Research evaluation reform and the heterogeneity of researchers’ metric-wiseness
Profil Orcid
Catégorie d'article: Research Papers
Publié en ligne: 18 janv. 2025
Pages: 47 - 73
Reçu: 19 juin 2024
Accepté: 20 déc. 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2025-0012
Mots clés
© 2025 Sandra Rousseau, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Purpose
We aimed to measure the variation in researchers’ knowledge and attitudes towards bibliometric indicators. The focus is on mapping the heterogeneity of this metric-wiseness within and between disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory survey is administered to researchers at the Sapienza University of Rome, one of Europe’s oldest and largest generalist universities. To measure metric-wiseness, we use attitude statements that are evaluated by a 5-point Likert scale. Moreover, we analyze documents of recent initiatives on assessment reform to shed light on how researchers’ heterogeneous attitudes regarding and knowledge of bibliometric indicators are taken into account.
Findings
We found great heterogeneity in researchers’ metric-wiseness across scientific disciplines. In addition, within each discipline, we observed both supporters and critics of bibliometric indicators. From the document analysis, we found no reference to individual heterogeneity concerning researchers’ metric wiseness.
Research limitations
We used a self-selected sample of researchers from one Italian university as an exploratory case. Further research is needed to check the generalizability of our findings.
Practical implications
To gain sufficient support for research evaluation practices, it is key to consider researchers’ diverse attitudes towards indicators.
Originality/value
We contribute to the current debate on reforming research assessment by providing a novel empirical measurement of researchers’ knowledge and attitudes towards bibliometric indicators and discussing the importance of the obtained results for improving current research evaluation systems.