The Importance of Refereed Publications to Research and Education: A Personal Experience

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The Importance of Refereed Publications to
Research and Education A Personal Experience

• Presentation at the Consortium on
• Core Electronic Resources in Taiwan (CONCERT)
• James M. Tien, Ph.D., NAE
• Yamada Corporation Professor
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• November 16, 2006

2
Outline

• About My Career
• About Publications
• About My Research
• About Taiwan
• Concluding Remarks

3
About My Career Education

• 9/62-6/66 B.E.E., Electrical Engineering,
  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
• 9/66-9/67 S.M., Electrical Systems Engineering,
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 9/69-6/70 E.E., Electrical Systems Engineering,
  MIT
• 9/70-6/72 Ph.D., Systems Engineering Operations
  Research, MIT
• From An Electrical Engineer To A Systems Engineer
  To An Information and Decision Systems Engineer
  Publications Have Served As A Resource and As A
  Repository For Educational Projects and Theses

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About My Career Industrial

• 6/66-9/69 Member of Technical Staff, Bell
  Telephone Laboratories (6/66-9/67, Bell Labs
  Fellow 9/67-9/69, Full-Time)
• 6/70-9/73 Researcher/Project Director, The Rand
  Corporation (6/70-6/72, Consultant 6/72-9/73,
  Full-Time)
• 9/73-3/75 Senior Scientist/Area Director, Urban
  Systems Research Engineering
• 3/75-Pres Vice President and Principal,
  Structured Decisions Corporation
• Building On Content of Existing Publications,
  Authored Or Co-Authored At Least One Paper Per
  Major Project

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About My Career Academic

• 9/69-6/72 Teaching Assistant/Instructor, MIT
• 9/73-6/77 Visiting Lecturer (Part-Time), MIT
• 7/77-6/81 Associate Professor, Electrical
  Computer Systems Engineering (ECSE), RPI
• 7/81-6/87 Associate Professor (with Tenure),
  ECSE, RPI
• 9/86-8/87 Acting Department Head, ECSE, RPI
• 7/87-Pres. Professor, ECSE, RPI
• 7/88-Pres. Professor and Chair, Decision Sciences
  Engineering Systems (DSES), RPI
• 8/92-6/94 Acting Dean, School of Engineering, RPI
• 4/98-10/99 Acting Dean, School of Engineering,
  RPI
• 11/02-Pres. Yamada Corporation Professor
• Building On Content of Existing Publications,
  Authored Or Co-Authored At Least Four Papers Per
  Year

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About My Career VolunteerIn Professional
Organizations, Esp. IEEE (In Red)
Members (1966 Present)
Board of Directors (2001 2004)
ExCom (2001 2004) Other Committees(1990
Present)
Executive Director Staff
Publication(1987 Present)
Technical(1983 Present)
Educational(2003 Present)
Regional(1986 Present)
StandardsAssociation
IEEE-USA(1989 Present)
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About My Career Publications Impact

• 1991 Fellow, IEEE
• 1993 American Society for Engineering Education
  Centennial Award
• 1998 IEEE/SMC Joseph G. Wohl Outstanding Career
  Award
• 2000 IEEE Third Millennium Medal
• 2000 IEEE Major Educational Innovation Award
• 2001 Elected to US National Academy of
  Engineering
• 2002 Fellow, Institute for Operations Research
  and Management Science
• 2002 Yamada Corporation Professor, RPI
• 2004 Fellow, American Association for the
  Advancement of Science
• 2004 IEEE Norbert Wiener Award
• 2005 IBM Faculty Award
• 2 Edited Books, 121 Refereed Publications, 124
  Other Articles/Editorials (Especially in IEEE
  Publication Venues) Have Contributed
  Significantly to My Above Recognitions

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About Publications From Data To Wisdom
DATA
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE
WISDOM
Operational
Tactical
Strategic
Systemic
Publications Process Data Into Information/Knowled
ge/Wisdom

• Data Basic observation measurements,
  transactions, etc.
• Information Processed data derivations,
  groupings, patterns, etc.
• Knowledge Processed information plus
  experiences, beliefs, values, culture explicit,
  tacit/conscious, unconscious.
• Wisdom Processed knowledge plus insight and
  assessment over time and space theories, etc.
• TODAY We Are In A Data Rich, Information Poor
  (DRIP) Not Knowledge Economy
• NOTE Google Searches Yield Data Publications
  Yield Information/Knowledge/Wisdom

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About Publications From Text To Multimedia

• Conference Proceedings
• Journals/Transactions
• Monographs/Books
• Standards
• Electronic Library
• Multimedia Educational Courses

