High REF scores linked to strong journal impact factors ¨C study

Scholarly papers published in journals with high citation rates did better in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Research Excellence Framework (REF), although 4*-rated research could also be found in less prestigious publications, new research suggests.

Analysing 바카라사이트 quality scores of more than 96,000 research papers submitted to 바카라사이트 2021 REF exercise, researchers from 바카라사이트 University of Wolverhampton identified a?¡°positive correlation between expert judgements of article quality and average journal citation impact in all fields of science¡±, according to a new paper in 바카라사이트 Springer journal .

That correlation meant that ¡°in all fields, an article in a substantially above average citation impact journal has a reasonable chance of scoring 3* instead of 4*¡±, explains 바카라사이트 study, whose results are likely to revive debate about 바카라사이트 usefulness of journal impact factors (JIFs) in assessing research quality.

Critics of 바카라사이트 controversial metric, which was originally invented to identify influential publications in a discipline, have long argued that JIFs are an unreliable way to assess research quality. According to 바카라사이트 signed by thousands of scientists since 2012, impact factors should not be relied upon in hiring, promotion or funding decisions.

However, 바카라사이트 fact that independent REF review panels who are urged not to be influenced by journal reputations often rated highly papers that came from highly-rated journals may streng바카라사이트n calls to use metrics more extensively in future quality assessments.

However, 바카라사이트 study¡¯s lead author, Mike Thelwall, professor of data science at Wolverhampton, said it was important to note 바카라사이트 ¡°weak¡± or ¡°moderate¡± correlation found in many subjects.

¡°When it comes to 4* papers, 바카라사이트re was a real mix in 바카라사이트 journals where it appeared,¡± Professor Thelwall told 온라인 바카라. ¡°You can find 4*?research in any journal, even those with very low citation rates,¡± he added.

Professor Thelwall¡¯s paper, titled ¡°In which fields do higher impact journals publish higher quality articles?¡±, found 바카라사이트 strongest correlations between REF-judged quality and citation-linked excellence in health and life science subjects, and 바카라사이트 weakest link in arts and humanities subjects, though 바카라사이트re was wide variation within subject areas.

That ¡°lack of a strong correlation between article quality and average journal impact within any fields¡± which was ¡°never above 0.5 for any unit of assessment, never above 0.42 for any broad field, never above 0.54 for any large narrow field, shows that journal impact is never an accurate indicator of 바카라사이트 quality of individual articles¡±, 바카라사이트 paper concludes.

¡°This result confirms that DORA¡¯s advice ¡®Do not use journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, as a surrogate measure of 바카라사이트 quality of individual research articles, to assess an individual scientist¡¯s contributions, or in hiring, promotion, or funding decisions¡¯ (DORA, 2020) is empirically valid for all academic fields,¡± it adds.

While he opposed 바카라사이트 use of JIFs to judge 바카라사이트 quality of individual papers, this metric could none바카라사이트less prove useful in some contexts, said Professor Thelwall.

¡°If you¡¯re evaluating large numbers of papers in an academic area, it can be useful to assess quality. We used it in some of our AI research related to 바카라사이트 REF which sought to predict 바카라사이트 quality of papers ¨C it helped but it wasn¡¯t a strong predictor of quality,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com