Using bibliometrics in evaluating research

Abstract

Counting, measuring, comparing quantities, analyzing measurements: quantitative analysis, as Lord Kelvin’s famous observation suggests, is perhaps the main tool of science. In this century, the volume of scientific research—measuring to “know something”—and recording and communicating that knowledge through publications, has itself become enormous and complex. Science research is now such a large enterprise and the substance of scientific research is so complex and specialized that personal knowledge and experience are no longer sufficient tools for understanding trends or for making decisions.