Monthly Archives: April 2010

National Academic Award

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The nominations for the National Academic Awards 2009, which recognizes successful academicians in their respective fields, are now open until May 17, 2010 (for details, click here). Briefly, there are six categories to be presented,

  1. National Academic Personality Award
  2. Journal Article Publication Award
  3. Book Publication Award
  4. Innovation and Product Commercialization Award
  5. Arts and Creativity Award
  6. Teaching Award

The above awards are several positive initiatives taken by the Higher Education Ministry to transform Malaysian universities into world-class institutions.

In this short article, I would like to share my personal views on the Journal Article Publication Award. The minimum criterion is very clear, i.e. journals listed in the top 10% of impact factor in each discipline (for Sciences), and  in the top 15% of impact factor in each discipline (for Social Sciences).

The criterion adopted is quite fair because:

  • Sciences and social sciences are two different fields that cannot be put together.

In 2008, there were 6,620 journals indexed in the JCR Science Edition, and the top-ranked journal CA-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians garnered an impact factor of 74.575. In fact, 52 science journals have impact factor greater than 16.

In sharp contrast, there were only 1,985 journals in the JCR Social Sciences Edition 2008. The impact factor for the top-ranked Annual Review of Psychology was 16.217. About 1100 journals have impact factor less than 1.o, which account for 55% of the report.

  • Even in the same field (sciences or social sciences), the impact factor should be discipline-specific.

In this regard, the National Academic Awards (NAA) is on the right track. The sciences are divided into 170 subject categories, and the NAA only considers journals listed in the top 10% of impact factor in each discipline. 817 journals were included in the final list (see here).

As for the social sciences, there are 59 subject categories, and only journals in the top 15% of impact factor in each discipline are selected as the minimum criterion for consideration.  Even so, there were only 349 journals in the final list (see here).

I strongly believe that such recognition to academicians should be extended to the university level. If the Thomson ISI is adopted as the  benchmark  at the ministry level, similar exercise at the university level should also employ the above indicator. I am glad that my home university (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) is moving in the same direction. To kick-start,  each article published in ISI-indexed journals for year 2008 and 2009 were rewarded with cash incentive by UMS. However, there is still much room for improvement in terms of the reward structure.


Food for thought: Research & University

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In my routine Googling, I was led to the website of Research Institutes at the University of Melbourne. The following quotes really strike me:

“research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing”

“But by definition, a university which doesn’t involve itself in research is no university at all”

If that is the definition, why then we have the classification of research university (RU)?

A quick Google search reveals that the term ‘research university’ is not new in the United States. Turning to the  Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, research universities are defined as doctorate-granting universities. They are further classified by their level of research activity (see here and a good review):

  • RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity)
  • RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity)
  • DRU: Doctoral/Research Universities

Based on the Carnegie Classification, the four public universities designated as research universities by the Malaysian government, fall into the category of RU/VH (see also here). This is quite similar to the Group of Eight (Go8),  a coalition of eight leading Australian universities which account for more than two thirds of Australian university research activity, research output and research training.







					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
International Islamic Finance Conference (IIFC) 2010

			
						

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LABUAN, March 20, 2010– Labuan School of International Business and Finance organized a successful Islamic finance conference, which was held from 18 – 20 March 2010 at Grand Dorsett Labuan Hotel. The conference is first of its kind to be conducted in Labuan, providing a platform  for academicians and industry players to discuss  various issues on international Islamic finance. The conference was officiated by Deputy Finance Minister of Malaysia, YB Senator Dato’ Dr. Awang Adek Hussin (see above picture).


The conference invited outstanding scholars from various fields of Islamic finance such as Prof. Datuk Dr. Syed Othman Al Habshi, Prof. Dr. Abbas Mirakhor and Prof. Dr. Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera, to name a few. Apart from that, there were more than 30 presenters  from various universities and institutions (see picture below). Topics that were presented included, but not limited to, Islamic wealth planning, Islamic banking, Islamic economics, and regulatory framework. Islamic finance students from LSIBF also attended the concurrent and the practitioner sessions of the conference.




The organizing committee of IIFC 2010 would like to thank all the invited speakers, the invited moderators, the paper presenters, and the support staffs who have worked very hard to ensure the success of this conference. Last but not least, the conference has mapped Labuan as a center for Islamic finance conference and it is hoped that the conference will be organized someday in the future.


The above news item was contributed by Mohd. Zulkifli Muhammad in his capacity as the deputy chairperson of IIFC 2010.






					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Tips from Rob Hyndman

			
						

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I find this article “What to do when the PhD is finished?” by Rob  Hyndman is useful to staffs in LSIBF that have returned to serve the school after completing their PhD. Of course, we do not need to make a choice here.  In our academic route, you will notice that Rob always emphasizes  the importance of research and publications. Quoting from his words, “all you have to do is keep churning out papers every year for the rest of your working days!“.


I always remind myself and friends that PhD is just the beginning of our academic career. We need to keep on writing quality papers and consolidate our research.






					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Volume 7 of LBIBF

			
						

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Volume 7 of Labuan Bulletin of International Business & Finance (LBIBF) is available in electronic version. LBIBF is published once a year in December (prior to the year 2005, it was published twice a year in June and December) by LSIBF. The journal provides a platform for empirical researchers interested in issues relevant to international business and finance in all its aspects. More information on LBIBF is available here.


After going through the blind refereeing process, the following five articles have been accepted and published in this 2009 volume:


    

  1. Regional Income Disparity in Malaysia: Is Sabah Converging, Catching-Up with or Falling Behind Other States In Malaysia? (by Muzafar Shah Habibullah, A.M. Dayang-Affizzah and Kian-Ping Lim).
    2. 

  2. Herding Measures in Equity Markets: A Case Study of Bursa Malaysia (by Yoke-Chen Wong and Kim-Lian Kok)
    3. 

  3. Mobile Wallet Acceptance in Sabah: An Empirical Analysis (by Hanudin Amin)
    4. 

  4. Terms of Trade and Trade Balance in Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore (by Hock- Tsen Wong)
    5. 

  5. Structural Change in the Efficiency of the ASEAN Stock Markets after the Millennium (by Sheung Tat Chan And Terence Tai-Leung Chong)
    6. 



All the five articles can be downloaded directly from the journal’s website.