Responsible Research Assessment: with or without the Nordic bibliometric indicator

This presentation includes the slide-deck used for a panel discussion "Responsible Research Assessment - with or without the Nordic bibliometric indicator" at the 28th Nordic Workshop on Bibliometrics and Research Policy (NWB2023) 13 October 2023. Responsible research assessment (RRA) entails balancing qualitative and quantitative methods, recognizing diversity of academic work and fields, and rewarding open science practices. CoARA agreement for Reforming Research Assessment reinforces the DORA (The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) recommendation against inappropriate uses of journal- and publication-based metrics (especially JIF and h-index). While the European Council supports the RRA agenda, it recently invited member states to address the issue of predatory publishing practices. The Nordic bibliometric indicator relies on evaluation of journals and book publishers by national field-specific panels of experts. Since 2005, the indicator has been adapted in some form at national or institutional level in all Nordic countries but now its uses are reconsidered. Denmark and Norway have decided to stop using the indicator in the performance-based funding of universities, and Finland is reconsidering its funding model. Many Swedish universities use the Norwegian list for internal funding allocations. Iceland uses the Norwegian, Danish and Finnish lists used as supporting tool since 2019 and the Finnish list more extensively since 2022 in a new research assessment system. The panel discussed the following three questions from the national and/or their institution's perspective: 1. What are the most important recent changes in the use of the Nordic bibliometric indicator in your country/institution? 2. What have been the main concerns about the uses of the indicator with respect to the RRA agenda and the CoARA Agreement? 3. What is the role of journal evaluation (by citation metrics or experts) in addressing predatory, questionable, deceptive and low-quality publishing practices? The panel comprised experts in research assessment and bibliometrics from five Nordic countries: Denmark: Marianne Gauffriau (IT University of Copenhagen) Finland: Laura Niemi (University of Turku) Iceland: Baldvin Zarioh (University of Iceland) Norway: Gunnar Sivertsen (NIFU – Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education) Sweden: Björn Hammarfelt (University of Borås) The panel was moderated by Janne Pölönen (TSV – Federation of Finnish Learned Societies)