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‘I want to be able to do what I know the tools will allow us to do’: Practicing evaluative bibliometrics through digital infrastructure

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  • Anne K Krüger
  • Sabrina Petersohn

Abstract

The proliferation of quantitative research assessment has been accompanied by an increasing growth and diversification of digital infrastructure for evaluative bibliometrics. Since the beginning of the 2000s, insights into academic performance provided by a variety of new databases and devices significantly exceed the capacities of the former Science Citation Index and embedded metrics. Going beyond the research on the construction, uses, and consequences of bibliometric indicators, we therefore posit that a perspective on bibliometric infrastructure is crucial for understanding how evaluative bibliometrics is put into practice. Drawing on interviews with academic librarians on the increasing provision and implementation of bibliometric infrastructure in the years 2013 and 2014, we analyse how the entanglement of technology and its users shapes how evaluative bibliometrics is understood and practiced.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne K Krüger & Sabrina Petersohn, 2022. "‘I want to be able to do what I know the tools will allow us to do’: Practicing evaluative bibliometrics through digital infrastructure," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(4), pages 475-485.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rseval:v:31:y:2022:i:4:p:475-485.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Björn Hammarfelt & Alexander D. Rushforth, 2017. "Indicators as judgment devices: An empirical study of citizen bibliometrics in research evaluation," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 169-180.
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    7. Sabrina Petersohn & Thomas Heinze, 2018. "Professionalization of bibliometric research assessment. Insights from the history of the Leiden Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS)," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 565-578.
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