B - Research assessment: comparison of peer review and bibliometrics rankings

Abramo G., D'Angelo CA, Di Costa F. National research assessment exercises: a comparison of peer review and bibliometrics rankings. Scientometrics 2011;89:929-941
(doi: 10.1007/s11192-011-0459-x)

There is unanimous agreement that resources for science should be assigned according to rigorous evaluation criteria. Some governments have already introduced bibliometric methodology in support or substitution for more traditional peer review. The aim of this work was to compare ranking lists of Italian universities obtained through peer review for the period 2001-2003, with those obtained from bibliometric simulations. The comparison showed great differences between the two methodologies, raising strong doubts about the peer review reliability.

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