This study provides a comparison of the post-evaluation effects of national research evaluation frameworks in the UK and Italy at university (macro) and researcher (micro) level. We compare how... Show moreThis study provides a comparison of the post-evaluation effects of national research evaluation frameworks in the UK and Italy at university (macro) and researcher (micro) level. We compare how universities and researchers have responded to their evaluation frameworks, within the constraints of each university system and culture. The study draws on the policies informing the operationalisation of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) and Italy’s Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca (VQR). We compare the national approaches to evaluation by analysing the purposes, the real use of outputs, the criticism, and effects of the respective evaluation exercises. This paper discusses these effects as part of a wider approach to influencing university and researchers’ outcomes towards desirable goals. With data collected via semi-structured interviews we explore how evaluation is used to drive research actors in desirable directions. With the review of literature surrounding the effects of evaluations on the national (mega), university (macro) and researcher (micro) levels and their integration, we explore the intertwined implications for the decisional system, the organizational structures, and the individual performance. Under this perspective we look at evaluation as a technique used to influence behaviour at the macro and micro research level. Comparing post-evaluation effects of different frameworks in different context allows, on one hand, identifying some specific country/culture related aspects. On the other, it allows identifying new understandings of how auditing research productivity by altering behaviours on macro and micro level, ingenerates intentional and unintentional changes at all levels. Show less
This paper reports the presence of a problematic “personal ethics” approach to decision-making by social media scholars who use data from general audience social media platforms for their research.... Show moreThis paper reports the presence of a problematic “personal ethics” approach to decision-making by social media scholars who use data from general audience social media platforms for their research. This paper uses data from UK higher education institutions, journal Editors, UK funding bodies, social media research scholars, and research ethics committee members, consider the ethical boundaries of SM data. In particular, it focuses on how these academic governing bodies are failing to consistently promote a community-wide norm relating to the used of SM data. This leads to the application of ad hoc ethical definitions, or the promotion of the ability of researchers to apply a sense of “personal ethics” about SM use, that is not necessarily in line with the nature of SM data. As such, this paper offers a number of recommendations for the academic community to reflect on the ethical dimensions associated with responsible research behaviour relative to the use of SM data. Show less
