Bibliometrically Disciplined Peer Review: on Using Indicators in Research Evaluation

Evaluation of research uses peer review and bibliometrics, and the debate about their balance in research evaluation continues. Both approaches have supporters, and both approaches are criticized. In this paper, we describe an interesting case in which the use of bibliometrics in a panel-based evaluation of a mid-sized university was systematically tried out. The case suggests a useful way in which bibliometric indicators can be used to inform and improve peer review and panel-based evaluation. We call this ‘disciplined peer review’, and disciplined is used here in a constructive way: Bibliometrically disciplined peer review is more likely to avoid the subjectivity that often influences the outcomes of the peer and panel review-based evaluation.