[Irtalk] The focus on bibliometrics makes papers less useful : Nature News & Comment

[Hilton Gibson]

ow do we recognize a good scientist? There is an entire industry —
bibliometrics — that would have us believe that it is easy: count journal
articles, sort them according to the impact factors of the journals, and
count all the citations.

Science managers and politicians seem especially fond of such ways to
assess ‘scientific quality’. But many scientists also accept them, and use
them in hiring and funding decisions. *They are drawn to the alleged
objectivity of bibliometrics. *

http://www.nature.com/news/the-focus-on-bibliometrics-makes-papers-less-useful-1.16706
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