Viewpoint
November 11, 2008
Adrian Gibbs: More Academic Mensuration and Wrong Criteria
Australian National University vice-chancellor Ian Chubb’s comments in the Higher Education Supplement (The Australian, 29 October 2008) will scarcely encourage any of those trying to make a career of research in Australia, but is of interest because he is presumably promoting ideas that he believes will appeal to the mandarins. "Concentrate research spending on proven performers" is his message. But then we learn that his proven performers are research institutions rather than research workers!
How does V-C Chubb identify such
"proven performers"? He recommends that we use the rankings devised by
The Times and by
How is it possible to embody the
value of a complex organisation, like a university, in a single
number? The shortcomings of such metrics are shown by the widely quoted
Citation Indices/Impact Factor rankings used to assess the quality of individual
academic contributions. What is the evidence that these reflect the
intellectual value of an author's contributions and not merely the opinions of
journal editors choosing articles that are fashionable and promote journal
sales?
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Professor Adrian Gibbs is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He retired from The Australian National University in 1999.