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The purpose of this paper was to analyse the research trends on the Indian Open and Distance Education (ODE) system as reflected in the articles published in the prominent journals of distance education across the world.

A study was undertaken to review the research articles on ODE in India published in 11 prominent peer-reviewed journals of distance education during the period 2010–2019. Content analysis was done to find out areas of research undertaken in the ODE of India based on a validated classification of research areas; types of research studies conducted; and authorship and publication patterns.

Out of a total of 2,571 articles published in 11 selected journals, only 191 (7.42%) pertained to ODE in India. The majority of these 191 articles (68.42%) were published in Indian journals. The Indian and Asian journals together accounted for 93.55% of total articles. Globally, the share of articles on the Indian ODE system was significantly low ranging between 4.27 and a maximum of 10.77%, which was much below expectations from a country having the maximum number of ODE learners in the world. Results further revealed that 63% of the contributors to research on ODE in India were affiliated to Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The limitation of this study was only analysing the research articles published in journals of distance education and other types of articles, namely, book reviews, editorials, field notes and workshop reports were excluded from the analysis.

The study is intended to help researchers, policymakers, and open and distance education institutions to draw a roadmap for the promotion and conduct of system-based research, which would be vital for strengthening the system.

The quantum of research is not proportionate to the number of faculty members working in the ODE system of India and the large number of learners that it serves, which is a matter of concern. For any system to grow its periodic systemic review is essential. The research outcomes need to be ploughed back into the system for its betterment.

The study is original. There is no such study undertaken till date. This study will be extremely useful to researchers, as the gaps in distance education research which are yet to be addressed, have been identified by the authors.

Group reporting, a form of cooperative learning, is a learning tool often employed in residential teaching to facilitate quality learning. Like other cooperative learning methods, it enhances learning in classrooms by allowing students work on activities in small groups to receive rewards based on their group’s performance. However, though group reporting is often done in face-to-face settings, few up-to-date literature has shown its application in online learning. Moreover, the question as to whether online cooperative learning through group reports yields positive or negative response from students has to be studied further. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study focuses on the students’ response to the group reporting activity carried throughout one semester. A course offered by the University of the Philippines Open University on database management systems made use of group reporting to add to the students’ learning experience. Group meetings along with regular online lectures were carried out during the first half of the semester. The output group reports were then presented during the second half and served as the main resource for those weeks’ study modules. An online survey with Likert scales drawing out the student reactions on the learning activity impact was administered to volunteer respondents at the end of classes.

In total, 71.9 percent of 32 respondents observed changes in their behavior after using peer and cooperative learning technologies. The respondents also indicated that they enjoyed the group reporting activity (14 agreeing strongly, 14 agreeing moderately). They also indicated that they were motivated to learn the course through the group reports (8 agreeing strongly, 14 agreeing moderately). However, when asked if they preferred to have all the modules in group report format 9 agreed moderately, 8 disagreed moderately, 7 disagreed strongly, 4 agreed strongly, and 4 neither agreed nor disagreed. Still, overall, online cooperative learning facilitated quality learning based on this study’s results.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by showing how group reporting can be applied online and how students have responded to it. The study also provides recommendations on how to conduct online cooperative learning in order to enhance the quality of courses, with implications for further research to look into variations with respect to the technology used for reporting and its suitability to a given course.

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceived and factual realities of open access predators and further delve into usage patterns of predatory open access journals (OAJs) by researchers and its implication on quality assurance in Library and Information Science Research. It also investigates factors promoting use of these outlets, as well as authors’ perspectives on quality control for OAJs.

The paper reviewed available literature on OAJs and the proliferation of predatory journals. It also presents author’s viewpoint on the implication of using predatory journals for Library and Information Science Research in Nigeria.

The number of predatory publishers globally has grown rapidly from 18 in 2011 to 693 in 2015, whereas standalone journals increased from 126 to 507 in 2015. Library and information science (LIS) studies were published in some of the listed predatory journals by Jeffrey Beall, and this has reduced global recognition of LIS researchers in Nigeria. Upcoming authors were easily attracted to publishing their work in predatory journals because of fast review process, prompt publishing and quest for global visibility. Checking against plagiarism, ensuring quality control, increased awareness for non-use of predatory journals were some of the recommendations given.

It is clear that if LIS educators report their research in predatory OA outlets, individual and institutional reputation will be affected which may eventually lead to low ranking status of institutions. Nigerian universities low ranking status by several indices can be traced to the nonappearance or low scholarly literature published in reputable and respected journal outlets. Scholars with less quality studies will not be invited to feature as reviewers and international panelist in reputable thematic conferences and meetings neither can they be invited as external examiners in universities abroad.

This work is very valuable in evaluating the growth of predatory journals in Library and information Science Research in Nigeria. It provides distinctive ways to evaluating OAJs and how to identify and avoid predatory journals.

The purpose of this study is to look at the challenges and successes that the case institution has had in implementing and maintaining quality assurance (QA) processes. The study also looks into the role of QA techniques in improving an institution's performance in a developing country.

The research is qualitative. Nine significant persons were interviewed, including the institution's top administration, faculty members and related staff. Data were gathered to learn more about the background, incremental changes and numerous internal and external elements that influenced how QA was approached over time.

