Letter: A call for a radical change in research evaluation in Spain

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.may.09

Palabras clave:

Research evaluation, Performance assessment of researchers, Research policy, Bibliometric indicators, San Francisco Declaration on Research and Assessment, DORA, Leiden Manifesto, Journal Impact Factor, Journal level metrics, Citation counts, Scientific Journals, Scholarly publishing, Scientific ethics

Resumen

This letter is a call to the Spanish scientific authorities to abandon current research evaluation policies, which are based on an excessive and indiscriminate use of bibliometric indicators for nearly all areas of scientific activity. This narrow evaluation focus is especially applied to assess the individual performance of researchers. To this end, we first describe the contexts in which the journal impact factor (JIF) and other bibliometric indicators are being used. We then consider the toxic effects of this abuse of indicators. Finally, we outline some significant transformations and initiatives being introduced in various academic fields and regions of the world. These international initiatives offer alternatives to bibliometrics that can improve evaluation processes, and we urge political leaders in Spain to adopt and develop them.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Citas

Aneca (2009). Informe sobre el estado de la evaluación externa de la calidad en las universidades españolas. Madrid: Aneca. http://deva.aac.es/include/files/deva/informes/evaluacion_externa/Informe_Calidad_2009.pdf

Delgado-López-Cózar, Emilio (2021). Sexenios 2020: Una revisión de estilo y un insólito a la par que loable esfuerzo de transparencia en el reino de los í­ndices de impacto. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14771.14885

Delgado-López-Cózar, Emilio; Martí­n-Martí­n, Alberto (2019). "El factor de impacto de las revistas cientí­ficas sigue siendo ese número que devora la ciencia española: ¿hasta cuándo?". Anuario ThinkEPI, v. 13. https://doi.org/10.3145/thinkepi.2019.e13e09

De-Moya-Anegón, Félix (2020). Frecuencia de publicación e impacto de la producción cientí­fica mundial. Scimago Lab. https://www.scimagolab.com/blog/2020/frecuencia-de-publicacion-e-impacto-de-la-produccion-cientifica-mundial

De-Rijcke, Sarah; Wouters, Paul F.; Rushforth, Alex D.; Franssen, Thomas P.; Hammarfelt, Bjí¶rn (2016). "Evaluation practices and effects of indicator use: a literature review". Research evaluation, v. 25, n. 2, pp. 161-169. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvv038

Feenstra, Ramón A.; Delgado-López-Cózar, Emilio (2021). The footprint of a metrics-based research evaluation system on Spanish philosophical scholarship: an analysis of researchers perceptions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.11987

Feenstra, Ramón A.; Delgado-López-Cózar, Emilio; Pallarés-Domí­nguez, Daniel (2021). "Research misconduct in the fields of ethics and philosophy: researchers´ perceptions in Spain". Science and engineering ethics, v. 27, n. 1, pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00278-w

Fernández-Cano, Antonio (2021). "Publish, publish"¦ cursed!". Scientometrics, v. 126, n. 4, pp. 3673-3682. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03833-7

Hicks, Diana; Wouters, Paul; Waltman, Ludo; De-Rijcke, Sarah; Ràfols, Ismael (2015). "Bibliometrics: the Leiden Manifesto for research metrics". Nature, v. 520, n. 7548, pp. 429-431. https://doi.org/10.1038/520429a

López-Piñeiro, Carla; Hicks, Diana (2015). "Reception of Spanish sociology by domestic and foreign audiences differs and has consequences for evaluation". Research evaluation, v. 24, n. 1, pp. 78-89. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvu030

Martin, Ben R. (2013). "Whither research integrity? Plagiarism, self-plagiarism and coercive citation in an age of research assessment". Research policy, v. 42, n. 5, pp. 1005-1014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.03.011

Rodrí­guez-Bravo, Blanca; Nicholas, David (2019). "Reputación y comunicación cientí­fica: investigadores españoles en el inicio de su carrera". Profesional de la información, v. 28, n. 2, e280203. https://doi.org//10.3145/epi.2019.mar.03

Rodrí­guez-Navarro, Alonso (2009). "Sound research, unimportant discoveries: research, universities, and formal evaluation of research in Spain". Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, v. 60, n. 9, pp. 1845-1858. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21104

Welpe, Isabell M.; Wollersheim, Jutta; Ringelhan, Stefanie; Osterloh, Margit (eds.) (2015). Incentives and performance. Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN: 978 3 319 09785 5

Wilsdon, James; Allen, Liz; Belfiore, Eleonora; Campbell, Philip; Curry, Stephen; Hill, Steven; Jones, Richard; Kain, Roger; Kerridge, Simon R.; Thelwall, Mike; Tinkler, Jane; Viney, Ian; Wouters, Paul (2016). The metric tide: Independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4929.1363

Wilsdon, James; Bar-Ilan, Judit; Frodeman, Robert; Lex, Elisabeth; Peters, Isabella; Wouters, Paul (2017). Next-generation metrics: Responsible metrics and evaluation for open science. Report of the European Commission Expert Group on Altmetrics. Brussels: European Commission. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b858d952-0a19-11e7-8a35-01aa75ed71a1

Zhang, Lin; Sivertsen, Gunnar (2020). "The new research assessment reform in China and its implementation". Scholarly assessment reports, v. 2, n. 1. https://www.scholarlyassessmentreports.org/articles/10.29024/sar.15

Publicado

2021-05-22

Cómo citar

Delgado-López-Cózar, E., Ràfols, I., & Abadal, E. (2021). Letter: A call for a radical change in research evaluation in Spain. Profesional De La información Information Professional, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.may.09