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Determining the best departments by their best publications: A strategy best avoided

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Abstract

The technique of sampling a department'sk best publications as a means of assessing the quality of its research performance is investigated. It is shown that this procedure confounds merit with departmental size, and leads to a substantial overestimation of the research achievement of larger departments. The 1985–86 evaluation of research performance conducted by the University Grants Committee of the United Kingdom contained a sampling error of this kind.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK

    R. Gillett

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  1. R. Gillett
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Gillett, R. Determining the best departments by their best publications: A strategy best avoided. Scientometrics 17, 121–125 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017728

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017728

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