Many contemporary research funding instruments and research policies aim for excellence at the level of individual scientists, teams or research programmes. Good bibliometric approximations of... Show moreMany contemporary research funding instruments and research policies aim for excellence at the level of individual scientists, teams or research programmes. Good bibliometric approximations of related specialties could be useful for instance to help assign reviewers to applications. This paper reports findings on the usability of reviewer suggestions derived from a recently developed specialty approximation method combining key sources, title words, authors and references (Rons, 2018). Reviewer suggestions for applications for Senior Research Fellowships were made available to the evaluation coordinators. Those who were invited to review an application showed a normal acceptance rate, and responses from experts and coordinators contained no indications of mismatched scientific focus. The results confirm earlier indications that this specialty approximation method can successfully support tasks in research management. Show less
This paper is about the South African job market for PhDs. PhD to first job mobility involves the preferences of both the hiring institution and the candidate. Both want to make the best choice and... Show moreThis paper is about the South African job market for PhDs. PhD to first job mobility involves the preferences of both the hiring institution and the candidate. Both want to make the best choice and here institutional prestige plays a crucial role. A university's prestige is an emergent property of the hiring interactions, so we use a network perspective to measure it. Using this emergent ordering, we compare the subsequent scientific performance of scholars with different changes in the prestige hierarchy. We ask how movements between universities of different prestige from PhD to first job correlates with academic performance. We use data of South African scholars from 1970 to 2012 and we find that those who make large movements in terms of prestige have lower research ratings than those who do not. Further, looking only those with large prestige movements, those with higher prestige PhD or first job have high research ratings throughout their careers. Show less
With intensification of transnational academic mobility, rise in cross-border cooperation and expansion of global collaboration networks, science and higher education are increasingly... Show moreWith intensification of transnational academic mobility, rise in cross-border cooperation and expansion of global collaboration networks, science and higher education are increasingly internationalized. United Kingdom is one of the leading research nations that continues to accommodate great number of scholars from different regions around the globe. UK has also become one of the major migration destinations for scientists from countries of former Soviet Union (FSU), especially for those specializing in STEM subjects. Though many studies are concerned with scale, reasons and consequences of this intellectual migration, women are largely absent from these accounts, despite the fact that from the Soviet past women have been substantially represented among research and teaching staff in engineering and technical disciplines in FSU countries. This paper seeks to partially fill this gap by exploring migration experiences of Russian-speaking female computer scientists (FCS) in the UK in 1990s-2000s. Taken into account that women are reported to be disadvantaged in computer science as a male dominated discipline and may suffer from additional pressure as immigrants in the host country, the study aims to answer the following questions: Who are FCS, where do they come from and what position in the host country academia do they occupy? What tensions and difficulties do women scientists encounter in their cross-border movement? What strategies do they develop to overcome these difficulties and achieve professional advancement in the British academia? What is the specificity of migrant experiences of female scientists in comparison to their male counterparts? The study is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews and open Internet sources (university websites, CVs, social networks, specialized publications databases). Show less
Over the last forty years, the USPTO annually has granted an increasing number of patents with a great large number of references to other patents. Such an increase in the number of references has... Show moreOver the last forty years, the USPTO annually has granted an increasing number of patents with a great large number of references to other patents. Such an increase in the number of references has led to serious patent citation inflation in the period. In the article, we present some formulas used to calculate citation inflation rates, and propose some solutions based on relative citation indicators to amend, improve and complement some traditional citation theories and patent evaluation approaches. The results of this research on patent citation inflation confirm the abilities of the new established indicators, measurement methods, and proposed solutions based on relative citation indicators. Show less
This paper explores the complex relationship between scientific novelty and technology impact, where we measure recombinant novel science as publications which make new combinations of prior... Show moreThis paper explores the complex relationship between scientific novelty and technology impact, where we measure recombinant novel science as publications which make new combinations of prior knowledge and trace links between science and technology by scientific references in patent applications. We draw on all the SCIE journal articles published in 2001 and all the patents in PATSTAT version 201310. We find that only a small proportion (about 10%) of scientific publications are directly referenced as prior art in subsequent technological inventions, but a small number of scientific papers which score on novelty (about 11%) are significantly more likely to have direct technological impact compared to similar non-novel papers, particularly the 1% highly novel scientific papers. In addition to this superior likelihood of direct impact, novel science also has a higher probability for indirect technological impact, being more likely to be cited by other scientific papers which have technological impact. Among the set of scientific papers cited at least once by patents, there are no additional significant differences in the speed or the intensity of the technological impact between novel and non-novel scientific prior art, but the technological impact from novel science is significantly broader and reaching new technology fields previously non-impacted by its scientific discipline. Novel science is also significantly more likely to be impacting technology inventions which are themselves recombinant novel. Show less
