Michael A. Allen On the current obsession with publication statistics. ScienceAsia. Vol.36, No.1 (2010), 1-5. doi:10.2306/scienceasial513-1874.2010.36.001 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/29986
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On the current obsession with publication statistics
Crude publication statistics such as publication counts and impact factors are routinely being employed to assess individuals and institutions. Although they can play a role in an approximate preliminary assessment, using them for anything more is inappropriate due to their over-simplicity and ease of manipulation. Furthermore, it is argued that rewarding scientists for achieving high scores in such number-based evaluations ultimately leads to a slowing of scientific progress. Suggestions are given on how reliance on statistics can be reduced and their manipulation discouraged.
