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1. Is Self-Citation Biased? An Investigation via the Lens of Citation Polarity, Density, and Location

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-018-9889-9  

   Zhou, Lina; Amadi, Uchechukwuka; Zhang, Dongsong (December 2018, Information Systems Frontiers)

   Traditional citation analysis methods have been criticized because their theoretical base of statistical counts does not reflect the motive or judgment of citing authors. In particular, self-citations may give undue credits to a cited article or mislead scientific development. This research aims to answer the question of whether self-citation is biased by probing into the motives and context of citations. It takes an integrated and fine-grained view of self-citations by examining them via multiple lenses—polarity, density, and location of citations. In addition, it explores potential moderating effects of citation level and associations among location contexts of citations to the same references for the first time. We analyzed academic publications across different topics and disciplines using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results provide evidence that self-citations are free of bias in terms of citation density and polarity uncertainty, but they can be biased with respect to positivity and negativity of citations. Furthermore, this study reveals impacts of self-citing behavior on some citation patterns involving citation density, location concentration, and associations. The examination of self-citing behavior from those new perspectives shed new lights on the nature and function of self-citing behavior. 

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2. Language measures correlate with other measures used to study emotion

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00212-x  

   Munin, Shaina; Ong, Desmond_C; Okland, Sydney; Freedman, Gili; Beer, Jennifer_S (February 2025, Communications Psychology)

   Abstract Researchers are increasingly using language measures to study emotion, yet less is known about whether language relates to other measures often used to study emotion. Building on previous work which focuses on associations between language and self-report, we test associations between language and a broader range of measures (self-report, observer report, facial cues, vocal cues). Furthermore, we examine associations across different dictionaries (LIWC-22, NRC, Lexical Suite, ANEW, VADER) used to estimate valence (i.e., positive versus negative emotion) or discrete emotions (i.e., anger, fear, sadness) in language. Associations were tested in three large, multimodal datasets (Ns = 193–1856; average word count = 316.7–2782.8). Language consistently related to observer report and consistently related to self-report in two of the three datasets. Statistically significant associations between language and facial cues emerged for language measures of valence but not for language measures of discrete emotions. Language did not consistently show significant associations with vocal cues. Results did not tend to significantly vary across dictionaries. The current research suggests that language measures (in particular, language measures of valence) are correlated with a range of other measures used to study emotion. Therefore, researchers may wish to use language to study emotion when other measures are unavailable or impractical for their research question. 

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3. Interdisciplinary Research and STEM-focused Social Science Curriculum Support Retention and Impact Perception of Science in Cohort of S-STEM Scholarship Students

   Aizenman, Jennifer; Kling, Thomas; Ramsey, Laura; Solomon, Jibril; King, Colby; Waratuke, Stephen; Womack, Catherine (March 2022, Journal of STEM Education)

   A curricular approach to supporting low-income STEM Scholars is outlined and initial associations with retention, social and cultural capital, perception of science, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations are examined. Details are provided for the curricular support program based on interdisciplinary research, service learning, and an explicit examination of the interpretation of science based on culture and social location. We show that Scholars had increased retention and graduation within STEM majors compared to a control group. Further, Scholars self-report in surveys and interviews increased social and cultural capital, motivation, and related outcomes that they attribute to the interdisciplinary coursework that comprises the bulk of the program. 

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4. Discrimination and Subsequent Mental Health, Substance Use, and Well-being in Young Adults

   https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-051378  

   Lei, Yvonne; Shah, Vivek; Biely, Christopher; Jackson, Nicholas; Dudovitz, Rebecca; Barnert, Elizabeth; Hotez, Emily; Guerrero, Alma; Bui, Anthony L.; Sastry, Narayan; et al (December 2021, Pediatrics)

   OBJECTIVES Discrimination has been shown to have profound negative effects on mental and behavioral health and may influence these outcomes early in adulthood. We aimed to examine short-term, long-term, and cumulative associations between different types of interpersonal discrimination (eg, racism, sexism, ageism, and physical appearance discrimination) and mental health, substance use, and well-being for young adults in a longitudinal nationally representative US sample. METHODS We used data from 6 waves of the Transition to Adulthood Supplement (2007–2017, 1834 participants) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Outcome variables included self-reported health, drug use, binge drinking, mental illness diagnosis, Languishing and Flourishing score, and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale score. We used logistic regression with cluster-robust variance estimation to test cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between discrimination frequency (overall, cumulative, and by different reason) and outcomes, controlling for sociodemographics. RESULTS Increased discrimination frequency was associated with higher prevalence of languishing (relative risk [RR] 1.34 [95% CI 1.2–1.4]), psychological distress (RR 2.03 [95% CI 1.7–2.4]), mental illness diagnosis (RR 1.26 [95% CI 1.1–1.4]), drug use (RR 1.24 [95% CI 1.2–1.3]), and poor self-reported health (RR 1.26 [95% CI 1.1–1.4]) in the same wave. Associations persisted 2 to 6 years after exposure to discrimination. Similar associations were found with cumulative high-frequency discrimination and with each discrimination subcategory in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. CONCLUSIONS In this nationally representative longitudinal sample, current and past discrimination had pervasive adverse associations with mental health, substance use, and well-being in young adults. 

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5. Water accelerated self-healing of hydrophobic copolymers

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19405-5  

   Davydovich, Dmitriy; Urban, Marek W. (December 2020, Nature Communications)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Previous studies have shown that copolymer compositions can significantly impact self-healing properties. This was accomplished by enhancement of van der Waals (vdW) forces which facilitate self-healing in relatively narrow copolymer compositional range. In this work we report the acceleration of self-healing in alternating/random hydrophobic acrylic-based copolymers in the presence of confined water molecules. Under these conditions competing vdW interactions do not allow H 2 O-diester H-bonding, thus forcing nBA side groups to adapt L-shape conformations, generating stronger dipole-dipole interactions resulting in shorter inter-chain distances compared to ‘key-and-lock’ associations without water. The perturbation of vdW forces upon mechanical damage in the presence of controllable amount of confined water is energetically unfavorable leading the enhancement of self-healing efficiency of hydrophobic copolymers by a factor of three. The concept may be applicable to other self-healing mechanisms involving reversible covalent bonding, supramolecular chemistry, or polymers with phase-separated morphologies. 

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