A Brief History and Overview

Chapter One from the book, The New Metrics: Practical Assessment of Research Impact Provides an introduction, background information and overview of bibliometrics. Describes the new contexts in which bibliometric indicators are being used in specialized situations, and introduces five case studies where such metrics are being used in new ways

Following the impact factor: Utilitarianism or academic compliance?

The use of impact factors has grown substantially in academia and publishing far beyond their original intended use. They are now used extensively in academic and research assessments as well as in the promotion of journals, publishers, institutions and individuals. The implications of such metricisation for understandings of research quality are discussed as well as for research strategies, the commercialisation of academic publishing, the disciplining of academic knowledge and publishing strategies, knowledge development and the further neoliberalisation of higher education. The paradoxes and problems of current and potential future directions are discussed including with respect to the development of open access publications