45 hazard area prediction templates
  • Particulate matter pollution simulations in complex terrain 
  • Effects of nocturnal thermal circulation and boundary layer structure on pollutant dispersion in complex terrain areas: a case study
  • Plans and programmes to improve air quality over Portugal: a numerical modelling approach
  • Model comparison in simulating the atmospheric dispersion of a pollutant plume in low wind conditions
  • Modelling concentration fluctuations for operational purposes
  • Traffic pollution modelling in a complex urban street
  • Hourly NOx concentrations and wind direction in the vicinity of a street intersection
  • Numerical experiments to determine MM5/WRF-CMAQ sensitivity to various PBL and land-surface schemes in north-eastern Spain: application to a case study in summer 2009
  • CAMxRunner: a modular framework for efficient chemical transport modelling
  • Screening technique to estimate high benzo[a]pyrene concentrations near roads
  • Environmental impact assessment of a new thermal power plant Å oÅ¡tanj Block 6 in highly complex terrain
  • Model evaluation of RIMPUFF within complex terrain using an 41Ar radiological dataset
  • Large eddy simulation modelling of the dispersion of radioactive particulate matter
  • Sensitivity analysis of a concentration fluctuation model to dissipation rate estimates
  • Source determination in congested environment through Bayesian inference
  • Modelling wet and dry depositions of PCDD/F releases from industrial plants in Apulia, Southern Ital
  • Air quality photochemical study over Amazonia Area, Brazil
  • Source reconstruction: a statistical mechanics perspectiv
  • Simulating building downwash of heavy metals by using virtual sources: methodology and results
  • The Austrian guideline for short scale dispersion modellin
  • Exploring the properties of local and non-local vertical diffusion schemes in the EMEP model using 222Rn data
  • Real-time management of odour on water treatment plant using a 3D simulation tool coupled to on-site sensors
  • Threshold velocity of pollination in urban area of the city of Brno
  • Near real-time monitoring of the April-May 2010 Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud: an example of a web-based, satellite data-driven, reporting system

Special issue: Internationalisation of SMEs

European Journal of International Management 6(5) 2012
  • International capital flows and small business development: evaluating the role of international remittances
  • Internet-enabled value co-creation in SME internationalisation: current practices from the UK food and drink industry
  • The Tunisian textile industry: local responses to internationalisation
  • Role of cooperation in the relationship between business internationalisation and international success
  • Born global networks: the role of connectors
  • Decision making in the European Union under risk and uncertainty

11 October 2012

Call for papers: Clean Energy for Vehicle Application

A special issue of International Journal of Powertrains

The impact of ground transportation on global warming, as well as the great economic potential associated with the worldwide “greening” of cars and light duty and heavy duty vehicles, are pushing car makers, researchers and governments to concentrate significant efforts on increasing the use of clean energy for vehicle propulsion

Despite the advancements in recent years at vehicle level design and integration of clean energy sources with either traditional or innovative powertrains, major technological and economical hurdles still need to be overcome at the component and key technological areas in order to promote sustainable growth and market penetration of “green” vehicles, including electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell hybrid, pneumatic hybrid, alternative fuel and solar hybrid applications

We are therefore launching a special issue on clean energy for vehicle application. The primary objective of the issue is to compile state of the art research and development efforts in design, optimisation, control, functional safety, diagnosis, prognosis and experimental testing of advanced power and propulsion subsystems for “green” powertrains.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Advanced energy storage systems
  • Onboard energy management of hybrid and multi-hybrid vehicles
  • Interaction between grid infrastructure and vehicle charging/refueling
  • Management of power grids and renewable energy resource interfacing
  • Battery management systems
  • Electric machine and drive systems
  • Propulsion system design and integration
  • Combustion and emission control
  • Hydrogen production, delivery and storage
  • Impact of greener vehicle technology on car makers' market policies
  • Impact of more sustainable mobility on regional and local transportation systems
Important Dates
Manuscript submission deadline: 31 December, 2012
Reviewers' reports and decisions: 28 February, 2013
Revised manuscript submission: 31 March, 2013