One way of measuring interdisciplinarity is using the diversity of fields used in references. It is usually stated that diversity has three components: variety, balance or evenness and disparity or... Show moreOne way of measuring interdisciplinarity is using the diversity of fields used in references. It is usually stated that diversity has three components: variety, balance or evenness and disparity or its opposite: similarity. In this contribution we focus on the role of balance or evenness in the determination of diversity and reflect on the “monotonicity of balance” requirement.We conclude that one should take similarity (or disparity) between cells seriously and consider it to be at least as important as variety. Balance plays a minor role. Show less
We conceptualize a research project as a CES production function whose factors are sub-team efforts, each one in a distinct field of science. We abstract from the intra-team coordination and free... Show moreWe conceptualize a research project as a CES production function whose factors are sub-team efforts, each one in a distinct field of science. We abstract from the intra-team coordination and free-riding issues to focus on the team decision problem when it competes in a Tullock contest to win a given prize, or say a publication slot in a top journal. We show that the degree of interdisciplinarity of the team outcome at equilibrium is tied in a certain way to the coefficients of the production function, in essence the nature of the problem addressed. Under some mild conditions, interdisciplinarity goes in the reverse direction than the probability to participate in the contest, the production outcome and the probability to win to contest. These results are consistent with scientific research being mostly mono-disciplinary, and scientific impact decreasing with interdisciplinarity. It can also explain that observed interdisciplinary research actually may have larger impact because of the selection bias, not as an outcome of interdisciplinarity per se. It also suggests that outcome is less sensitive to interdisciplinarity when the team is of higher quality. We then bring this model to the data, testing its predictions on an original dataset of nearly eight hundred thousand authorship participations of nearly thirty thousand French professors and researchers over period (1999-2014). Show less
Besselaar, P. van den; Schiffbaenker, H.; Sandström, U.; Mom, M. 2018
To explain lower success rates of female applicants in ERC grants, we collected data about past performance of the applicants, and we interviewed panel members about how selection criteria are... Show moreTo explain lower success rates of female applicants in ERC grants, we collected data about past performance of the applicants, and we interviewed panel members about how selection criteria are practiced in general and specifically for female vs. male applicants. Controlling for several past performance variables, we still do find gender bias – more often in favor of men than of women. The analysis of the interviews provides empirical evidence that current evaluation practices indeed are not at all optimal, leading to gender-biased practices and outcomes. Show less
Over the last three decades, some industrialized countries have implemented a set of scientific, technological, and industrial policies to improve the economic landscape of the new emerging... Show moreOver the last three decades, some industrialized countries have implemented a set of scientific, technological, and industrial policies to improve the economic landscape of the new emerging biopharmaceutical industry. Biopharmaceuticals generally refers to medicines developed using biotechnological methods (such as the culture of cells from mice and other mammals, cultivated under rigorous quality controls and best practices), as well as drugs produced using DNA technologies and genomic and proteomic techniques (Ecker et al., 2015). This article aims to provide an introductory analysis of the political framework under implementation for the development and manufacturing of the so-called Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) in Brazil. We conducted a documental research on articles available in the Web of Science and reports and website information of federal governmental agencies. We also applied 28 interviews with the main stakeholders involved in the Brazilian mAbs biopharmaceutical development agenda. Show less
Struck, D.B.; Durning, M.; Roberge, G.; Campbell, D. 2018
Citation outcomes are often used as a proxy to measure research excellence. Accordingly, clarifying the drivers of citation outcomes is valuable information for research policy, both to inform... Show moreCitation outcomes are often used as a proxy to measure research excellence. Accordingly, clarifying the drivers of citation outcomes is valuable information for research policy, both to inform interventions that contribute to excellence and to establish fair normalization practices when measuring the relative excellence of a body of work compared a given benchmark. Previous research has shown that open access, international collaboration and the gender composition of research teams each have an influence on citation outcomes and that they are interconnected with one another. The present work replicates a small-scale study that disentangles their influence, expands the analysis to a much wider scope, and drills down into subsets of data, applying this analytical approach sequentially to extract valuable contextual information to situate interpretation of more localized findings. However, this study can only inform a discussion about the policy relevance of and appropriate policy responses to the present findings; it cannot replace that discussion. Some questions that it raises pertain to the difference between a strategy to improve research and a strategy to improve citations, what counts as a fair expectation against which to measure performance for various groups, and what exactly it is that we are aiming to promote when using citation-based measures for research evaluation. Show less
Cobo, M.J.; Dehdarirad, T.; García-Sánchez, P.; Moral-Munoz, J.A. 2018
