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Large bibliographic databases highlight tangible and symbolic differences regarding the standards of quality attached to them, underlining diverging incentive structures for small and large academic publishers. To assess the academic differences associated with these, we explore bibliometric data for small publishers' journals from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. We then discuss the visibility and impact of highly cited literature in small open access journals in relation to their cited references from indexed and non-indexed sources. We find that non-indexed references are consistently relevant for highly cited literature, yet the share of items that obtains high citation counts is rather small and uneven across disciplines. In general, we identify regional and linguistic specificities, whilst there are some observable thematic differences compared to more mainstream publications. In particular, we underline that a healthy bibliodiversity can, dependent on language or regional contexts, shape epistemic and scientific practices and narratives.

Keywords: bibliométrie, scholarly publishing, petits éditeurs, bibliodiversity, libre accès, small publishers, références, open access, references, bibliometrics

In this essay, we will argue that firstly, the international and national legal framings of religion or belief are limited in scope, and one must ask not only religious freedom for whom but also from whom. Secondly, we will underscore the continued limitations of international human rights-based discourse. Why are Indigenous nations consistently excluded from rights-based discourses? We have the UN Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNPFII), the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), this new report, and so many other reports. We will ask at what stage we move from declarations and reports to protecting and supporting Indigenous nations and peoples. Thirdly, building on the limitations of rights-based reporting, we will highlight what this report gets right and invite activists, lawyers, scholars, and all folks to take up and read the report and follow up on the elements we believe to be most salient. Finally, we will conclude by offering an alternative to declarations that support Indigenous nations and peoples’ inherent right to sovereignty. Our conclusion emphasizes Faithkeeper Lyons' urgent message, “The Ice is Melting in the North,” and provides a framework for how people could respond by explaining the Two Row Wampum treaty and the Two Row Wampum Method.

Keywords: Indigenous Sovereignty, Land Back, Environment, International Law

This article examines the discourses of French immersion students and educators with respect to the linguistic ideologies that prevent them from being included in Francophone communities. We begin with a review of literature on certain ideologies to better understand the work that is already being done in the field. In this paper, we draw on sociolinguistics for change, a theoretical perspective that takes a critical and reflective approach to our role as researchers as well as examining power relations among French as a second language speakers. We examine excerpts from our research that are related to discourses on current ideologies. Our transdisciplinary team examines the following themes: linguistic varieties, linguistic security, immersion and plurilingual students, and the roles of linguistic repertoires for students in French immersion. We note that the discourses continue to exclude French learners, but that these discourses can lead to changes, especially among young plurilingual students. We conclude that more inclusive conceptions of Francophone identity are possible.

Keywords: French immersion, language ideology, language policy, sociolinguistics for change

In Canada, French as a second language (FSL) teachers have indicated a lack of professional learning opportunities adapted to their needs and interests. In order to support their ongoing development, more research is needed to study professional learning models that address their unique set of knowledge and skills, such as language proficiency, intercultural awareness, pedagogy, and collaborative professionalism (Masson et al., 2024). To respond to this need, this study implemented a four-month professional development series for FSL teachers in an Ontario school board based on a community of practice (CoP) framework. Data was collected through pre-/post-questionnaires and participant interviews and analyzed through Wenger et al.’s (2011) cycles of value creation. The results show that while the CoP initiative created immediate and potential value for participants, it did not necessarily lead to an applied value, or reported changes to the FSL teachers’ practice.

Keywords: français langue seconde, French as a second language (FSL), Communities of Practice, communautés de pratique, professional learning, perfectionnement professionnel, collaborative professionalism, professionnalisme collaboratif, L2 teacher professional development, formation des enseignants

The aim of this research is to explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in decentralised territorial communities (DTCs) in Cameroon and to characterise those that are most conducive to sustainable local development. To achieve this, interviews were conducted with 12 district councils in the “Centre” region of the country, selected by convenience. The data collected over a four-week period was subjected to computerised content analysis. Analysed through the prism of its three traditional aspects (social, economic and environmental), CSR within the sampled districts takes on several consonances depending on the contextual variables. The main results obtained show that the CSR initiatives identified within the districts are conducive to sustainable local development through the well-being of the personnel and the population (improved living conditions), the economic development of the town or village (sustainable economic infrastructures and local entrepreneurship) and the preservation of the environment (a healthy environment). These results give a unique colour to CSR in the world of DTCs and allow us to discover new depths of CSR.