Special issue: Fractals, fractal-based methods and applications

International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation 3(4) 2012
  • Hanoi attractors and the SierpiÅ„ski gasket
  • Edge detection using fractal imaging 
  • Local complex dimensions of a fractal string
  • Stochastic shocks in a two-sector Solow model
  • Fitting NURBS using separable least squares techniques

Special issue: Computational intelligence and health technologies

International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications 8(5/6) 2012
  • Deriving margins in prostate cancer radiotherapy treatment: comparison of neural network and fuzzy logic models
  • Estimation of sleepiness using pupillary response and its frequency components
  • A texture analysis method for detection of clustered microcalcifications on digital mammograms 
  • Using acoustic sensors to discriminate between nasal and mouth breathing
  • Nonlinear modelling and control for heart rate response to exercis
  • An intelligent knowledge mining model for kidney cancer using rough set theory
  • Unsupervised feature selection in digital mammogram image using rough set theory
  • A mathematical model of the cardiovascular system under graded exercise levels

Special issue: Exploring clusters of high technology industries: a global perspective

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 9(4) 2012
  • Competencies, knowledge and capabilities based on natural resources in Southern Chile
  • The paradox of clusters in high-tech industries: unfolding the interactions black box
  • Georgia manufacturing industry: key factors of exchange of knowledge with external sources
  • Building capabilities to catch up with the biotechnological paradigm. Evidence from Argentina, Brazil and Chile agro-food systems
  • Beijing innovation system: the perspective of organisational structure and spatial distribution
  • University-industry interactions in biotechnology: implications for the development of a high-tech cluster
Additional Paper
  • Intellectual capital information gaps


10 October 2012

Autumn Highlights Newsletter


The Autumn issue of the Highlights newsletter has been distributed to the mailing list and can now be found on the Inderscience website.

Contents include
  • an article: Critical Accounting From Marx to Derrida to Briloff to Degos to Sy to Tinker to the Next Generation
  • Calls for papers arranged by subject groups
  • Conferences and other events with which Inderscience is associated
  • Articles from Inderscience journals featured in the scientific, business and national press
as well as news of journal developments, editor changes, etc.

Call for papers: Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies for Web Intelligence

A special issue of International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies

Web intelligence (WI) has been recognised as a new direction for scientific research and development to explore the fundamental roles as well as practical impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) (e.g. knowledge representation, planning, knowledge discovery and data mining, intelligent agents, social network intelligence) and advanced information technology (IT) (e.g. wireless networks, ubiquitous devices, social networks, semantic Web, wisdom Web, data/knowledge grids) in the next generation of Web-empowered products, systems, services and activities. It is one of the most important as well as promising IT research fields in the era of Web, agent intelligence and virtual communities.

The special issue aims at publishing recent, outstanding research results concerning Web intelligence and metadata, semantics and ontologies.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Workshop on Web Intelligence (WEBI 2012), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Metadata design and semantics
  • Quality of metadata
  • Evaluation and applications of metadata standards
  • Metadata annotation practices
  • Ontological and knowledge-based approaches to metadata
  • Ontologies and standard catalogues specific to business or professional domains
  • Semantic web and ontologies in library science and digital libraries
  • Metadata-based information retrieval and browsing
  • Organisational and social aspects of semantic web and related technologies
Important Dates
Submission deadline: 30 January, 2013
Notification of authors: 30 March, 2013
Final paper submission: 30 May, 2013

Call for papers: Advances in Secure and Trusted Cloud Computing and Distributed Data Storage

A special issue of International Journal of Intelligent Information and Database Systems

The explosion in interest towards cloud computing architectures is fuelled by tangible savings in power consumption, higher resource utilisation, and abstraction of platforms from technical infrastructure, scalability and business models of ‘computing as a utility’.

