Metrics or Peer Review? Evaluating the 2001 UK Research Assessment Exercise in Political Science

This chapter focuses on the review process, the process of writing a proposal and the evaluation of science. The usual way that science is funded these days is through a proposal to a funding agency; if it satisfies peer review and there are sufficient resources available, it is then funded. Peer review is at the heart of academic life, and is used to assess research proposals, progress, publications and institutions. Peer review processes are discussed and, in light of this discussion, the art of proposal writing. The particular features of making fellowship proposals and preparing for an institutional review are described. In addition, several of the methods used for evaluating and ranking research and research institutions are reviewed, including the Research Assessment Exercise and the Research Excellence Framework.

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Social Policy Excellence - Peer Review or Metrics? Analyzing the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise in Social Work and Social Policy and Administration

Social Policy and Administration ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9515.2011.00824.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 46 (5) ◽

pp. 526-543 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen McKay

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Policy ◽

Peer Review ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Research Assessment Exercise

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Political Science: A Look at the Discipline from a Postgraduate Perspective

Politics ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9256.1996.tb00029.x ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 113-120

Author(s):

Helen Doyle ◽

Victoria McGregor-Riley

Keyword(s):

Social Science ◽

Political Science ◽

Research Output ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Lower Income ◽

Research Assessment Exercise ◽

Academic Institutions ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

Postgraduate Research

Research has become increasingly important within social science since the introduction of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE has served to simultaneously focus the attention of academic institutions upon research output and emphasise the obvious penalties of poor performance in this area in terms of potentially lower academic status, lower income and lower student numbers. Academic institutions have, therefore, begun to pay an increasing amount of attention to postgraduate research and the needs of postgraduates. This article questions the extent to which institutions are actually meeting these needs and reviews the extent to which institutions reap the potential benefits that employment of postgraduates can bring.

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The Influence of Peer Review on the Research Assessment Exercise

Journal of Information Science ◽

10.1177/0165551504045854 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 347-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Valerie Bence ◽

Charles Oppenheim

Keyword(s):

Peer Review ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Research Assessment Exercise

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Just an artifact? The concordance between peer review and bibliometrics in economics and statistics in the Italian research assessment exercise

Quantitative Science Studies ◽

10.1162/qss_a_00172 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Alberto Baccini ◽

Giuseppe De Nicolao

Keyword(s):

Peer Review ◽

Research Assessment ◽

Research Assessment Exercise ◽

Governmental Agency ◽

Peer Reviews ◽

Science Technology ◽

Individual Article ◽

And Mathematics ◽

The One ◽

Shed Light

Abstract During the Italian research assessment exercise (2004–2010), the governmental agency (ANVUR) in charge of its realization performed an experiment on the concordance between peer review and bibliometrics at an individual article level. The computed concordances were at most weak for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The only exception was the moderate concordance found for the area of economics and statistics. In this paper, the disclosed raw data of the experiment are used to shed light on the anomalous results obtained for economics and statistics. In particular, the data permit to document that the protocol of the experiment adopted for economics and statistics was different from the one used in the other areas. Indeed, in economics and statistics a same group of scholars developed the bibliometric ranking of journals for evaluating articles, managed peer reviews and formed the consensus groups for deciding the final scores of articles after having received the referee’s reports. This paper shows that the highest level of concordance in economics and statistics was an artifact mainly due to the role played by consensus groups in boosting the agreement between bibliometrics and peer review. Peer Review https://publons.com/publon/10.1162/qss_a_00172

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“Teach more, but do not expect any applause”: Are Women Doubly Discriminated Against in Universities’ Recruitment Processes?

Journal of Academic Ethics ◽

10.1007/s10805-021-09421-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Douglas Brommesson ◽

Gissur Ó Erlingsson ◽

Jörgen Ödalen ◽

Mattias Fogelgren

Keyword(s):

Political Science ◽

Peer Review ◽

The Other ◽

Peer Evaluations ◽

Other Hand

Abstract Studies repeatedly find that women and men experience life in academia differently. Importantly, the typical female academic portfolio contains less research but more teaching and administrative duties. The typical male portfolio, on the other hand, contains more research but less teaching and administration. Since previous research has suggested that research is a more valued assignment than teaching in academia, we hypothesise that men will be ranked higher in the peer-evaluations that precede hirings to tenured positions in Swedish academia. We analyze 861 peer review assessments of applicants in 111 recruitment processes in Economics, Political Science, and Sociology at the six largest Swedish universities. Our findings confirm that the premises established in previous research are valid in Sweden too: Women have relatively stronger teaching merits and men relatively stronger research merits, and also that, on balance, research is rewarded more when applicants are ranked by reviewers. Accordingly, male applicants are ranked higher compared to female applicants.

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