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About Publications IEEE Expert Now Course Modules

• Consistent Graphical User Interface
• Template-Driven Course Design
• Links to External Resources
• Consistent Look Feel
• Engaging, Interactive Animations
• Offers Prestigious IEEE Continuing Education
  Units (CEUs)
• Professional Engineers, Faculty and Students Need
  To Update Their Knowledge Through Educational
  Modules

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About Publications IEEE Xplore Platform

• More than 1.2 million articles
• Over 5 million downloads a month

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About Publications Impacts

• Publisher Impacts
• Commercial (Increasingly Employ Paid Reviewers)
• Professional Organizations (Employ Volunteer
  Reviewers)
• Company or Self-Publishing (None To Extensive
  Reviews)
• Research Impacts Publications Inform Research
  In Turn, Published Findings Add To Research
  Knowledge
• Educational Impacts Publications Inform
  Education In Turn, Published Research Findings
  Add To Educational Knowledge
• Other Impacts Promotions/Tenures, Research
  Funding, Awards, Patents, Graduate
  Student/Post-Doc Applications

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About Publications IEEE Scope

• National Academy of Engineerings top 20
  engineering achievements in the 20th Century
• Electrification 11. Highways
• Automobile 12. Spacecraft
• Airplane 13. Internet
• Water Supply and Distribution 14. Imaging
• Electronics 15. Household Appliances
• Radio and Television 16. Health Technologies
• Agricultural Mechanization 17. Petroleum and
  Petrochemical
• Computers 18. Laser and Fiber Optics
• Telephone 19. Nuclear Technologies
• Air Conditioning/Refrigeration 20. High-Performan
  ce Materials
• 13 of Top 20 Achievements Within IEEE
  Scope!
• Possible additional achievements in the early
  21st Century
• 21. Information Technology
• 22. Nanotechnology (Nanomaterials,
  Nanotubes, Nanoelectronics)
• 23.Technobiology (Bioinformatics, DNA Chips,
  Body Parts)
• All 3 Additional Achievements Also Within
  IEEE Scope!

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About Publications Peer Review

• Background Peer Review Began With 1665s
  Publication of Philosophical Transactions of the
  Royal Society
• Purpose (Based On Personal Experience As An IEEE
  Editor And Reviewer From 1977 To Present)
• Provide Feedback to Authors
• Improve Manuscript
• Ensure Quality, Relevance and Timeliness
• Avoid Misconduct (Plagiarism, Falsification,
  Fabrication, Duplication)
• Assess Readerships Interest in Manuscript
• Process
• Open (Authors/Reviewers Known To Each Other)
  Versus Closed (Anonymous Reviewers or Double
  Blind Reviews)
• Paid Versus Unpaid Reviewer
• While Not Perfect, Peer Review Remains The Most
  Successful Approach And Has Withstood The Test of
  Time

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About Publications Electronic Review

• For Open-Access Journals (E.G., 60 Titles in
  BioMed Central), Possible 2-Step Peer Review
• 1. Reviewing Open Peer Community Blog Type
  Discussion
• 2. Refereeing Anonymous Expert Review of Revised
  Submission
• Possible Continuous Review/Comments Following
  Publication Problem Is To Identify
  Definitive/Archival Version
• Possible Automated Assessment of Journal Quality,
  Based On
• Submission Rate
• Publication Rate
• Citation Rate
• Access Or Usage Rate
• Time Between Submission and Publication
• Journal Impact Factor
• While Helpful in Some Respects (E. G., Plagiarism
  Detection), Electronic Review May Facilitate
  Other Inappropriate Actions (E. G., Easy
  Saving/Accessing Unpublished But Reviewed
  Manuscript)

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About Publications Impact Measures

• Journal Impact Factor
• Based on Journal Citation Report (JCR), a product
  of Thomsons Institute for Scientific Information
  (ISI)
• It provides a means for ranking, evaluating,
  categorizing, and comparing journals
• It measures the frequency with which the "average
  article" in a journal has been cited in a
  particular year or period
• Annual Researcher Productivity Is Sometimes
• Based On Article Citation
• Weighted By Journal Impact Factor
• Normalized By Number of Authors
• Problem With Above Researcher Productivity
  Measure
• Article Citation Is Oblivious About Who, Why and
  How
• Journal Impact Factor Is Highly Variable From
  Year-to-Year
• It Emphasizes Short Term Productivity And
  Frequent Publications
• It Discourages Collaborative Efforts And
  Multiply-Authored Publications
• Although Helpful in Several Respects,
  Publication-Based Measures Of Researcher
  Productivity Should Be Employed With Caution A
  Multi-Criteria Approach Would Be More Appropriate
  And Valid

