Volume 25, Issue 2

Objective. Scientists are afflicted by what has been anecdotally referred to as the phenomenon of “Least Publishable Unit” (LPU). This project is an effort at empirical analysis of the phenomenon.
Method. Three months of the journals JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine were analyzed to identify work that has been funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Next, the database Medline was searched to discover the total number of publications by each researcher and the publications that acknowledge the single specified funding source (the grant mentioned in the journals).
Results. Biomedical researchers who published in JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine were found to have a substantial number of publications from 2010 through 2013. Those publications are indicative of a huge literature that has to be searched in order to find work relevant to information seekers’ needs. Moreover, each researcher has several publications stemming from work funded by a single NIH grant.
Contribution. The implications of this research for libraries are primarily the explosion of content and the potential duplication of publications.

Background. Twitter is widely used as a communication medium, and an electronic word-of-mouth. A literature search found no previous empirical study of microblogging platforms as “places”, and how they are used for professional communication and networking.
Objectives. This study aimed to understand information technology (IT) professionals’ information behaviour in microblogging on Twitter.
Methods. The data were collected using online observation and interviews, and analysed using constructivist grounded theory.
Results. Twitter is used by IT professionals mainly for professional networking, professional work and professional development. The data highlighted the inter-relatedness of information-sharing and professional networking. Information acts as a trigger to create human networks, as information sharing and information encountering lead to serendipitous discovery of useful IT experts. Twitter is an information ground (Fisher, 2005) where IT professionals encounter not only information but also experts and even work and project opportunities. The more IT professionals share information that is related to his or her expertise, the greater the chance to be noticed and acknowledged as an IT expert.
Significance. The study has shed some light on how Twitter is used for professional networking in a strategic manner to advance professional goals. The findings can assist organisations to better understand and provide for this emerging channel of professional information-sharing for their staff and stakeholders.

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate whether employees’ perception of the knowledge-sharing culture in an organization varies with demographic characteristics, and whether there are interaction effects between different demographic characteristics.
Methods. The survey method was used. Questionnaires were distributed to 500 employees in 75 randomly selected companies in Kuwait; 386 valid responses were collected and analyzed.
Results. The results revealed that perception of knowledge sharing culture in these organizations was related to age, experience, position, and sector of employment (public versus private). Position had a positive and direct effect on the perception of knowledge sharing culture. There was interaction between education and gender, sector and gender, and education and sector in their effect on perception of knowledge sharing culture.
Contributions. The results of the study would contribute to decision-making and policy formulation aimed at fostering knowledge sharing in organizations.