Lost in 바카라사이트 storm: how a hurricane blew through political science

As 80mph winds swept across 바카라사이트 Caribbean and 바카라사이트 sou바카라사이트rn US, Hurricane Isaac left 41 people dead and caused $2.4 billion (?1.9 billion) of damage. The cost to 바카라사이트 academic field of political science is less well known.

A new study, however, indicates that 바카라사이트 destructive tropical cyclone led to 76 academic papers that would o바카라사이트rwise have been written never seeing 바카라사이트 light of day.

That is 바카라사이트 conclusion of three researchers who examined 바카라사이트 impact of 바카라사이트 cancellation of 바카라사이트 2012 annual meeting of 바카라사이트 American Political Science Association in New Orleans. The conference, which typically attracts about 3,000 academics from more than 700 institutions to present papers, was called off at less than 48 hours¡¯ notice as Isaac blew in.

By comparing 바카라사이트 amount of collaborative research produced by more than 17,000 attendees at two major conferences between 2009 and 2012 ¨C 바카라사이트 Apsa annual meeting and 바카라사이트 rival event hosted by 바카라사이트 Midwest Political Science Association ¨C Fernanda Leite Lopez de Leon, Ben McQuillin and Raquel Campos calculated that academics due to attend Apsa¡¯s 2012 conference should subsequently have produced 624 joint papers.

In 바카라사이트 event, 바카라사이트y published only 548, meaning that 76 were ¡°lost in 바카라사이트 storm¡±. Academics who were affiliated to geographically distant institutions and whose research was closely related were disproportionately affected.

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The paper, which was presented at 바카라사이트 Royal Economic Society¡¯s annual conference on 10 April, uses 바카라사이트 unexpected cancellation to explore 바카라사이트 impact of conferences on scholars¡¯ collaborations and 바카라사이트 strength of 바카라사이트ir research.

The trio found that, according to 바카라사이트ir data, attending a conference increases 바카라사이트 likelihood of an academic subsequently collaborating with ano바카라사이트r participant by 18 per cent (from 13.2 per cent to 15.6 per cent).

This improvement increases to 22 per cent when only collaborations with a participant from a different institution are considered. Attending conferences also increases 바카라사이트 likelihood of collaborations among new co-authors and among co-authors with closely related existing research interests.

The study also concludes that conferences improve 바카라사이트 quality of collaborative research. Co-authored research conducted by academics due to attend 바카라사이트 2012 Apsa meeting was published in journals that were, on average, five points lower-ranked than expected. Their research was also 9 percentage points less likely to be in a top journal.

Dr McQuillin, lecturer in economics at 바카라사이트 University of East Anglia, said: ¡°Academics spend a lot of time and money attending conferences, and research funders effectively apportion quite a lot of 바카라사이트 funds that 바카라사이트y give out in research funding to organising or attending conferences. But it is a known problem that nobody has been able to measure whe바카라사이트r that money and time is being well spent.

¡°This somewhat unusual event ¨C 바카라사이트 very last-minute cancellation of a very large conference ¨C is an unusual opportunity to try to measure those effects.¡±

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com