Research assessment
This theme aims at contributing to the further development and scientific-scholarly foundation of research assessment methodologies in all domains of science and human scholarship.
- Part I: Development of research-assessment methodologies
- Part II: Development and application of methodologies
- More information
Part I: Development of research-assessment methodologies
Part I aims at contributing to the further development and scientific-scholarly foundation of research-assessment methodologies in all domains of science and human scholarship. It acknowledges that a firm political or societal basis of – especially basic - research can be maintained only by:
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further developing a system of internal quality control and performance enhancement,
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creating useful information products or systems on research activities and performance for the science policy sphere, research management and the general public.
Two notions
The R&D work focuses on such systems and products, and are providing a scientific-scholarly basis for them. It is based on two notions:
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that an academic, scientific-scholarly foundation of methodologies for assessment of research performance –including bibliometric analysis– should be conceived as an interdisciplinary endeavour, aimed at integrating perspectives, insights and findings from a series of relevant scientific-scholarly disciplines, and
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that the experiences collected in the actual application of research-performance assessment methodologies and the criteria of their usefulness (expressed from the research policy and management sphere and the general public) constitute a valuable object both of theoretical reflection and of empirical research of an application-oriented nature.
Part II: Development and application of methodologies
Part II focuses on a further development and application of existing methodologies at CWTS, as well as new-defined methods in the actual application of bibliometrics in research assessment procedures. Thereby strengthening the relation between contract research and more basic research.
As we observe that bibliometrics - as an additional tool in evaluation procedures - is gaining in importance, so is the urge to keep up with the demands from both the field of application (“the clients”), as well as with the surrounding field of bibliometrics itself (“the scientific competition”).
Improve and provide
The content of the research will necessarily focus on the existing methodologies, in order:
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to improve the existing software and procedures,
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to improve the efficiency of conducting bibliometric analyses,
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to provide better services for our clients.
Comparison of methodologies
Simultaneously, the focus is on the progress of other bibliometric groups, in order to compare methodologies and indicators and to keep up with developments in the field. The research in this part of the theme will cover the whole range from macro-level studies (country level) to meso-level (fields), micro-level (institutes/groups) to ‘nano-level’ (individual researchers).
More information
More information of the staff affiliated to this theme, and their publications can be found on the CWTS research website.