A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted
Like it or not, attempts to evaluate and monitor the quality of academic research have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Performance reviews range from at the level of individuals, through research groups and departments, to entire universities. Many of these are informed by, or functions of,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute for Condensed Matter Physics
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Condensed Matter Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5488/CMP.20.13803 |
| _version_ | 1828515990678274048 |
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| author | R. Kenna O. Mryglod B. Berche |
| author_facet | R. Kenna O. Mryglod B. Berche |
| author_sort | R. Kenna |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Like it or not, attempts to evaluate and monitor the quality of academic research have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Performance reviews range from at the level of individuals, through research groups and departments, to entire universities. Many of these are informed by, or functions of, simple scientometric indicators and the results of such exercises impact onto careers, funding and prestige. However, there is sometimes a failure to appreciate that scientometrics are, at best, very blunt instruments and their incorrect usage can be misleading. Rather than accepting the rise and fall of individuals and institutions on the basis of such imprecise measures, calls have been made for indicators be regularly scrutinised and for improvements to the evidence base in this area. It is thus incumbent upon the scientific community, especially the physics, complexity-science and scientometrics communities, to scrutinise metric indicators. Here, we review recent attempts to do this and show that some metrics in widespread use cannot be used as reliable indicators research quality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:21:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87e60addd5374a52a3b90fae806d5902 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1607-324X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:21:40Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Institute for Condensed Matter Physics |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Condensed Matter Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-87e60addd5374a52a3b90fae806d59022022-12-22T00:55:15ZengInstitute for Condensed Matter PhysicsCondensed Matter Physics1607-324X2017-03-012011380310.5488/CMP.20.13803A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be countedR. KennaO. MryglodB. BercheLike it or not, attempts to evaluate and monitor the quality of academic research have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Performance reviews range from at the level of individuals, through research groups and departments, to entire universities. Many of these are informed by, or functions of, simple scientometric indicators and the results of such exercises impact onto careers, funding and prestige. However, there is sometimes a failure to appreciate that scientometrics are, at best, very blunt instruments and their incorrect usage can be misleading. Rather than accepting the rise and fall of individuals and institutions on the basis of such imprecise measures, calls have been made for indicators be regularly scrutinised and for improvements to the evidence base in this area. It is thus incumbent upon the scientific community, especially the physics, complexity-science and scientometrics communities, to scrutinise metric indicators. Here, we review recent attempts to do this and show that some metrics in widespread use cannot be used as reliable indicators research quality.https://doi.org/10.5488/CMP.20.13803scientometricsresearch evaluation |
| spellingShingle | R. Kenna O. Mryglod B. Berche A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted Condensed Matter Physics scientometrics research evaluation |
| title | A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted |
| title_full | A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted |
| title_fullStr | A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted |
| title_full_unstemmed | A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted |
| title_short | A scientists' view of scientometrics: Not everything that counts can be counted |
| title_sort | scientists view of scientometrics not everything that counts can be counted |
| topic | scientometrics research evaluation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5488/CMP.20.13803 |
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