However, it is evident that our existing understanding of distributed computing is already tested by new and exciting use cases such as the private and secure use of public cloud resources.

The aim of this special issue is to explore emerging trends in secure, transparent use of cloud computing for business and research activities. Articles that explore theoretical and empirical research are appropriate, and industrial case studies contextualised in the research literature are particularly welcome.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Trusted cloud computing architecture
  • Trusted cloud computing operating systems
  • Trusted virtualisation technologies
  • Trusted cloud applications
  • Distributed trust mechanisms
  • Provenance mechanisms
  • Workflow provenance in cloud computing
  • Cloud security and privacy models
  • Security as a service
  • Provenance as a service
  • Encryption techniques
  • Authentication techniques
Important Dates
Submission of paper: 1 November, 2012
First round review reports and decision:  30 December, 2012
Second round of review reports and final decision: 30 January, 2013
Final paper deadline: 25 February, 2013

Call for papers: Ubiquitous Computing in Wireless Sensor Networks

A special issue of International Journal of Sensor Networks

Recent advances in microelectronics, low-power embedded modulators and wireless networking have led to the emergence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It is expected that sensor networks will open new vistas for many potential applications such as smart homes, health, surveillance, metering and industry automation. Such a prosperous future will include the provision of ubiquitous services with the help of wireless sensor networks; that is, it will provide users with adaptive and personalised services according to their surrounding context.

How to provide ubiquitous computing in wireless sensor networks is becoming a hot spot in the development of sensor networks. However, there are still some difficult challenges, both in theory and application, including those related to hardware design, network architecture, energy efficiency, and so on.

This special issue aims to explore the provision of ubiquitous services and recent developments in wireless sensor networks. It will provide an overview of underlying technologies and typical applications to help understand the key designs for future sensor networks. We welcome original research papers addressing topics such as service-providing, hardware design, energy efficiency protocols, quality-of-service support mechanisms, specific applications such as target tracking, reactive sensors, etc.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • User modelling for ubiquitous applications
  • Context modelling and reasoning
  • Wireless sensor actuator networks
  • Mobile wireless sensor networks
  • Re-tasking in wireless sensor networks
  • Mobile agent-based solutions in wireless sensor networks
  • Dynamic MAC and routing protocols in wireless sensor networks
  • Target tracking with various scenarios in wireless sensor networks
  • QoS support for data aggregation/fusion in wireless sensor networks
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 15 January, 2013
Acceptance/rejection notification: 15 March, 2013
Final manuscript due: 15 May, 2013

Call for papers: Horizontal Cooperation in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

A special issue of International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics

 To gain competitiveness, companies are looking beyond their borders for partnerships to increase the efficiency and sustainability of their supply chains. Potential partners are not only to be found upstream and downstream of the supply chain, but more and more companies are also collaborating with companies at the same level of the supply chain, sometimes even with competitors.

Some of these initiatives have been able to significantly increase service levels, while at the same time reducing costs and greenhouse gas emissions. However, many companies are hesitant to start cooperating. Finding a suitable partner is regarded as one of the most important hurdles. When a partner is found, companies find that it is difficult to estimate the benefits of cooperation beforehand. Moreover, it is hard to choose a method dividing these benefits that is regarded as fair by all partners. Research from diverse domains can assist in overcoming these hurdles.

The aim of this special issue is to publish papers in the broad area of horizontal collaboration in logistics and supply chain management. We especially welcome contributions that can aid the implementation of horizontal cooperation initiatives by removing some of their barriers.

