How evaluative informetrics relates to scientific, socio-historical, political, ethical and personal values

Abstract

Evaluative informetrics is defined as the study of evaluative aspects of science and scholarship using informetric data and methodologies, such as citation analysis and altmetrics. Following the main lines of an article by the Dutch philosopher O.D. Duintjer, nine interfaces are distinguished between quantitative science studies, especially evaluative informetrics, and the domain of values, including scientific, sociohistorical, political, ethical and personal norms and objectives. Special attention is given to the "principle of value neutrality" at the meta-level of methodological rules guiding scientific inquiry and to the crucial, independent role of evaluative frameworks in research evaluation. The implications of the various relationships between science and values for research practices in evaluative informetrics and for its application in research assessment are considered.