Evaluations of individual scientists and research institutions

The mismeasure of science: Citation analysis

“…Therefore, we are left with no objective method to evaluate scientific impact, productivity, or quality, whether it be citation counts, peer review, publication counts, or any combination of these (but see Bornmann et al ). All are pervasively flawed; the flaws are so well known that one wonders why they have persisted as evaluative indicators for so long (Buschman & Michalek, ; Hutchinson, ; Moustafa, ). Neither the “better than nothing,” “the least worst,” nor the “best of a bad lot” arguments are good enough.…”