This issue welcomes both theoretical contributions and empirical research based on, for example, market analysis, surveys, case studies, etc. Interdisciplinary research is also encouraged.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  •  Full estimation of costs and benefits related to horizontal cooperation
  •  Identification of different forms of cooperation through case studies
  •  Partner selection
  •  Cost allocation
  •  Transportation planning in horizontal cooperation
Important Dates
Paper submission: 15 February, 2013
Feedback to authors: 17 April, 2013
Submission of revised paper: 6 May, 2013

Special issue: Computational life science

International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 4(6) 2012

Includes papers from the 2011 International Symposium on Computational Models for Life Science (CMLS-11) held in Toyama City, Japan, 11-13 October 2011.
  • Breast tumour detection by flexible wearable antenna system
  • Wavelet thresholding technique for sEMG denoising by baseline estimation
  • A comparative study on particle swarm optimisation algorithms for economic dispatch with multiple fuels
  • Chaos of plethysmogram in relation to scalp-EEG: a model and experiments
Additional Paper
  • Computer application using low cost smart sensor

Special issue: Participation in online learning communities

International Journal of Web Based Communities 8(4) 2012
  • Design for co-moderation in online learning communities 
  • Distributed participation in blended learning communities: actors, contexts and groups
  • Online learning communities in context
  • Power structures in dialogues on the net: with group composition considered
  • From Humboldt to Bologna: using peer feedback to foster productive writing practices among online Master students
  • Exploring online learning for intersecting communities of practice
  • Participation in blended learning: settings and intersections of a master programme in healthcare
  • The process of disengaging from online learning community revealed through examination of threaded discussions
  • Supporting participation in online learning communities with awareness information

Special issue: Recent advances in opportunistic networking

International Journal of Satellite Communications Policy and Management 1(2/3) 2012
  • Mobility and delay in greedy geographic routing
  • Improving data delivery in opportunistic networks using probabilistic forwarding
  • DTN content sharing among commuters
  • Considering driver behaviour in vehicular delay tolerant networks
Additional Papers 
  • A deterministic multifunctional architecture for highly adaptive small satellites
  • Error-correcting codes for reliable communications in microgravity platforms
  • A protocol for a message system for the tiles of the heptagrid, in the hyperbolic plane
  • Flexibility study on telemetric vehicle emission examination

Special issue: Methods and applications to process large data for decision making

International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining 7(3) 2012

Papers from the 13th International Conferenceon Information Integration and Web-based Applications and Services (iiWAS2011), held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 5-7 December 2011.
  • Query-by-example approach towards on-demand multidimensional analysis
  • Extraction of relationship between web pages and files in access logs
  • Words-of-wisdom search system based on user's desired sentiment
  • Mining maritime schedules for analysing global shipping networks
  • Decision forest: an algorithm for classifying multivariate time series
  • Research history generation from metainformation of research papers using maximum margin clustering

7 October 2012

Call for papers: Contemporary Issues in Internet Marketing and Advertising

A special issue of International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising

The advent of new media and internet technologies has transformed the marketing paradigm from physical offerings to the virtual marketplace and has shifted attention from one-way communication to interactive and real-time relationships.

This special issue invites conceptual, empirical and methodological papers on the emerging changes in marketing and advertising theories, strategies and practices stimulated by the Internet and information technology applications, and their implications for associated processes, products and services.

Contributions that deal with related social, political, cultural and economic issues as well as emerging issues of interest to marketing academics and practitioners are especially welcome.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues (ICCMI) 2012, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Advertising in a multi-channel marketing environment
  • Multi-channel CRM
  • Customer behaviour and internet buying
  • Customer insight and the internet
  • Social media strategy or planning
  • Digital marketing strategy or planning
  • Internet word of mouth
  • Facebook advertising
  • Political advertising
  • Internet review sites
  • Advertising in mobile phone applications
  • Branding through mobile phone applications
Important Dates
Submission of papers: 15 March, 2013 (extended)
Notification of acceptance: 31 May, 2013

Call for papers: Research Methodology Education

A special issue of International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education

Although research methodology courses are cornerstone courses for high quality academic programmes worldwide, the lack of research in the area of ‘research methodology as a subject area’ is alarming.

