A study posted on arXiv reports an exponential increase in the number of refereed scientific articles published in recent years, disproportionately outstripping the increase in the number of researchers. Scientific output per researcher as author, reviewer, and editor has increased dramatically, a phenomenon referred to as “pressure on scientific publication”, classified as a problem to be identified and resolved. Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
Research assessment should go beyond comparing impact metrics
The assessment of research results that mainly relies on citation-based metrics has limitations that lead to distortions in the management of human and financial resources in research institutions around the world. The innovative Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, created by the initiative of the European Commission and organizations from this continent with the support of 350 public and private organizations from more than 40 countries, has just been published, and establishes criteria that value qualitative assessment and limit the use of quantitative indicators. … Read More →
Early Reports and the new policy of the Web of Science Journal Impact Factor
Recently, Journal Citation Reports (JCR) incorporated early reports documents into indexing, therefore, the impact factors are being modified. This new methodology will have an effect of reordering journal rankings, with important implications in their academic evaluation. Questions and criticisms have arisen. … Read More →
Bibliometrics: a new threat to zoological taxonomy?
One of the backbones of the life sciences, taxonomy —the science of biodiversity—suffers from multiples impediments, including the use of bibliometric indexes by organizations. These days such indexes play a big role in the scientific decisions. However, what for-profit companies, which own these bibliometric platforms, have to do with science? … Read More →
JCR, Kafka, and MAI!
For the second time, the Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências was surprised to find out that about one quarter of the papers of an issue were gone missing from the Jornal Citation Reports platform, a problem that should come to the attention of the publishing and evaluation industry. Some objective ways to appraise the performance of specific volumes or areas of a journal are presented. … Read More →
The power relations in world science. An anti-ranking to know the science produced in the periphery
The concept of mainstream science was consolidated globally because publications became the main axis of institutional and individual evaluation also in the periphery. The use of bibliometrics contributed to reinforce the extension of a progressively homogenous style of publication and the International Rankings of universities favored the extension of a heteronomous evaluative culture. However, the styles of production and circulation of the so-called science in the periphery are very diverse. … Read More →
The myopia of bibliometric indicators
The use of bibliometric indicators in science evaluation is a ubiquitous practice, despite the fact that there is no unequivocal relationship between citations and scientific quality, impact or merit. A recent study showed that the indiscriminate use of these indicators may hinder the publication of innovative research results, delaying the development of science. … Read More →
Openness is the only quality of an academic article that can be objectively measured
Quality of scientific research articles is a widespread preoccupation in academic circles. The most used proxy is based on citation counts, not of the article itself, but of the averages of articles appearing in the same journal during a given time window. This is known as the Journal Impact Factor, which may be objective within its own definition, but utterly lacks objectivity with regard to scientific quality of individual articles. Only some technical qualities of articles can be assessed at the time of their publication, and, significantly, their openness, the degree to which the research results they describe can be immediately and universally shared. … Read More →
Are we in the GSM Radar?
Google Scholar Metrics (GSM) offers alternative metrics to the JCR Impact Factor and the SJR, namely the h-5 index. To enter this world ranking that covers more than 40,000 journals it is only necessary to publish an average of 20 articles per year and be cited. However, there are hundreds of journals (our journals) that are not being indexed in GSM. They’re off Radar. … Read More →
In memoriam: Eugene Garfield – 1925-2017
The father of Scientometrics died at 91 years old on February 27, 2017 leaving a production of more than 1.000 papers and communications over 60 years of research. … Read More →
Study assesses financing sources of open-access article processing charge
Is there a correlation between article processing charge (APC) and the journals’ Impact Factor? What are the funding sources for payment and how do they influence the choice of journals for publication? These and other questions were investigated by authors from Nanjing University, China and the results explain the peculiarity of open access in different countries. … Read More →
Five things to consider when designing a policy to measure research impact [Originally published in The Conversation]
The move of the Australian government to measure the impact of university research on society introduces many new challenges that were not previously relevant when evaluation focused solely on academic merit. … Read More →
How to assess research proposals?
The peer review of research proposals (grants) aims to judge the merit of projects and researchers and enable the best to be contemplated. The director of an institution in the United Kingdom shared on Twitter his struggle in evaluating the numerous proposals received and started a discussion forum from which ideas and suggestions emerged. … Read More →
Study analyzes the use of social networks in the assessment of scientific impact
The use of social networks in science communication has been increasing on a large scale, and specific platforms have been created for interaction and information sharing among researchers. A study by researchers at the University of St. Gallen, in Switzerland evaluated whether and how scientific impact can be measured by social media data analysis, and how this approach correlates to traditional metrics. … Read More →
How do I get read and cited if I do not publish in elite-journals?
The citation impact of our articles largely depends largely on the promotion work we do of what we publish. Citations do not arise mechanically from the Impact Factor of the journal, but from our personal marketing. … Read More →
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