Beyond Bibliometrics: Harnessing Multidimensional Indicators of Scholarly Impact

Citation

David Stuart (2015), "Beyond Bibliometrics: Harnessing Multidimensional Indicators of Scholarly Impact", Online Information Review, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 270-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-01-2015-0009

There has been a marked increase in interest in metrics in recent years, driven by a desire to gain insights, increase efficiencies and promote change in the scholarly system. At the same time that traditional bibliometric indicators based on citations and publications are gaining wider interest, new alternative web metrics are also emerging that promise to provide new insights into impact and offer greater context to traditional citation-based metrics. At this important point in the development of bibliometrics and scientometrics there is a need for works that can provide an overview of the research in the field, and give a balanced account of the potential of a metrics-based approach to measuring impact with recognition of its limitations. This is what Beyond Bibliometrics aims to achieve.

It is an edited work of 21 chapters gathered into five sections: History, Critiques, Methods and Tools, Alternative Metrics, Perspectives. The first two chapters cover the changing nature of scholarly publication and the history of its measurement. Chapters 3-6 explore some of the critiques levelled at bibliometrics: changing practices and culture in an increasingly indicator-focused age, ethics and the importance of evaluating indicators themselves. Chapters 7-13 cover the current state of the art of traditional bibliometrics. Chapters 14-19 provide insights into a wide range of alternative metrics, not only altmetrics and webometrics, but also the application of bibliometric methods to the investigation of judicial impact and for the investigation of academic genealogy. Finally, the last two chapters provide perspectives on bibliometrics from people involved with publishers and science policy.

Beyond Bibliometrics is a timely work that benefits from being an edited book. Often edited works can feel like the poor relation of academic publications, with barely related essays reflecting both a lack of quantity and quality in the contributions received. In contrast Beyond Bibliometrics brings together many of the leading researchers in the field to provide a depth and a coverage of the subject that would have been impossible for any single individual to achieve.

As is noted by the editors in the preface, bibliometrics is a “sprawling, still fast-growing speciality”, and it is undoubtedly one that is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future both in size and scope. Beyond Bibliometrics is a work that has plenty to offer both those who are newly joining the field of bibliometrics and those who have been working in the field for many years, both cautioning against the misapplication of bibliometics by management and policy makers and highlighting the new and exciting frontiers of the field for researchers.