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Scientists are typically responsible for greater greenhouse gas emissions than the general population. These 'extra' emissions are largely due to frequent travel, often by airplane, to professional and academic meetings. In the following commentary, we explore how employing mixed modes of transportation, particularly by prioritizing train travel, can significantly reduce the environmental costs associated with attending conferences. Estimating travel distances for attendants to recent meetings, we demonstrate that the proposed strategy has the potential to decrease emissions, even when considering exotic, remote (and potentially enticing) locations. Our suggestions are easy to implement, can be combined with previous proposals for reducing emissions, and provide an opportunity for scientists to convey an important message to the general public. This message is not confined to our particular example and we hope that it will encourage ecologists, sociologists and other scientists, historians and philosophers to pursue additional creative behavioural solutions in order to reduce our impact on an increasingly stressed ecosphere.

This study investigates the extent to which international academic conferences changes format to virtual when faced by sudden Covid-19 related immobility. Data on 587 conferences in the fields of business, economics, information technology, management and other social sciences that were planned to be held between March and August 2020 are retrieved from authorised conference listings. Approximately 28% of the conferences changed to virtual format during the period of time studied. Probit estimations reveal that the probability of changing format to virtual increases with the country of location (United States), planning horizon and the available quality of broadband infrastructure in the scheduled conference country. However, the role of planning horizon differs across fields and location of the conference. The probability of virtual conferences is highest in the United States and for academic conferences in the field of information technology.

A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly—particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt them and a well-developed understanding of how they work—remains incomplete. In this paper we suggest that competitively significant capabilities often rest on managerial practices that in turn rely on relational contracts (i.e., informal agreements sustained by the shadow of the future). We argue that one of the reasons these practices may be difficult to copy is that effective relational contracts must solve the twin problems of credibility and clarity and that although credibility might, in principle, be instantly acquired, clarity may take time to develop and may interact with credibility in complex ways so that relational contracts may often be difficult to build.

Background. Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are life-threatening complications in patients with hematooncological malignancies, and early diagnosis is crucial for outcome. The compound 1,3-β-D-glucan (BG), a cell wall component of most fungal species, can be detected in blood during IFI. Four commercial BG antigenemia assays are available (Fungitell, Fungitec-G, Wako, and Maruha). This meta-analysis from the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL-3) assessed the performance of BG assays for the diagnosis of IFI in hematooncological patients. Methods. Studies reporting the performance of BG antigenemia assays for the diagnosis of IFI (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Mycoses Study Group criteria) in hemato-oncological patients were identified. The analysis was focused on high-quality cohort studies with exclusion of case-control studies. Meta-analysis was performed by conventional meta-analytical pooling and bivariate analysis. Results. Six cohort studies were included (1771 adult patients with 414 IFIs of which 215 were proven or probable). Similar performance was observed among the different BG assays. For the cutoff recommended by the manufacturer, the diagnostic performance of the BG assay in proven or probable IFI was better with 2 consecutive positive test results (diagnostic odds ratio for 2 consecutive vs one single positive results, 111.8 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 38.6—324.1] vs 16.3 [95% CI, 6.5—40.8], respectively; heterogeneity index for 2 consecutive vs one single positive results, 0% vs 72.6%, respectively). For 2 consecutive tests, sensitivity and specificity were 49.6% (95% CI, 34.0%—65.3%) and 98.9% (95% CI, 97.4%—99.5%), respectively. Estimated positive and negative predictive values for an IFI prevalence of 10% were 83.5% and 94.6%, respectively. Conclusions. Different BG assays have similar accuracy for the diagnosis of IFI in hemato-oncological patients. Two consecutive positive antigenemia assays have very high specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Because sensitivity is low, the test needs to be combined with clinical, radiological, and microbiological findings.