Reproducibility of scientific articles and their findings has gained importance in the last years. Although most efforts have been made in biomedicine, health and psychology science,... Show moreReproducibility of scientific articles and their findings has gained importance in the last years. Although most efforts have been made in biomedicine, health and psychology science, reproducibility is important and necessary in all the research fields. Thus, in this contribution an empirical evaluation of the reproducibility of scientometric studies was carried out. To do so, 285 articles published in the journal of Scientometrics in 2017 were examined in term of the following reproducibility artifacts: workflow, search strategy, database, software, the availability of the source code (where applicable) and the availability of the dataset. Our findings showed that whilst workflow and search strategy were well described in the majority of articles, the dataset used was shared by very few studies. The data was usually retrieved from the WoS and Scopus databases. Finally, a few articles shared the source code where ad-hoc software was used. Show less
Radó-Trilla, N.; Solans-Domènech, M.; Adam, P. 2018
As the Catalan research assessment agency, we designed and implemented an ongoing, ex-post and impact assessment system in the area of health system (SARIS), which includes a crucial pillar:... Show moreAs the Catalan research assessment agency, we designed and implemented an ongoing, ex-post and impact assessment system in the area of health system (SARIS), which includes a crucial pillar: engagement. We developed an approach that combines the co-creation with the stakeholders in order to define topics of interests, with the formulation of preliminary indicators to assess the impact of nursing research. Therefore, a 2-phase approach was developed. First, discussion groups with the main purpose of identifying topics of interest in relations to the impact of nursing research were developed. Nurses from different settings, territories and disciplines made emerge four topics of interest: ‘advancement of knowledge’, ‘results dissemination’, ‘nurse training and networks’ and ‘results application’. Second, the suggested ideas from the focus groups were analysed and discussed in order to elaborate 30 preliminary indicators. Next steps will include a consensus in order to assess the relevance of these indicators. In the current context, where research in nursery care has not been measured before, co-creation with stakeholders might be a win-win strategy to reach three objectives: 1) obtaining a meaningful and measurable set of indicators, 2) raising awareness on the transformative potential of nursery care research, and 3) in motivating researchers in nursery care to maximize the impact. Show less
This analysis examines trade journals as an example of the less observed publication types in bibliometric databases. It is shown that they appear in considerable numbers both in Scopus and the Web... Show moreThis analysis examines trade journals as an example of the less observed publication types in bibliometric databases. It is shown that they appear in considerable numbers both in Scopus and the Web of Science and that their bibliometric properties (citation behavior, document type distribution, field differences) differ significantly from academic journals. An example of how trade journals influence bibliometric indicator calculations on a field level is also provided. Lastly, German institutions and sectors are identified that publish most in trade journals. Hereby, a target audience is inferred, leading to the conclusion that bibliometric databases provide not only insights in intra-scientific communication but also about knowledge transfer. Some remarks regarding how bibliometricians should handle different publication types to increase construct validity complement this analysis. Show less
The Second National Enterprise Innovation Survey was conducted in China in 2017, targeting industry, construction and service sectors. This survey used to a large extent the Oslo Manual as... Show moreThe Second National Enterprise Innovation Survey was conducted in China in 2017, targeting industry, construction and service sectors. This survey used to a large extent the Oslo Manual as reference in terms of norms and standards and drew on lessons and experiences from innovation survey practices in EU countries. However, there were additional contents to it, such as, survey of entrepreneurial groups. According to the results of the 2017 survey, approximately 40% of the enterprises surveyed had innovation activity and around 8% of them achieved 4 kinds of innovation; the innovation success rate of the manufacturing industry was relatively high and the innovation activeness of large-sized enterprises was the highest; cooperative innovation was conducive to enhancing market competitiveness; insufficient cognition of innovation, relatively high costs of innovation and lack of elements for innovation were believed to be the major obstacles to corporate innovation; and finally, the outcome of implementation of innovation policies was widely approved among the entrepreneurial groups. Show less
Costas, R.; Perianes-Rodriguez, A.; Ruiz-Castillo, J. 2017
PurposeThe introduction of “altmetrics” as new tools to analyze scientific impact within the reward system of science has challenged the hegemony of citations as the predominant source for... Show morePurposeThe introduction of “altmetrics” as new tools to analyze scientific impact within the reward system of science has challenged the hegemony of citations as the predominant source for measuring scientific impact. Mendeley readership has been identified as one of the most important altmetric sources, with several features that are similar to citations. The purpose of this paper is to perform an in-depth analysis of the differences and similarities between the distributions of Mendeley readership and citations across fields.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze two issues by using in each case a common analytical framework for both metrics: the shape of the distributions of readership and citations, and the field normalization problem generated by differences in citation and readership practices across fields. In the first issue the authors use the characteristic scores and scales method, and in the second the measurement framework introduced in Crespo et al. (2013).FindingsThere are three main results. First, the citations and Mendeley readership distributions exhibit a strikingly similar degree of skewness in all fields. Second, the results on “exchange rates (ERs)” for Mendeley readership empirically supports the possibility of comparing readership counts across fields, as well as the field normalization of readership distributions using ERs as normalization factors. Third, field normalization using field mean readerships as normalization factors leads to comparably good results.Originality/valueThese findings open up challenging new questions, particularly regarding the possibility of obtaining conflicting results from field normalized citation and Mendeley readership indicators; this suggests the need for better determining the role of the two metrics in capturing scientific recognition. Show less
