The publishing imperative: the pervasive influence of publication metrics

Steele, Colin; Butler, Linda; Kingsley, Danny

doi:10.1087/095315106778690751

Cited by 70 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Rankings such as the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (Centre for World-Class Universities 2014), the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (Thomson Reuters 2014) and the QS World University Rankings (Quacquarelli Symonds 2014) have captured wide attention not only from academia but also from government departments, funding bodies and the general public (Burns and McCarthy 2010;Macdonald and Kam 2009;Steele, Butler, and Kingsley 2006). These rankings, in many cases, have direct or indirect implications for a university's reputation and research funding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riding the Wave of Open Access: Providing Library Research Support for Scholarly Publishing Literacy

Zhao

2014

Australian Academic & Research Libraries

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Researchers are experiencing intense pressures to publish and increase research outputs. Recently many research funders have introduced policies and mandates related to open access, which have contributed to the increasing popularity of open access journals. Dubbed gold open access, open access journals offer researchers another publishing option. However, some publishers with questionable practices and journals of dubious quality have emerged exploiting the 'author pays' open access model and researchers' need to publish. Hence an ability to publish research outputs through the most appropriate outlet for a particular field is crucial for researchers in order to maximise the impact of their research. Notwithstanding the proliferation of open access journals, the literature indicates that some researchers may not have a full understanding of the operations, implications and issues around open access and other publishing issues. This understanding is known as scholarly publishing literacy. With knowledge of scholarly publishing and access to resources and tools, academic libraries and librarians are well-positioned to play an active role in providing support to researchers. This paper argues that scholarly publishing literacy should be treated as an extension of information literacy delivered through a broader research support framework. This paper presents a research librarian's perspective, and draws on literature and the author's practice to illustrate key points. Issues for further investigation are identified.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riding the Wave of Open Access: Providing Library Research Support for Scholarly Publishing Literacy

Zhao

2014

Australian Academic & Research Libraries

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“…Further-more, given that science is important for areas as diverse as culture, innovation, and major societal challenges, any single performance measure -however welldesigned it may be -cannot capture the overall 'importance' of a scientist's work. A strong performance measure based on a single criterion may actually skew the focus of the staff in an undesirable way, so that they fulfil the criterion at the cost of scientific relevance (Butler 2003, Steele et al 2006, Lawrence 2007. This proves that, although the use of a performance measure can alter the behaviour of the researchers, a simple measure may do harm as well as good.…”

Section: Can We Measure Science?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefitting from bibliometry

Giske¹

2008

ESEP.

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Society has learned that there can be big pay-offs from science. Governments, private companies and funding agencies will therefore want to know whether their investments in research are well placed. As long as scientists ask for funding support, we must accept the right of these agencies to ask for proof of results. Within a department, the evaluation of performance may be one of several incentives for improving scientific quality and productivity. However, used alone, performance evaluation can lead to destructive competition and marginalization of potentially valuable staff members. Used in combination with research organisation and leadership, it may motivate many staff members. Results-based financing within a department should be used carefully. It should follow the setting of a clear research agenda, by the lowest-level leaders, and the organisation of the activity into groups. Only in groups with goals can the full potential of the staff in a department be mobilised to do more and better science.

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“…Preliminary evidence suggests that changes in the academic research system may involve conflicting forces: shifts in funding stimulate scientists to make direct contributions to economic growth or other societal goals, but the rise of systematic performance evaluation increases the pressure to achieve scientific excellence as measured in bibliometric terms (Steele et al, 2006;Hessels and van Lente, 2011;Hessels et al, forthcoming).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Struggles for Relevance in Eight Fields of Natural Science

Hessels¹,

Lente²,

Grin³

et al. 2011

Industry and Higher Education

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This paper investigates the consequences of institutional changes on academic research practices in eight fields of natural science in the Netherlands. The authors analyse the similarities and differences among the dynamics of these different fields and reflect on possible explanations for the changes observed. The study shows that the increasing pressure for productivity, as measured in bibliometric terms, can counteract the pressure for practical utility. Moreover, the work indicates that the dynamics of science varies much more across scientific fields than most of the literature suggests is the case.

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The publishing imperative: the pervasive influence of publication metrics

Cited by 70 publications

References 16 publications

Riding the Wave of Open Access: Providing Library Research Support for Scholarly Publishing Literacy

Riding the Wave of Open Access: Providing Library Research Support for Scholarly Publishing Literacy

Benefitting from bibliometry

Changing Struggles for Relevance in Eight Fields of Natural Science

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