This study examines the formats offered for academic conferences in the mature stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two out of three organisers discontinue their usage of online video tools and focus on in-person conferences. Only one out of five conferences offers hybrid solutions and even fewer a virtual alternative (13%). Data for the analysis originate from 547 calls for proposals announced in Spring 2022 for conferences to be held during the period August 2022 to July 2023. Estimates using a multinomial logit model show that the planning time is significantly related to the choice of format offered. The longer the lead time, the more likely it is to offer an in-person conference. International travel restrictions and bans on gatherings for the location of the venue at the time of planning are significantly related to the choice of virtual, but not hybrid formats. There are also large differences in the choice across disciplines, with conferences in arts and humanities as well as natural sciences showing the lowest preference for the virtual format.

Consider the revenue-maximizing problem in which a single seller wants to sell k different items to a single buyer, who has independently distributed values for the items with additive valuation. The [Formula] case was completely resolved by Myerson’s classical work in 1981, whereas for larger k the problem has been the subject of much research efforts ever since. Recently, Hart and Nisan analyzed two simple mechanisms: selling the items separately, or selling them as a single bundle. They showed that selling separately guarantees at least a [Formula] fraction of the optimal revenue; and for identically distributed items, bundling yields at least a [Formula] fraction of the optimal revenue. In this paper, we prove that selling separately guarantees at least [Formula] fraction of the optimal revenue, whereas for identically distributed items, bundling yields at least a constant fraction of the optimal revenue. These bounds are tight (up to a constant factor), settling the open questions raised by Hart and Nisan. The results are valid for arbitrary probability distributions without restrictions. Our results also have implications on other interesting issues, such as monotonicity and randomization of selling mechanisms.

This qualitative study investigates how graduate students engage with academic conferences as sites for professional development and identity construction. Grounded in academic socialization theory and employing an interpretive phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 graduate students across diverse disciplinary fields in China. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four distinct participation orientations: knowledge-seeking, competence-building, network-oriented, and identity-exploratory. Our findings illuminate how contemporary academic environments characterized by heightened competition, publish-or-perish pressures, and quantified evaluation systems create conditions of academic alienation, manifesting as disconnection from scholarly work, superficial collegial interactions, and weakened community belonging. Significantly, we identified conference participation as a transformative mechanism through which students counteract alienation by reclaiming meaning in scholarly labor, cultivating authentic academic dialogue, and reconstructing professional community ties. We propose an integrative conceptual framework illustrating the dynamic relationships among alienation, participation orientations, and transformative outcomes. These findings advance the theoretical understanding of academic socialization as an agentic, iterative process and offer practical implications for institutions, faculty advisors, and students seeking to support graduate student development in increasingly pressurized academic climates.

Academic conferences provide a needed opportunity for academic community members to come together and share ideas. COVID-19 forced AIS to host conferences remotely for two years. From that experience, we learned a few things about virtualizing our conference activities including the potential for virtual conferences to widen participation and membership. In this paper, we reflect on that learning through a lens informed by reviewing published work on conference hybridization. We also make recommendations for how future conference chairs can think about AIS conferences. Changing how our conferences are delivered is risky, but simply returning to the old normal is also risky. As an association studying IT, discovering and championing the role of technology in conference experiences would seem to be a risk worth taking.

Academic conferences are vital spaces for knowledge exchange and professional development, yet conventional structures often reinforce colonial hierarchies, environmental harm, and exclusionary practices. Here, we suggest an anticolonial reimagining of academic conferencing through the principles of authority and reciprocity. Based on our experiences organizing large scientific meetings, we suggest a place‐based approach to conference organizing that centers Indigenous sovereignty and relational accountability, enacting shared authority with local custodians and reciprocal engagement with host communities. Recent conferences illustrate how organizers can materially support Indigenous Peoples, and how conference decisions—particularly regarding timing, location, and services—might help to disrupt rather than sustain extractive tendencies. By unsettling default practices and embracing relational ethics, conferences can become transformative spaces that honor place‐based knowledge, strengthen community economies, and advance social and environmental justice.