Understand Responsible Metrics
This is an example of how metrics can be used irresponsibly to assess others research. No single metric can ever effectively assess research fairly and holistically. And in this case, puts us in direct breach of our commitment to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment
So what’s wrong with using Journal Impact Factors to judge someone’s research? (JIFs)
- They distort incentives, are flawed, misleading and are likely to discriminate against some types of research and researcher;
- There is no direct link between the quality of research contained and impact factor of the journal in question;
- They were designed as tools to help librarians decide which journals to buy.
Metrics like these, may be tempting short-cuts to evaluate the research of an individual or group, but used inappropriately they can have a detrimental impact on our research culture, careers and drive researchers to focus on lower-risk, incremental work.
So what should I do instead?
- Consider which indicators may be most appropriate, including qualitative;
- Seek or use expert judgement;
- Watch our animations and visit our responsible metrics webpage to find out more.
What are responsible metrics?
Our Guiding Principles