Although high quality research on research methods is abundant, very little attention has been paid to (a) the inputs of research methods courses (e.g. student interests/characteristics, faculty qualifications), (b) the processes that take place in research methods courses, such as the instructional methods used in teaching research methods, and (c) the outcomes and impact of such courses.

Therefore, this important special issue will be instrumental in providing researchers, scholars, professors and other professionals with access to the latest knowledge related to research methodology education.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Student attitudes toward research
  • Perceptions of educational practitioners on the use and relevance of educational research and research methods courses
  • Research methodology education in higher education
  • Teaching and learning approaches in research methodology courses (e.g. online research methodology courses)
  • Research as a means for professional development
  • Impact of educational research courses on teaching/school practices
  • Mobilising research knowledge
Important Dates
Submission deadline: 1 June, 2013
Reviews due: 15 September, 2013
Revisions due: 30 October, 2013
Final notification: 15 December, 2013

Call for papers: Multi Criteria Decision Making and Goal Programming in Operations Management

A special issue of International Journals of Applied Decision Sciences

Operations management is a research area which focuses on creation and distribution of goods and services. In these contexts, multicriteria decision making and goal programming techniques can help the decision maker to take better decisions by considering trade-offs between conflicting criteria and his/her preferences. Original manuscripts which include theoretical studies, empirical investigations, comparisons and real-world applications are solicited for this special issue.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Distribution
  • Human resource management
  • Logistics
  • Operations planning
  • Operations control
  • Project management
  • Quality management
  • Technology management
  • Transportation
Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 31 March, 2013
Notification of acceptance: 31 May, 2013
Revised final manuscript submission: 30 June, 2013

Special issue: Brazil, Russia, India, China and co: myths and realities about the emerging countries

International Journal of Economics and Business Research 4(6) 2012
  • The role of international trade and financial integration in the development model of the BRIC economies
  • Financial market integration and financial crises: the case of big emerging market (BEM) economies
  • Direct and indirect impacts of governance on the value of Brazilian corporations
  • The challenges of fostering innovation: Russia's unstable progress
  • Active cost management in Argentinean banks: an empirical test of sticky cost
  • Steeling the 'developmental state'? The comparative political economy of industrial policy and state-business relations in the Chinese and Japanese steel industries
  • The contribution of financial liberalisation to rapid economic growth in China (1995-2005)
  •  Chinese interethnic marriage: passion or rational choice?

Special issue: Connecting the world wirelessly

International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems 5(4) 2012

Papers from the 5th International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Conference (IWCMC 2009) held in Leipzig, Germany, 21- 24 June 2009.
  • A novel adaptive FEC and bitrate control in home video transmission over wireless network
  • Dynamic allocation of spectrum resources in heterogeneous networks under interference constraints
  • HARQ performance modelling and evaluation of mobile WiMAX for network simulators
  • Dynamic power budget distribution schemes that optimise connection lifetimes in 
  • A novel congestion control strategy in DTN
  • An end-to-end QoS and security joint management for IPTV service deliveryExtending emergency services coverage in cooperative IMS networks

Special issue: Shifts in urban water governance paradigms

International Journal of Water 6(3/4) 2012
  • Introduction
  • Water service governance, technological change and paradigm shifts: a conceptual framework
  • Commercialisation and centralisation in the Ugandan and Zambian water sector
  • Why is Germany 30 years ahead of England?
  • Changing water governance in Ghana through decentralisatio
  • Integrated urban water governance in Belo Horizonte, Brazil: changes and inertias
  • Urban water management and planning: urban sanitation policies and an emerging institutional structure
  • Beijing, managing water for the eco city of the future
  • Climate change and farmers response in rural China
  • Researchers as actors in urban water governance? Perspectives on learning alliances as an innovative mechanism for change
  • Water governance and the importance of dynamic and adaptive management approaches

Special issue: Connections, emotions, empathy: how can we conceptualise and use affect and emotions in qualitative health research?

