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The paper seeks to introduce the “critical open access literacy” construct as a holistic approach to confront the challenges in open access (OA) as a dimension of scholarly communication.

The paper first introduces the concepts of information literacy (IL) and OA in the context of transformations in the scholarly information environment. Via a theoretical-analytical exercise on the basis of a literature review of the intersections between the two concepts and of the criticisms of OA, the paper discusses the role of critical IL in addressing the challenges in OA and lays the theoretical-conceptual groundwork for the critical OA literacy construct.

The structural nature of the challenges and transformations in the scholarly information environment require new foci and pedagogical practices in library and information studies. A more holistic, critical and integrative approach to OA is warranted, which could effectively be achieved through the re-conceptualization of IL.

The paper specifies the avenues for putting the theoretical conceptualizations of critical OA literacy into practice by identifying possible foci for IL instruction alongside a transformed role for librarians.

The paper extends deliberations on the role of critical IL for scholarly communication and attempts to advance the research fields of the two domains by proposing a new construct situated at the junction of OA and IL.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and risk-taking in Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020. It seeks to understand the influence of CER on risk-taking behavior and explore potential moderating factors.

A quantitative approach is used, using data from Chinese A-share listed companies over the specified period. Regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between CER and risk-taking, while considering moderating variables such as performance aspiration, environmental enrichment and contextual factors.

The findings indicate that CER positively influences corporate risk-taking, with significant impacts on information asymmetry and corporate reputation. Moreover, positive performance aspiration strengthens the effect of CER on risk-taking, while negative performance aspiration and environmental enrichment weaken this effect. Cross-sectional analysis shows that the positive association between CER and risk-taking is more prominent for firms located in areas with strict environmental regulation, for nonstate-owned firms, and for firms with higher levels of internal control.

This research contributes to the literature by providing insights into the dynamics between CER and risk-taking in the Chinese market context. It expands existing knowledge by considering the influence of performance aspiration on this relationship, offering practical implications for firms seeking to enhance corporate performance through strategic management of environmental responsibilities.

Compared to traditional (domestic) e-commerce consumers, cross-border electronic commerce (CBEC) consumers may face greater information asymmetry in the CBEC purchase process. Given this background, however, the literature has paid limited attention to the informational antecedents that influence consumers' perceptions of transaction costs and their CBEC purchase intentions. To fill this gap, this study integrates the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and transaction cost theory (TCT) to develop a model for exploring how product (website informativeness, product diagnosticity and website interactivity as the central route) and external (country brand, website policy and vendor reputation as the peripheral route) informational antecedents affect consumers’ evaluations of transaction costs in terms of uncertainty and asset specificity and their CBEC purchase intentions.

This study employs a survey approach to validate the model with 766 Generation Z CBEC consumers based on judgment sampling. The partial least squares (PLS) technique is adopted for data analysis.

The results show that all the proposed central and peripheral informational antecedents reduce consumers’ perceptions of uncertainty and asset specificity, which in turn negatively influences their CBEC purchase intentions.

Through this investigation, this study increases our understanding of how product and external informational antecedents affect consumers’ evaluations of transaction costs, which subsequently determine their CBEC purchase decisions. This study offers theoretical contributions to existing CBEC research and has practical implications for CBEC organizations and managers.

This study aims to use geographical information on social media for public opinion risk identification during a crisis.

This study constructs a double-layer network that associates the online public opinion with geographical information. In the double-layer network, Gaussian process regression is used to train the prediction model for geographical locations. Second, cross-space information flow is described using local government data availability and regional internet development indicators. Finally, the structural characteristics and information flow of the double-layer network are explored to capture public opinion risks in a fine-grained manner. This study used the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak for validation analyses, and it collected more than 90,000 pieces of public opinion data from microblogs.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, the double-layer network exhibited a radiating state, and the information dissemination was more dependent on the nodes with higher in-degree. Moreover, the double-layer network structure showed geographical differences. The risk contagion was more significant in areas where information flow was prominent, but the influence of nodes was reduced.

Public opinion risk identification that incorporates geographical scenarios contributes to enhanced situational awareness. This study not only effectively extends geographical information on social media, but also provides valuable insights for accurately responding to public opinion.

This paper explores the information needs and behaviors of undergraduate engineers.

The paper reports on a qualitative study employing semi-structured interviews with 18 students.

The study identified the types of information needs undergraduate engineers encounter while working on problem solving tasks and the strategies they use to resolve these needs. The findings reveal that students often encounter difficulties due to a lack of procedural knowledge rather than conceptual gaps or misunderstandings. Students look for step-by-step solutions to address their information needs and become more efficient problem-solvers. However, most instructors do not provide answers or solutions, leaving students uncertain about their progress and unable to correct their mistakes. Consequently, students seek information from their peers, including step-by-step solutions and access to previous course materials. They use file-sharing and instant messaging platforms like Google Drive and Facebook Messenger as covert means of seeking help, sharing solutions and engaging in coursework-related discussions.

The findings enrich the theory of information needs by delineating between conceptual and procedural information needs. These findings also underscore the significant role that classmates and friends play as sources of information. The study offers implications for conceptual development of information needs, and for instructors to provide solutions and support sharing between peers on official platforms.

This study aims to examine the impact of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) mandate and differences in national institutional quality on the underpricing of Initial Public Offering (IPO) companies.

Multiple Difference-in-Differences (DiD) ordinary least squares estimations were conducted for 100 corporations listed on the Saudi Arabian stock market using country-level institutional quality data from 2005 to 2017.

