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2 years ago in Bibliometrics By Riya N
What are the main criticisms of relying on bibliometrics for research assessment?
The "San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment" (DORA) criticizes over-reliance on journal impact factors. What are the specific flaws in using metrics like JIF and H-index to judge the quality of individual researchers or papers?
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By Rudolph Answered 1 year ago
The core criticisms are that metrics often measure the wrong thing and create perverse incentives. 1) They measure attention, not quality: A highly cited paper can be cited for being wrong or controversial. 2) Field Dependence: They unfairly compare mathematicians to microbiologists. 3) Gaming & Manipulation: They encourage self-citation rings, salami-slicing publications, and chasing "hot" topics over important ones. 4) Penalize Innovation: Truly novel work may take years to be cited, and interdisciplinary work may fall between fields. 5) Journal Impact Factor is a journal-level metric, misapplied to assess individual papers or researchers—a critical flaw DORA highlights. The result is a shift toward safer, incremental research over risky, transformative work. The alternative is responsible metrics: using quantitative data as one input within a qualitative, expert-driven assessment of a researcher's actual contributions.
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