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion 5(2) 2012

Papers from a colloquium in qualitative healthcare, held at the University of East Anglia, UK  in May 2010.
  • Enhancing empathic skills in clinical practice: a linguistic approach
  • Affective landscapes in academia: emotional labour, vulnerability, and uncertainty in late-modern academic work
  • The affective turn and qualitative health research
Additional Papers
  • How do perpetrators experience bullying at the workplace?
  • Teaching and the transmutation of emotions
  • Blood, sweat and tears - shared bodily fluids, emotions and social identity in a Swedish military context

Special issue: International Conference-Cum-Workshop on Nanoscience and Technology II

International Journal of Nanotechnology 9(10-12) 2012

Papers from the Indo-French Workshop– cum-Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology held in Gurgaon, India, 12-16 October 2009.
  • Preparation and characterisation of 5-fluorouracil containing PLGA nanospheres coated with chitosan, for drug delivery
  • Curcumin loaded organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticle; a novel agent for cancer therapy
  • Augmentation of anti-tumour activity of cisplatin by pectin nano-conjugates in B-16 mouse model: pharmacokinetics and in-vivo biodistribution of radio-labelled, hydrophilic nano-conjugates
  • Selected examples in nano-sciences and nano-technologies at FEMTO-ST
  • Investigation of indium nitride for micro-nanotechnology
  • Temperature dependent morphological evolution of Rh nanopyramid
  • Nanoscience to nanotechnology to manufacturing transitio
  • Novel nanoplatform for oral delivery of anti-cancer biomacromolecule
  • Effect of Coulomb correlations on one-dimensional monatomic nanowire
  • Dynamic characterisation and mechanical properties of FIB grown nano pillars
  • In situ preparation of nanocomposites by surface treatment of titanium dioxide particles with a layered double hydroxide
  • Effect of various structure directing agents on the properties of nanostructured conducting polyaniline 
  • Ion erosion induced nanostructured semiconductor surfaces
  • Reduction of the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles for UV protection applications
  • Porous nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode and poly(N-methyl 4-vinylpyridine iodide): ionic liquid solid polymer electrolyte for device application
  • Enhancement in the thermomechanical properties of carbon fibre-carbon nanotubes-epoxy hybrid composites
  • Comparative studies of cobalt and nickel oxides synthesised using steady-state γ-radiolysis
  • Carbon nanotube-polyurethane nanocomposites for structural vibration damping


Special issue: Global warming perspectives and new solutions

International Journal of Global Warming 4(3/4) 2012

Papers from the 3rd Global Conference on Global Warming (GCGW-11) held in Lisbon,  Portugal, 10-14 July 2011.
  • The aerosol-cloud-climate conundrum 
  •  Climate change, in the framework of the Constructal Law
  • Heat waves in Central Europe (1991-2006)
  • Statistical approach to estimate the impact of climate change on daily ozone concentrations
  • Contribution of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere by diffuse degassing from volcanoes: The 
  • Heat as a by-product or sub-product of CO2 storage in mafic and ultramafic rocks
  • A projected turning point in China's CO2 emissions: an Environmental Kuznets Curve analysis
  • How to effectively protect the earth from global warming by means of advanced sunlight shield equipment
  • Reflecting on the challenges and barriers of performing climate change vulnerability assessments in Scotland
  • Cleantech Niche Development: a small business perspective on climate change
  • Impact of climate change on wine production: a global overview and regional assessment in the Douro Valley of Portugal
  • Environmental and energetic benefits derived from the anaerobic digestion of agroindustrial wastes

Special issue: Continuously innovating: the study of continuous innovation

International Journal of Technology Management 60(3/4) 2012
  • Continuously innovating the study of continuous innovation: from actionable knowledge to universal theory in continuous innovation research
  • The impact of ICT sourcing on ICT organisation, competences and continuous innovation
  • Dynamic capabilities and the evolution of knowledge management projects in SMEs
  • Modelling the inter-subjective level of innovation
  • Motivation for innovation in small enterprises
  • Continuous innovation through lean thinking in healthcare: the role of dynamic actor associations
Regular Paper
  • Managing parallel development towards technological transitions

4 October 2012

Media partner for 15th Annual European Supply Chain & Logistics Summit

Inderscience is a media partner for the 15th Annual European Supply Chain & Logistics Summit to be held in Berlin, 25-27 June 2012.