The findings revealed the challenges and experiences of the evolution of QA practices in the case institution. The results show the changes in QA practices regarding three aspects, including people, place and program of case institutions under three phases. During phases I and II, the adoption and upgradation of QA practices were very slow; phase III showed significant improvement in all three aspects. In addition, the positive impact of QA practices is evident in improving the performance of students and teaching and nonteaching staff of the case institution.

The findings of this research could aid open and distance learning (ODL) providers in other developing nations in understanding the challenges of such a system. It may also make it easier for other ODL providers to comprehend the QA-led success in stakeholder confidence, employability and reputation.

The research will give insights into how QA procedures are used and valued in ODL in developing nations.

Although general courses related to humanities, social sciences, education and pure sciences are popularly taught through distance mode, through the institutions involved in teaching distance mode techniques for some time, more practical application courses such as engineering technology and applied sciences are less popular as distance mode teaching till recent. The current technical advancement is making it possible for more practical application courses to be offered through distance education techniques. The Faculty of Engineering Technology of the Open University of Sri Lanka is one of the few faculties involved in teaching of engineering technology through distance mode in the region. Faculty offers courses leading to diploma in technology, bachelor in engineering technology, postgraduate diplomas and postgraduate degrees in engineering through distance mode. The diplomats and graduates passing out from the faculty have to compete with the diplomats and graduates passing out from the conventional universities in the common job markets. Hence to maintain a high quality of the diploma/degree is important. Attempt is made to develop a quality assurance system that will help to maintain a high standard of the faculty diploma/graduate output. This study investigates the strengths, and in particular the weaknesses of quality assessment practices used in conducting subject reviews in Sri Lankan universities, especially when it comes to subject reviews in relation to more practical application courses such as engineering technology and applied sciences. This paper describes the aspects that were looked into: adopted current practices & the weaknesses, areas identified to check on quality maintenance, and measures to be taken to improve in developing a quality assurance mechanism based on the Faculty of Engineering Technology at Open University of Sri Lanka.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal how support services for open and distance students are designed, developed and implemented to ensure successful learning to take place, with specific references to the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and Universitas Terbuka (UT) Indonesia. Success in distance learning is one major challenge for open universities to respond to expectations of students and stakeholders. This study focuses on the strategies of student support services in OUSL and UT, investigating related factors including instructional design and development, learning engagement and motivation, policy and strategy in reducing dropouts, use of OER/MOOCs, and quality assurance.

A qualitative study was employed involving analyses of documents; interviews and focus group discussion with senior administrators, academic staff, students; and on-site observation in locations of teaching and learning.

This research is exploratory in nature. Findings of the study are expected to improve our understanding of student support in distance learning, in which analysis is based on good practices, challenges and rooms for improvement of both OUSL and UT.

Findings of this study reveal practices and lessons learnt that may be useful as reference to open universities, taking into considerations the fact that each open university has been established to address specific challenges in its own unique circumstances.

This research may be adopted as baseline framework for analysis of student support for open universities. Further in-depth study is needed to understand how various aspects of student support contribute to success in open and distance learning.

This study aims to uncover apple preference and consumption in Indonesia, to disclose the risk of non-halal contamination of apples and the importance of maintaining the halal integrity of apples along the supply chain and to uncover the impacts of food miles of apples along supply chain segmentation.

This study adopted mixed research methods under a fully mixed sequential dominant status design (QUAN → qual). Data were collected through a survey in some Indonesian provinces (N = 396 respondents). Samples were collected randomly from individual consumers. The qualitative data were collected through interviews with 15 apple traders in Indonesia. Data were analysed using crosstab, chi-square and descriptive analysis.

First, Muslim consumers believe in the risk of chemical treatment of apples because it can affect the halal status of apples. Second, Indonesian consumers consider the importance of halal certification of chemical-treated apples and the additives for apple treatments. Third, the insignificance of domestic apple preference contributes to longer food miles at the first- and middle-mile stages (preference for imported apples). Fourth, apple consumption and shopping distance contribute to the longer food miles problem at the last-mile stage. Fifth, longer food miles have negative impacts, such as emissions and pollution, food loss and waste, food insecurity, financial loss, slow development of the local economy and food unsafety.

This research has implications for the governments, farmers, consumers (society) and business sectors.

This study proposes a framework of food miles under a halal supply chain (halal food miles) to reduce the risk of food miles and improve halal integrity. The findings from this research have theoretical implications for the development of the food mile theory, halal food supply chain and green supply chain.

Research carried out to develop and advance the application of design and process failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) at Garrett Automotive Ltd, Skelmersdale, is described. The work has been undertaken under the umbrella of the UMIST Total Quality Management Multi‐company Teaching Programme. From an analysis of the present methods of preparing and using FMEAs, procedural changes have been made which have resulted in more effective use of the technique. The findings include the reluctance of product engineering and manufacturing engineering personnel to take a leading role in the preparation of design and process FMEAs, respectively. The main reasons for this relate to a perceived lack of time or lack of understanding of the technique′s potential. It is also pointed out that, in the past, FMEAs have mainly been used to satisfy the demands of major customers and it takes some considerable effort to ensure that FMEAs are prepared and used in the correct manner.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.