Counteracting erroneous interpretations of bibliometrics

With reference to the research traditions in the Science of Science, the Editorial Committee fully support the current criticism of bibliometrics, mistakenly identified with scientometrics by science administrators around the world (cf. Cool et al. 2009; San Francisco Declaration On Research Assessment (DORA) 2012; Hicks et al. 2015; Werner 2015).

In particular, the Editorial Committee fully share the view of the 74 editors representing 56 leading journals in the history of science, technology and medicine that:

“Great research may be published anywhere and in any language. Truly ground-breaking work may be more likely to appear from marginal, dissident or unexpected sources, rather than from a well-established and entrenched mainstream” (Cool et al. 2009, p. 2).

Therefore, the pages of the journal are open to the reliable analyzes of the bibliometric methods in the light of the science of science and the science studies, particularly with regard to the history of science and the history of the exact sciences (cf. About the journal, The scope of the journal).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

COOK Hal et al. [total of 74 editors representing 56 leading journals in the history of science, technology and medicine]
2009: Journals under Threat: A Joint Response from History of Science, Technology and Medicine Editors, Medical History 53(1), pp. 1–4. Available online:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629173/ (29.11.2014);
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629173/pdf/medhis5301-00a-01.pdf (29.11.2014).

HICKS Diana, WOUTERS Paul, WALTMAN Ludo, de RIJCKE Sarah, RAFOLS Ismael
2015: Bibliometrics: The Leiden Manifesto for research metrics. Nature 520(7548), pp. 429–431 (23 April 2015).
Available online:
http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.17351!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/520429a.pdf;
http://www.nature.com/news/bibliometrics-the-leiden-manifesto-for-research-metrics-1.17351.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY (ASCB) (together with a group of editors and publishers of scholarly journals)
2012: SAN FRANCISCO DORA DECLARATION ON RESEARCH ASSESSMENT. Available online:
http://am.ascb.org/dora/; http://www.ascb.org/dora-old/files/SFDeclarationFINAL.pdf.

WERNER Reinhard
2015: The focus on bibliometrics makes papers less useful. Nature 517 (7534), p. 245 (15 JANUARY 2015).
Available online: http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/517245a;
http://www.nature.com/news/the-focus-on-bibliometrics-makes-papers-less-useful-1.16706.