Keywords: RSE, CSR, CTD, DTC, développement local durable, sustainable local development

How should we read claims about health and well-being which defy common sense? Are claims of extreme longevity to be viewed as fraudulent, or as pushing the boundaries of possibility for the human body? This article will consider the narrative and context around a particularly well-publicized incident of rejuvenation therapy, advertised as kāyakalpa (body transformation or rejuvenation), from 1938. In this year, the prominent Congress Activist and co-founder of Banaras Hindu University, Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861–1946), underwent an extreme – and very public – rejuvenation treatment under the care of a sadhu using the name of Shriman Tapasviji (c.1770?-1955). The first half of the article will explore the presentation of Malaviya’s treatment and how it inspired a focus on rejuvenation therapy within Indian medicine in the years immediately following. Exploring this mid-twentieth century incident highlight some of the themes and concerns of the historical period, just out of living memory, but in many ways similar to our own.

Tibetan precious pills are frequently attributed with a variety of efficacies, from “magical” powers, prevention of poisoning and infectious diseases, protection from harmful spirits and exposure to diseases while travelling, to rejuvenating and prolonging life through clearing the senses and promoting strength and vigor. They are prescribed as strong medicines for severe diseases, but are also advertised as rejuvenating tonics for the healthy. This paper explores the rejuvenating qualities attributed to precious pills in terms of how they are currently advertised, how rejuvenation is and has been explained in Tibetan works on precious pills, and how Tibetan physicians understand these attributes. How do these domains interact and refer to each other?I compare aspects of rejuvenation in precious pill formulas with contemporary presentations of precious pills online and on published leaflets given out to patients in India and elsewhere. In Tibetan medical texts certain precious pills that contain the complex and processed mercury-sulfide ash called tsotel in addition to a large variety of other medicinal substances are presented as “precious pills” or rinchen rilbu, and only some of those are said to have rejuvenating effects on the body; most are primarily prescribed for specific diseases. The practice of giving precious pills to the healthy emerges more prominently in eighteenth to nineteenth century manuals on administering precious pills (Czaja 2015), which parallels the establishment of influential medical and monastic networks that promoted the making of tsotel and precious pills. I argue that precious pills have more recently widened their specific therapeutic target beyond that of medicine into becoming popular pills for rejuvenation, even if they do not contain tsotel, as part of pharmaceutical commodification. I also show how presentations of precious pills as “rejuvenating” are deeply linked to their availability.

The purpose of this paper is to review the general organization of knowledge in the Kriyākramakarī, a sixteenth-century treatise of Kerala mathematics. Specifically, I will argue that the authors' interest in justification or proof is integrative, rather than hierarchical or cumulative. In other words, the purpose of proofs in the Kriyākramakarī is to connect various different aspects of mathematics, rather than just establish results by means of previously known results.

This article investigates how the seminal focus placed on portability as the defining characteristic of the book is erroneous and misguided. Based on Western concepts and early-modern bias that ultimately equates codex to book, the notion of portability is inapplicable to all book cultures and deserves re-examination. By redefining the meaning of the book to be an idea, an idea that can then be transposed textually and/or pictorially onto a substrate, scholars can come to understand how in ancient Egypt wall inscriptions and art were considered books, and how stone was a primary and fundamental book medium. Using Western, modern, and even global examples to explain how the book in its original state is a metaphysical entity, the notion of the book as object is in turn discarded because defining the book by its medium causes numerous restrictions – the object is not the book, merely its carrier. The importance of physical portability therefore becomes replaced in favour of metaphysical portability and its various implications. By using ancient Egyptian tomb walls as a case study, the meaning and boundaries placed on the book in book studies will be reframed and redefined by drawing Egyptian cultural practices, literature, ideologies, and the use of stone to establish examples of non-portable books. Any discussion of ancient book cultures primarily remains focused on papyrus or clay tablets (i.e., portable materials), a focus that skews the reality of ancient book cultures and gives rise to bias due to the neglect of other mediums that were far more important for ideological purposes. Egyptian book culture was, in fact, more than papyrus; a variety of materials were used as substrates, not all of which were portable in the conventional sense, but neither their use nor their significance to ancient Egyptian society should be dismissed.