Listen ... Responsible metricsYou can listen to an audio only podcast version of this video here.
Read the full text of the Leiden Manifesto
Read the full text of the Metric Tide report
Read the full text of the Declaration on Research Assessment
Responsible metrics (Research Support Handy Guides)
Accessible guide to the main components of responsible metrics
This resource is licenced under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence by Claire Sewell, the Office of Scholarly Communication, Cambridge University Libraries.
The criticisms of both traditional and developing metrics and their use as an assessment tool have been building for some time. In conjunction with the rise of Open Research there have been increasing calls for the more responsible use of these measures, especially when it comes to making major decisions. This movement argues that too much emphasis is being placed on metrics as an assessment tool - something which is especially concerning when you realise that these measures were designed for library stock selection! Responsible metrics recommends that metrics be used as part of a wider method of assessment including both qualitative and quantitative measures to gain a more rounded impression of impact. This is especially important when dealing with decisions such as recruitment, tenure and which publication to submit outputs to as these can have a major impact on a researcher's career. The movement also calls for any assessors to consider the impact of a wider range of research outputs beyond the traditional formats such as books and journal articles.
The video below outlines some of the key points that the movement was built on:
The Responsible Metrics movement has been growing for some time but there are three key documents which have been instrumental in its development:
This set of ten key principles was developed in 2014 as a response to a call for a greater level of professional judgement in research evaluation. It argues that numerical evaluation is a useful tool but one which should be used to support broader, expert assessments and that any measures used should take into account the differences between the disciplines they are being used to measure.
The Metric Tide is a 2015 report commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE) to look at the potential issues around numerical only assessment prior to the REF. Although it acknowledged that quantitative assessment had a place it recommended that this was made more transparent and accountable in line with the rise of Open Research practices. It also recommended that the next REF take into account a wider picture of impact when assessing both individuals and their institutions.
The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) launched in 2012 after a group at a meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology found that they shared similar concerns about potential overreliance on metrics. As a response they devised a set of principles which researchers, institutions and publishers can sign up to (and crucially then follow through on). This has proved popular with over 12,000 signatories from across the world.
Think about the above discussion on responsible metrics. How do you think librarians might be able to support this movement in their local institutions and further afield?
