IT & Computer Science

Volumes 1–48 published with VS-Verlag, volumes 49–80 published with VISTAS Verlag. The Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia ensures the protection of four key elements of society: human dignity, young people, media users and diversity in the private media in North Rhine-Westphalia. It fulfils this duty by regulating and overseeing existing media content on the one hand, while instructing people how they can use the media fairly and autonomously and by promoting journalism in the region on the other. The findings of research projects conducted on behalf of the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia appear in this series of publications.

Anyone who talks about animals makes human beings their subject. Turning to animals as an object of research in various contexts certainly does not only facilitate a better understanding of animals, but also of humans and society. In animals, researchers discover themselves and their world. This ‘animal turn’ now encompasses many academic disciplines and often begins or ends with ethical questions. This series of books deals with different developmental paths in animal ethics, which should not be understood as an isolated field of ethics, but rather as a specific perspective in an interdisciplinary discourse on moral questions of human–animal relations. The series is open to all disciplines in the humanities and natural sciences. It is bilingual (German/English) and is supervised by its editors in conjunction with an academic advisory board. A peer review process is carried out on all submissions to ensure their quality.

The aim of the series of publications is to focus academic attention on public goods as a key prerequisite of democracy, solidarity and public welfare. It combines its intention of contemporary analysis with the interdisciplinary demand for social science and legal studies compositions, and is thus equally as much a forum for theoretical and conceptual contributions as it is for empirical studies. The series publishes both monographs and anthologies in either German or English.

As soon as assessments or classifications are developed, tested and introduced with binding effect, or evaluations of care services are carried out, statistical methods come into play. This presupposes that their application is methodologically reflected on and that individual procedures can be varied according to the issue at hand. This series allows us the scope to do this and publishes monographs and anthologies on this subject area.

This series presents new findings of research on Japan and its place, connections, and interactions within East Asia. Politically, people often perceive Japan as part of the “West”, whereas culturally the nation appears to many still as “the (essential) Other”. Instead of localizing Japan in such a simplistic way – be it as part of “the West” or as part of the “East” – it is assumed here that a historical configuration exists in East Asia which distinguishes interactions in the region. The present situation of East Asia should be understood against the background of Japan’s role in modern and contemporary history. In addition, Japan will be analyzed also as a pioneer when it comes to integrating East Asian countries into international institutions and scholarly exchange. Methodologically, the contributions to the series are not limited to one single approach. However, it will be mandatory to use primary sources in Japanese and other East Asian languages and to refer to research results of Japanese scholars in order to fulfil a truly international standard of research. An internationally composed advisory board guarantees the scholarly quality of each volume. Contributions to this series are of interest for scholars and students in History, Political Science, Intellectual History, Sociology and, of course, in area studies of East Asia.