66,162 research outputs found
Reviewing, indicating, and counting books for modern research evaluation systems
In this chapter, we focus on the specialists who have helped to improve the
conditions for book assessments in research evaluation exercises, with
empirically based data and insights supporting their greater integration. Our
review highlights the research carried out by four types of expert communities,
referred to as the monitors, the subject classifiers, the indexers and the
indicator constructionists. Many challenges lie ahead for scholars affiliated
with these communities, particularly the latter three. By acknowledging their
unique, yet interrelated roles, we show where the greatest potential is for
both quantitative and qualitative indicator advancements in book-inclusive
evaluation systems.Comment: Forthcoming in Glanzel, W., Moed, H.F., Schmoch U., Thelwall, M.
(2018). Springer Handbook of Science and Technology Indicators. Springer Some
corrections made in subsection 'Publisher prestige or quality
The metric tide: report of the independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management
This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management. The review was chaired by Professor James Wilsdon, supported by an independent and multidisciplinary group of experts in scientometrics, research funding, research policy, publishing, university management and administration.
This review has gone beyond earlier studies to take a deeper look at potential uses and limitations of research metrics and indicators. It has explored the use of metrics across different disciplines, and assessed their potential contribution to the development of research excellence and impact. It has analysed their role in processes of research assessment, including the next cycle of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). It has considered the changing ways in which universities are using quantitative indicators in their management systems, and the growing power of league tables and rankings. And it has considered the negative or unintended effects of metrics on various aspects of research culture.
The report starts by tracing the history of metrics in research management and assessment, in the UK and internationally. It looks at the applicability of metrics within different research cultures, compares the peer review system with metric-based alternatives, and considers what balance might be struck between the two. It charts the development of research management systems within institutions, and examines the effects of the growing use of quantitative indicators on different aspects of research culture, including performance management, equality, diversity, interdisciplinarity, and the âgamingâ of assessment systems. The review looks at how different funders are using quantitative indicators, and considers their potential role in research and innovation policy. Finally, it examines the role that metrics played in REF2014, and outlines scenarios for their contribution to future exercises
The structural role of the core literature in history
The intellectual landscapes of the humanities are mostly uncharted territory.
Little is known on the ways published research of humanist scholars defines
areas of intellectual activity. An open question relates to the structural role
of core literature: highly cited sources, naturally playing a disproportionate
role in the definition of intellectual landscapes. We introduce four indicators
in order to map the structural role played by core sources into connecting
different areas of the intellectual landscape of citing publications (i.e.
communities in the bibliographic coupling network). All indicators factor out
the influence of degree distributions by internalizing a null configuration
model. By considering several datasets focused on history, we show that two
distinct structural actions are performed by the core literature: a global one,
by connecting otherwise separated communities in the landscape, or a local one,
by rising connectivity within communities. In our study, the global action is
mainly performed by small sets of scholarly monographs, reference works and
primary sources, while the rest of the core, and especially most journal
articles, acts mostly locally
A Review of Theory and Practice in Scientometrics
Scientometrics is the study of the quantitative aspects of the process of science as a communication system. It is centrally, but not only, concerned with the analysis of citations in the academic literature. In recent years it has come to play a major role in the measurement and evaluation of research performance. In this review we consider: the historical development of scientometrics, sources of citation data, citation metrics and the âlaws" of scientometrics, normalisation, journal impact factors and other journal metrics, visualising and mapping science, evaluation and policy, and future developments
Making visible the invisible through the analysis of acknowledgements in the humanities
Purpose: Science is subject to a normative structure that includes how the
contributions and interactions between scientists are rewarded. Authorship and
citations have been the key elements within the reward system of science,
whereas acknowledgements, despite being a well-established element in scholarly
communication, have not received the same attention. This paper aims to put
forward the bearing of acknowledgements in the humanities to bring to the
foreground contributions and interactions that, otherwise, would remain
invisible through traditional indicators of research performance.
Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a comprehensive framework to
understanding acknowledgements as part of the reward system with a special
focus on its value in the humanities as a reflection of intellectual
indebtedness. The distinctive features of research in the humanities are
outlined and the role of acknowledgements as a source of contributorship
information is reviewed to support these assumptions.
Findings: Peer interactive communication is the prevailing support thanked in
the acknowledgements of humanities, so the notion of acknowledgements as
super-citations can make special sense in this area. Since single-authored
papers still predominate as publishing pattern in this domain, the study of
acknowledgements might help to understand social interactions and intellectual
influences that lie behind a piece of research and are not visible through
authorship.
Originality/value: Previous works have proposed and explored the prevailing
acknowledgement types by domain. This paper focuses on the humanities to show
the role of acknowledgements within the reward system and highlight publication
patterns and inherent research features which make acknowledgements
particularly interesting in the area as reflection of the socio-cognitive
structure of research.Comment: 14 page
Measuring the vitality and effectiveness within social sciences and humanities research. an attempt in Italian LIS studies
This study constitutes the beginning of a PhD research in Library and information science at Sapienza University of Rome, aimed at investigating the level of internationalisation, vitality and effectivenessof Italian Library and information studies.
The paper describes the methodology of search in international citational database, Web of science and Scopus, and in Google scholar for any scholarly work published by Italian LIS tenured researchers and university professors.
The results in WoS and Scopus are illustrated and compared with a first collection of data within Italian similar field of Social sciences and humanities (SSH).
The reliability of the data collected in citation database within the areas of Social sciences and humanities and their significance are limited; also the comparison with Italian historical and paleographic fields seems to confirms that a substantial impact of SSH non-Anglophone scientific production within citational database is influenced by a number of factors (number of indexed core journals, language of publication, level of coverage of journals, etc.).
On the other hand, Google scholar could be a valuable tool for humanistic fields, but it is necessary to deal with the comple
xity of the analysis and the problems of homonyms.
Therefore, these first research results made it clear that, in order to investigate the presence and impact of Italian LIS studies, a correct use and organization of quantitative data is essential
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