4.9 A marker of ‘performance’ is citation analysis of journal articles. This can provide good coverage, soundly based data and a link to quality. There is, however, a possibility that changes to the structure of publication through ‘open access’ will in due course supersede traditional journals. Developments in this area will bring their own advantages and create opportunities for the development of new indicators. Much of the work in this area, as well as the opportunities it presents, is not currently on the radar of policy makers. It is essential that this is explored further before decisions are made. A key question is the extent to which citation metrics are appropriate as a resource allocation model because of the impact that this could have on behaviour. As with input measures, it is likely that they could be used productively as part of a basket of indicators in a supporting role.
PS: For more on the OA connection, see Stevan Harnad's frequent comments on how research assessment creates incentives for self-archiving, to facilitate the submission process and (with the transition to a metrics-based assessment) to give authors the benefit of the OA impact advantage.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/12/2006 05:02:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
