The Evaluation Game
How Publication Metrics Shape Scholarly Communication

This text examines the origin and effects of publication metrics that are used to measure academic productivity around the world.

Emanuel Kulczycki (Author)

9781009351188, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 April 2023

246 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.4 cm, 0.596 kg

'The author uses the metaphor in the title to emphasize the competitive environment in which scientific research takes place. He shows the extent to which research evaluation originates (also) from the government. In this context, he points out a remarkable difference between the West (USA and Western Europe) and the former Eastern Bloc. In the West, researchers have more confidence in colleagues, via peer review, while in the former East Bloc, there is a historic distrust in authorities (experts), and hence a preference for bibliometric indicators. The book draws attention to power relations in science and as such is a useful read, not only for information scientists but also for sociologists and political scientists who want to take a glonacal (global-national-local) perspective.' Ronald Rousseau, KU Leuven and University of Antwerp

Scientific research is communicated, organized, financed, governed, and evaluated through the process of publication. The result of this process is a highly competitive academic environment that rewards researchers for high volume publication, preferably in high-impact journals, leading to the popularised expression 'publish or perish'. Universities and other scientific institutions are under similar pressure, with their aggregated research output being under constant scrutiny. This innovative text provides a detailed introduction to the origin and development of the scholarly metrics used to measure academic productivity, and the effect they have upon the quality and diversity of scientific research. With its careful attention to both the positive and negative outcomes of research evaluation and their distinct expressions around the globe, The Evaluation Game guides the way to a more grounded understanding of metrics, and the diverse academic cultures they give rise to.

Introduction
1. Evaluation as power
2. Economization and metricization
3. Untold histories of research evaluation
4. The diversity of evaluative powers
5. Players and the stakes
6. Playing the evaluation game
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Physics [PH]