Bibliometrics of individual researchers

Bibliometrics of individual researchers

....key topic at a special plenary at the 14^th ISSI Conference two weeks ago in Vienna. The plenary was an initiative taken by Jochen Gläser (Technical University Berlin), Ismael Rafols (Ingenio, Spanish National Research Council / Polytechnical University Valencia), Wolfgang Glänzel (Leuven University) and myself. The plenary aimed to give a new stimulus to the debate how to apply, and how not to apply, performance indicators of individual scientists and scholars. Although not a new debate – the pioneers of bibliometrics already paid attention to this problem – it has become more urgent because of the almost insatiable demand for objective data and indicators in the management of universities and research institutes. ......

From bibliometrics to altmetrics: A changing scholarly landscape

....librarians are in a key position to take the lead in bolstering researchers’ knowledge of current trends—and concerns—in the new art and science impact measurement......

Providing tools to gauge research productivity

As a subject librarian and expert in cataloging, Niamh Brennan was asked to join the team developing Trinity College Dublin’s Current Research Information System (CRIS). In particular, she was to produce a standards-based approach to describing research outputs and train researchers how to use the new system.

Scholars Seek Better Ways to Track Impact Online

Unpacking Assessment

Unpacking Assessment

"As an assessment librarian, I am always looking for different ways to think about assessment. Most librarians aren’t statisticians, and for some, even the word itself, assessment, is daunting in that its meaning is unclear. Additionally, it’s such a broad topic that many of us are interested in only specific angles: learning outcomes, collection assessment, return on investment, the Value of Academic Libraries, and so on." ...

Bibliometric indices

Interesting papers on the use and misuse of bibliometric indices in evaluating scholarly performance available at:
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esep/v8/n1/
"Quantifying the relative performance of individual scholars, groups of scholars, departments, institutions, provinces/states/regions and countries has become an integral part of decision-making over research policy, funding allocations, awarding of grants, faculty hirings, and claims for promotion and tenure. Bibliometric indices (based mainly upon citation counts), such as the h-index and the journal impact factor, are heavily relied upon in such assessments. There is a growing consensus, and a deep concern, that these indices — more-and-more often used as a replacement for the informed judgement of peers — are misunderstood and are, therefore, often misinterpreted and misused. The articles in this ESEP Theme Section present a range of perspectives on these issues. Alternative approaches, tools and metrics that will hopefully lead to a more balanced role for these instruments are presented."