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Bibliometric methods of (research) assessment. Themis Lazaridis Chemistry Department City College of New York/CUNY http://www.gurforum.org http://axiologisibouleytwn.wordpress.com «Ο δρόμος για την αναγέννηση του ελλ. πανεπιστημίου», Κριτική, 2008.
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Bibliometric methods of (research) assessment Themis Lazaridis Chemistry Department City College of New York/CUNY http://www.gurforum.org http://axiologisibouleytwn.wordpress.com «Ο δρόμος για την αναγέννηση του ελλ. πανεπιστημίου», Κριτική, 2008
Bibliometry: measuring publications and citations in international databases*(more emphasis on citations) Basic hypothesis: importance/impact is reflected in the number of citations (impact ≠ quality) * Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar
Bibliometric indices For journals: * Impact factor (average number of citations per paper for the two preceding years) For individual researchers: * Number of publications * Number of publications weighted by IF * Number of citations (or hetero-citations) * Citations/paper * h index (Hirsch 2005)
h-index Number of publications with at least the same number of citations Combines productivity and impact Good for cumulative achievement Caveats* Major: does not account for number of co-authors * Self-citations (can be corrected) * Humanities, where people write books, not articles * Conference proceedings (e.g. computer science) * Non-internationalized disciplines, non-English bibliography (e.g. Greek literature, law) * Not useful for young researchers http://www.gurforum.org/2007/05/09/faq-συχνές-ενστάσεις-κατά-του-h-index/ see also J. Panaretos, C. Malesios, Scientometrics, 81: 635 (2009)
Early bibliometric studies in Greece • John Lambris, “Biomedical research in Greek universities and research centers”, 1982 • Publications and citations of all Professors in Medicine and Biology departments • HELLASNET (1998) • Publications and citations of every Greek researcher from ISI • Soon withdrawn after reactions G. Zachos, Research output evaluation in two university departments in Greece using bibliometric indicators, Scientometrics 21:195 (1991)
Recent exercises in bibliometric assessment in Greek academia: * Departments of Chemical Engineering (April 2006) * Departments of Materials Science (October 2006) * Departments of Chemistry (May 2007) * Departments of Physics (September 2007) (summarized in T. Lazaridis, Scientometrics, 82:211–216 (2010), all data available at http://greekuniversityreform.org/axio.html) * The research performance of Rectors (May 2006) * Ranking of Greek Universities based on research impact (Oct. 2007) - papers published between 2002-2006 - ranking according to citations/faculty - some correction for differences in fields of study
Ranking of Greek Universities based on research impact παραπομπές / ΔΕΠ (Διορθ.) Κρήτης52.06 Χαροκόπειο39.00 Πολ. Κρήτης35.85 Ιωαννίνων33.63 Γεωπονικό28.33 Μετσόβιο25.81 Πάτρας24.76 Αθηνών19.54 Αιγαίου16.01 ΕΑΠ14.86 ΑΠΘ13.43 Θεσσαλίας11.59 ΟΠΑ10.95 Θράκης9.44 Πειραιώς5.79 Πελοποννήσου 4.59 Μακεδονίας2.85 Ιονίου1.70 Πάντειο1.01
Work by others in Greece: * John Ioannidis (U. Ioannina) : Essential Science Indicators (2007) * Ranking of computer science departments (http://delab.csd.auth.gr/~dimitris/papers/PCI08kmm.pdf) * Ranking of economics departments (http://afroditi.uom.gr/modip/)
Essential Science Indicators (Thompson) http://panaretos.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post.html Citations/paper in different fields in various countries compared to world average Greece below average on all fields except Agr. Sciences and Phycics BUT on publicationswe are doing better: 0.54 pub/1000 residents , 0.28 pub/faculty member , above averageof 27 countries (Kathimerini, 17/4/10)
International uses of bibliometry: * Shanghai ranking of universities: ISI highly cited, # papers in WoS * Times Higher Education ranking: citations per faculty * Leiden University rankings (http://www.cwts.nl) * CHE excellence rankings * Research Excellence Framework (replacement of RAE in UK) * Upcoming ranking of US doctoral programs by NRC * Academic Analytics (Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index)
Βibliometry can be very useful in Greek Academia : * Reality check * Cheap * Objective ! * Identification of clusters of excellence -> innovation * Ranking of science, medicine, pharmacy and other departments stimulates competition. Especially with economic rewards. Also informs students … but : Nothing can replace honest, unbiased, but also TOUGH peer-review !
Some thoughts on “Quality Assurance” in Greece* The law must be enforced, BUT * The law by itself is not enough: follow-up on committee recommendations, consequences
Greek scientific diaspora http://www.epistimones.org (D. Kremmydas, Agr. Univ.)