Journal of Advocacy, Research and Education

45-53

Authors: Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva

Annual report and financial statement forms from 2012-2015 for The Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE) are publicly available on the COPE website. On those forms, COPE’s physical address is listed as 22 Nelson Close, Harleston, Norfolk, in the United Kingdom (UK). In fact, COPE is registered both as a charity and as a charitable company. However, only one physical address is registered in the UK. Other than these documents, COPE website pages that should list the physical address, contact people, phone numbers and emails, as any transparent and socially responsible organization would do, in fact did not list such information, at all, or in full, even on the “contact us” page until about June, 2017, when the website was updated, possibly following my concerns. This registered physical address is simply a mail-drop address, but it is unclear if COPE is sharing that address with other registered UK companies and charities. Several of these aspects related to COPE’s stated physical registered address correspond to some of the predatory characteristics that the now-defunct Jeffrey Beall blog used to list, and which WAME, the World Association of Medical Editors, a close COPE ally, still espouses as predatory, albeit related to publishing. In addition, documents tend to be undated and membership has been changing numbers even though the application for COPE membership was suspended in March, 2017. This paper argues that, based on an adaptation of these criteria alone, COPE displays some predatory, dishonest or misleading characteristics. These issues would not only undermine trust in COPE, but could in fact may constitute a serious breach of basic ethical principles that its global membership would expect from an ethics organization that claims to be transparent about its operations, and that cares about the fine-scale nature of this critique.

68-80

Authors: Linda A. O. Amoah, William K. Anyan, Fredrick Aboagye-Antwi, Severin Abonie, Mabel D. Tettey, Kwabena M. Bosompem

Schistosomiasis, which remains a key Neglected Tropical Disease, is facilitated by the population dynamics of the intermediate snail host that is reported to be influenced by environmental factors. In Ghana fewer studies on environmental factors have been carried out with the advent of climate change and it predicted influence on the ecology of vectors of diseases that tend to be focal. This study therefore sought to investigate the influence of environmental factors on seasonal variations on intermediate snail hosts abundance. Snails were sampled monthly at a demarcated zone on the Weija Lake near Tomefa, a schistosomiasis endemic community using the scoop net and hand picking techniques. A total of 2,612 snails including 739 dead/empty shells were collected throughout the sampling period. Of this number, 1, 367 (inclusive of 600 dead) Biomphalaria pfeifferi and 1, 245 (inclusive of 139 dead) Bulinus truncatus were collected. Total dissolved solids, temperature and turbidity significantly influenced snail abundance (p<0.05). Five aquatic plant species were found to support both snail species, with Ceratophyllum spp being the most common. Snail abundance varied seasonally with TDS, turbidity and temperature identified as important limiting environmental factors to intermediate snail hosts abundance. Aquatic plant species influenced snail abundance by providing shelter, food and sites for oviposition.

86-95

Authors: Michael K. Okyere Asante

The labour system of every society is crucial to its effective running. This is implied in Plato’s theory of social justice, even though he does not engage in a formal discussion of labour in any of his works. Yet, attempts by scholars to explore the characteristics of labour in Plato have been limited to his economic ideas, with a concentration on the division of labour and specialization. In this paper, I argue that Plato’s thoughts on labour go beyond just the principle of division of labour and specialization to employ philosophical, ethical, and psychological ideas in putting forward a labour system that keeps the polis functioning effectively, and that the socio-economic and political roles and implications of labour in Plato’s thought can only be understood by considering his holistic ideas. I conclude that the absence of a formal discussion of labour is because the principles and ideas Plato expounds in his works are sufficient to put the ills and evils that could result from labour in check. Nevertheless, the Republic and Laws present the best outlines of what may constitute labour in Plato’s thought, and so I concentrate, but do not limit myself, to both works.

112-117

Authors: Daniel Bruce a, , Elizabeth Larweh

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between the self-esteem, needs satisfaction and the psychological well-being of prisoners in Ghana. This study used the correlational survey design method to solicit information from prisoners in the James Camp Prison in Accra. The random sampling technique was used to select 155 male prisoners from an estimated population of 347. The findings revealed the following; a significant positive correlation exists between self-esteem, needs satisfaction and psychological well-being among inmates. Results showed that the there was a positive correlation between psychological wellbeing and self-esteem of inmates. Also, there was a significant positive relationship between needs satisfaction and psychological wellbeing. This study recommends that more psychosocial interventions should be provided to promote the mental health of inmates.

125-129

Authors: Violetta Panchenko

This article deals with the organization of control procedures in Ukrainian high school to assess students’ learning outcomes. This paper carefully looks at the tasks, requirements, functions, types, forms and methods of control. Important types of control for educational purposes include preliminary, current, thematic and final control activities. These can be carried out in different forms; individual, group and frontal. Oral, written and standardized tests as control methods enjoy the widest popularity among Ukrainian high school teachers. This research proves that, control activities are only efficient if they cover all the educational material and are differentiated according to the level of students’ knowledge.