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About My Research From Agriculture To Services

• Stages in A
  Nations Economic Development
• Characteristics Mechanical Electrical Informati
  on
• Economic Focus Agriculture Manufacturing Service
  s
• Mining Construction
• Underlying Mechanical Electromechanical Info
  rmation/
• Technology Tools Machines
  Communication
• Productivity Focus Farming Factory Knowledge
• Human Power Muscle Muscle/Brain Brain
• Living Standard Subsistence Quality of
  Goods Quality of Life
• Impact Scope Family Nation World
• Onset in U.S. Late 1700s Late 1800s Late 1900s

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About My Research U. S. Employment, 2004
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• About My Research Services Versus Manufacturing

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About My Research From Traditional To Electronic
Services

• Commerce In Services
• Issue Traditional Electronic
• Co-Production Medium Physical Electronic
• Availability Working Hours Anytime
• Access Specific Location Anywhere
• Market Area Regional Worldwide
• Labor Requirement High Low
• Inventory Requirement High Low
• Self-Service Requirement Low High
• Transaction Speed
• Requirement Low High
• Computing Requirement Low High

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About My Research From Steady State To Real-Time
Towards Decision Informatics
Multiple Data Sources
Real-Time Decision
Abstracted Information
MODELING
FUSION/ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

• Disciplinary Core 1) Data Fusion/Analysis 2)
  Decision Modeling 3) Systems Engineering
• Applications Core 4) Global Services 5) Global
  Manufacturing.
• Decision Informatics A problem solving paradigm
  that is decision-driven, information-based,
  real-time, human-centered, and computationally-int
  ensive especially relevant for electronic
  services

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About My Research Degrees of Customization

• Customization Meeting the needs of a customer
  market that is partitioned into an appropriate
  number of segments, each with similar needs,
  e.g., Amazon.coms book recommendations
• Mass Customization Meeting the needs of a
  segmented customer market, with each segment
  being a single individual, e.g., tailor who
  delivers a uniquely fitted jacket
• Real-Time Mass Customization Meeting the needs
  of an individualized customer market on a
  real-time basis, e.g., tailor who delivers a
  uniquely fitted jacket within a reasonable period
  while the individual is waiting

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About My Research Back To The Future
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About My Research An Insightful Research Matrix
For Both Services And Manufacturing
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Guidelines and Action Plans for Service Industry
Development Create value added and heighten
employment effectthrough Service, Market,
Inno-Value, Life, Employment (SMILE)
About Taiwan Initiative In Services

• Council for Economic Planning and Development
  Executive Yuan, R.O.C.
• Approved by the 2914th Cabinet Meeting
• of the Executive Yuan on Nov.10, 2004

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About Taiwan A Leader In Services

• Country Agriculture Other Goods
  Services
• Australia 4 21 75
• China 49 22 29
• India 60 17 23
• Indonesia 46 12 42
• Japan 5 28 67
• Malaysia 15 36 49
• Philippines 36 16 48
• Russia 10 22 68
• Taiwan 6 36 58
• Thailand 49 14 37
• USA 2 16 82
• WORLD 42 21 37
• Source World Factbook, 2004

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About Taiwan Supporting IEEE Publications

• Optics
• Power
• Remote Sensing
• Optics
• Radiology
• Security
• Services
• Software
• Standards
• System of Systems
• Transportation
• Wireless

• Aerospace
• Biomedical Engineering
• Circuits
• Communications
• Computing
• Electronic Commerce
• Energy
• Electrical Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Information Technology
• Manufacturing
• Nanotechnology
• Nuclear Science

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About Taiwan IEEE Xplore Usage
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About Taiwan Potential Patent-Related Sources
(Based On Top 25 Companies in 2005)
IEEE is 1st!
Source 1790 Analytics 2005
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Concluding Remarks

• Publications Have Certainly Enabled, If Not
  Ensured, The Success Of My Career In Industry,
  Academia and As A Volunteer
• Publications Represent
• Processed Data Resulting in Information
• Processed Information Resulting in Knowledge
• Processed Knowledge Resulting in Wisdom
• Publications Require Peer Review To Ensure Their
  Quality, Relevance and Timeliness
• Publications Are Critical To Both Research and
  Education, As A Resource and As A Repository of
  New Information, Knowledge and/or Wisdom
• Technical Publications (Especially From The IEEE)
  Have Underpinned Taiwans Miracle Economy, From
  Chip Foundries To Electronic Commerce