Wenner - Gren International Series Volume 87 

Bibliometrics: Use and Abuse in the Review of Research Performance

Edited by Wim Blockmans, Lars Engwall, and Denis Weaire

Over recent decades, the strong expansion of the number of researchers, the even stronger growth in the number of publication outlets, and managerial expansion have put heavy pressure on the peer-review system. Bibliometrics, which have been made possible by information technology, have increasingly become the yardstick for quality, a development which has been widely criticized by researchers. Biased measuring systems seemed to replace quality judgements, and the multiplication of evaluation work is even said to hamper scientific progress. In this volume, specialists from various disciplines criticize the mechanical use of uniquely metric assessment methods, which all have inherent systemic biases, and plead for the use of multidimensional tools. This book is based on the presentations and discussions at a symposium that was arranged jointly by the Academia Europaea and the Wenner-Gren Foundations and held in Stockholm in late May 2013.

Part 1: Basic Considerations 

Bibliometrics: issues and context 
Lars Engwall, Wim Blockmans and Denis Weaire 

Science, problem-solving and bibliometrics 
Giuseppe Longo 

Part II: Instruments of Measurement 

Advances in bibliometric analysis: research performance assessment and science mapping 
Anthony F.J. van Raan 

Measuring research impact: not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted 
Jane Grimson

Part III: Indicators for Rankings 

Scientific performance indicators: a critical appraisal and a country-by-country analysis 
Michel Gevers 

Research evaluation: improvisation or science? 
Giovanni Abramo and Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo 

How global comparisons matter: the ‘truths’ of international rankings 
Linda Wedlin 


Part IV: Journals, Editors and Publishers 

Metrics and evaluation in publishing  
Nicola Gulley  

The value and accuracy of key figures in scientific evaluations 
Jan Reedijk 

On the quality of quality assessments  
Lars Engwall 


Part V: Bibliometrics in the Humanities and Social Sciences 

Bibliometrics: use and abuse in the humanities 
Milena Žic Fuchs 

The objectives, design and selection process of the Flemish Academic Bibliographic Database for the Social Sciences and Humanities (VABB-SHW) 
Frederik Verleysen, Pol Ghesquière and Tim Engels 

The use of indicators in French universities 
Stéphanie Chatelain-Ponroy, Stéphanie Mignot-Gérard, Christine Musselin and Samuel Sponem 

Part VI: Conclusions 

Science as big business 
Wim Blockmans, Lars Engwall and Denis Weaire