Journals involved are:
International Journal of Business Performance and Supply Chain Modelling
International Journal of Enterprise Network Management
International Journal of Integrated Supply Management
International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation
International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management
International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics
International Journal of Value Chain Management

Call for papers: Improving Healthcare Outcomes Through Health Informatics

A special issue of International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management

 Globally, health information technology (HIT) is utilised as an effective strategy to improve healthcare outcomes and patient care within large healthcare delivery systems. The importance of HIT was recognised in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) because of its value to the U.S. healthcare system.

 Health informatics, a rapidly evolving HIT-associated discipline, is becoming a premier healthcare construct in an era of evidence-based management. Although relatively new in practice, health informatics stresses innovative uses of information technology as well as patient and enterprise-wide observational data to improve healthcare outcomes.

 Unlike biomedical informatics, there is still no ubiquitous health informatics definition. Instead of limiting its scope, the emerging field embraces interdisciplinary and comprehensive concepts in almost all aspects of health services research and clinical practice. The U.S. National Library of Medicine uses a definition of health informatics as "the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management and planning."

 A broader definition might be that health informatics incorporates the design, optimisation, assessment and decision making of information systems that support research in health services, public health and clinical research, practice and policy. Electronic medical/health records, electronic tracking, computerised clinical decision support systems, computerised provider order entry, clinical alerts and reminder systems are all core technologies in health informatics research. In addition, modelling, mining, standardising, communicating and risk adjusting health and biomedical clinical research data to understand healthcare access, utilisation, efficiency, quality, safety and outcomes have all become integral parts of health informatics practices.

 Successful implementation of health informatics innovations depends not only on the buy-in from leadership and administration, but also on the support of clinicians and other healthcare providers. Their experience and practices are vital in assessing the potential value of informatics for all healthcare stakeholders. Patients and their caregivers are now sharing a mounting responsibility for managing their health and making decisions on their healthcare utilisations. Understanding the shared decision making between patients and their providers as well as between patients and caregivers is critical. This knowledge is essential in providing a means to enhance a patient’s ability to self-manage their functionality and quality of life while augmenting the providers’ strategies to reduce unnecessary re-hospitalisation and emergency room visits.

 Despite growing interest in the new field, an innovative demonstration of the association between health informatics and health outcomes is lacking. The aim of this special issue is to encourage researchers to exhibit the innovation necessary to clearly expose the value of health informatics as part of the healthcare delivery system and patient-centred care. We seek outstanding studies that generate important empirical findings on the association between health informatics use and resultant health outcomes that will advance the field of health informatics.

 Criteria for the selection of original research manuscript will include:
  1.  Innovative use of health informatics technologies.
  2.  Contribution to health outcome research and practice
  3.  Generalisability of the findings to a broader area.
  4.  Clarity of writing and presentation.
 Topics include but are not limited to:
  •  Design, optimisation, assessment and decision making of information systems
  •  Electronic medical/health records, electronic tracking, computerised clinical decision support systems, computerised provider order entry, clinical alerts and reminder systems
  •  Modelling, mining, standardising, communicating and risk adjusting health and biomedical clinical research data to understand healthcare access, utilisation, efficiency, quality, safety and outcomes
Important Dates
Deadline for receipt of manuscripts: 15 February, 2013
First round decision for manuscripts: 15 May, 2013