IFRS requirements and improvements in institutional quality have a combined effect on minimizing IPO underpricing. The analysis of the combined impact of IFRS requirements and differences in transparency revealed that IPO vendors leave $5 on average for IPO investors to cash out post the IFRS mandate, compared to $29 previously. Thus, IFRS serves as a quality certification instrument that alleviates IPO investors’ ex ante uncertainties, even in nations with undeveloped institutions.

The findings may be beneficial to researchers and policymakers. The results suggest that institutional quality enhancements and obligatory IFRS implementation highlight IFRS’s synergistic influence on the IPO market. While European harmonization efforts drove the adoption of IFRS in Europe in 2005, Saudi Arabia’s adoption of IFRS is not being driven by such initiatives (Daske et al., 2008; Persakis and Iatridis 2017). In reality, when IFRS was officially imposed in Saudi Arabia in 2008, it, like many other emerging market nations, made considerable reforms to its formal institutions. However, research on the combined impact of IFRS and disparities in institutional quality in emerging IPO markets remains sparse. Emerging markets represent more than half of economies that use IFRS. Therefore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct an empirical investigation to identify this combined effect in emerging countries using the DiD analytical technique. Equity market legislators remain concerned regarding IPO underpricing, as it has a detrimental influence on economic growth (Bova and Pereira, 2012; Jamaani and Ahmed, 2021; Mehmood et al., 2021). Depending on the degree of information asymmetry in national stock markets, underpricing costs increase the cost of going public for entrepreneurs. Consequently, prospective private firms are discouraged from accessing equity financing through the stock markets. This is likely to impede private sector development plans, causing a negative effect on economic growth.

Emerging countries represent over 50% of the IFRS mandating economies. However, there is insufficient research on the combined effect of IFRS requirements and improvements in institutional quality in developing IPO markets. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical attempt to identify this combined effect in one of the largest developing countries. The results may aid academics and policymakers in better understanding the interaction between these two variables.

This study aims to determine whether knowledge creation processes (KCPs) – knowledge exchange and knowledge integration affect digital innovation (DI), including information technology (IT)-enabled capabilities (ITECs) as a mediator and absorptive capacity (AC) as a moderator.

With a survey data set of 390 employees from Pakistani software small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the current study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Smart Partial Least Squares to estimate the structural relationships in the conceptual model.

The results confirm that KCPs – knowledge exchange and knowledge integration positively enhance software SME's DI; ITECs play a partial mediating role in the linkage between KCPs and DI; AC positively moderates the relationship between knowledge integration and ITECs, and ITECs and DI, while AC doesn’t moderate the relationship between knowledge exchange and ITECs. The AC positively moderates the mediating role of ITECs amongst KCPs (knowledge exchange and knowledge integration) and DI, respectively.

This research uniquely integrates the knowledge-based view and dynamic capability theory to present a comprehensive framework that explains the interdependencies between knowledge process, ITECs and AC in driving DI. This approach advances the understanding of how software SMEs can strengthen internal knowledge and IT resources to achieve superior innovation outcomes.

The research aims to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between financial statement comparability (FSC) and cost of equity (COE) in an emerging market.

Specifically, this study examines the relationship between FSC and COE of Vietnamese listed firms. The research uses the System Generalized Method of Moments regression techniques for a panel data set of 454 companies for the period 2015–2022.

The authors find that firms with high comparability of financial statements have lower COE. To confirm the research findings, the authors conduct the robustness test by using different proxies for the cost of equity. Consistent results are found.

The study contributes to the overall understanding of the relationship between FSC and COE, and suggests policy implications for relevant stakeholders such as managers, regulatory bodies and investors. Especially, regarding policymakers, this study could provide more insight into how the accounting convergence process impacts the effectiveness of a firm’s capital allocation.

The main purpose of this study is to determine the antecedent factors of digital financial disclosure language adoption and its impact on decreasing financial information asymmetry and increasing its quality.

The data was obtained from 116 financial managers, who are working and responsible for preparing and filing financial statements reports in listed Jordanian firms in the Amman Stock Exchange. The partial least squares structural equation modeling approach is used for data analysis.

The empirical results revealed that the adoption of digital financial reporting is positively influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Besides, the outcomes also confirm that the adoption of digital financial reporting positively influences accounting information quality, and hence hypotheses H1, H2 and H3 were accepted.

This study varies from previous studies because it is considered among the first empirical studies that determine the antecedent factors of digital financial reporting adoption and its impact on improving accounting information quality and sustainability in an empirical setting from a developing country perspective such as Jordan.

The objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between absorptive capacity, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance within Brazilian federal state-owned companies.

Primary data were obtained using survey research. Secondary data were obtained using the Federal State-owned Companies Bulletin and the website State-owned Companies Overview. Tested and validated scales were selected to reflect Absorptive Capacity (ACAP), Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Organizational Performance (OP) variables applied to a sample of 119 managers and advisors of federal state-owned companies. Structural Equation Modeling techniques were applied to identify the statistical significance of the direct, indirect, and total effects. The final measurement and structural model presented convergent and discriminant validity with acceptable adjustment indexes.

ACAP was found to be directly related to the ability to identify, recognize, transform, and especially implement new knowledge. EO is related to the institution’s ability to take risks, be proactive, and innovate. Those are fundamental processes for fulfilling the mission of state-owned companies, for their survival, and for improving the quality of public services provided to society. These findings differ from studies carried out in private companies since the ACAP-exploration dimension in private businesses displays a relevant relationship between the factors composing EO, a feature not observed here.

The paper’s main contribution is to confirm the influence of ACAP on EO and EO on OP, considering the environment of Brazilian federal state-owned companies. Such results expand the scarce academic studies on absorptive capacity, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance in the public area, in addition to offering perspectives of specific training direction to expand the competencies of public managers.