Setting the course: our first two years in the focal area Evaluation & Culture

The Evaluation and Culture focal area at CWTS is dedicated to studying, discussing, and advocating for renewed forms of scholarly communication, fair research evaluation, and inclusive research cultures. This blog post offers a reflection on our activities and progress over the past two years.

Evaluation & Culture • May 15, 2025

Benchmarking in research evaluations: we can do without it

The Strategy Evaluation Protocol (SEP) 2021-2027 proposes benchmarking as a method for evaluating research units. But what exactly does this entail and what are the risks? Our authors dive deeper into this topic and show what is possible and what to be careful about.

Thed van Leeuwen and Frank van Vree • January 30, 2025

Benchmarking bij onderzoeks-evaluaties: we kunnen zonder

Het Strategy Evaluation Protocol (SEP) 2021-2027 stelt benchmarking als een methode voor de evaluatie van onderzoekseenheden voor. Maar wat houdt dat precies in en wat zijn de gevaren daarbij? Onze auteurs duiken er dieper in en laten zien waar mogelijkheden liggen en wat je beter niet kan doen.

Frank van Vree and Thed van Leeuwen • January 30, 2025

Will ChatGPT Get Tenure?

Research will likely become ever more AI-assisted, but what does this mean for academia? In this blog post, our guest authors engage in blue-sky thinking to sketch some thought-provoking future scenarios and discuss potential implications for scholarly communication and research evaluation.

Alexander Schniedermann, Felicitas Heßelmann, Dimity Stephen, Max Leckert and Matteo Ottaviani • December 12, 2024

What Affects Research Productivity: View from Inside the University

Dmitry Kochetkov, Ph.D. candidate at CWTS, together with colleagues from the Ural Federal University, analyzed factors affecting the performance of research groups.

Dmitry Kochetkov • August 08, 2022

Responsible metrics for societal value of scientific research

What does responsible research evaluation look like when it comes to societal value? This blog post provides four practical recommendations.

Laurens Hessels, Leonie van Drooge, Tjitske Holtrop and Rodrigo Costas • March 10, 2022

Halt the h-index

Using the h-index in research evaluation? Rather not. But why not, actually? Why is using this indicator so problematic? And what are the alternatives anyway? Our authors walk you through an infographic that addresses these questions and aims to highlight some key issues in this discussion.

Sarah de Rijcke, Ludo Waltman and Thed van Leeuwen • May 19, 2021 • 2 comments

Research evaluation in context 4: the practice of research evaluation

The Strategy Evaluation Protocol describes a forward-looking evaluation for which research organisations are responsible. Context, aims and strategy of units are key. Very timely and relevant, yet it is easier said than done.

Leonie van Drooge • May 12, 2021

Research evaluation in context 3: The board, the research unit and the assessment committee

What is the procedure for the evaluation of academic research? What are the roles and responsibilities of those involved? This is the 3rd post in a series on research evaluation in the Netherlands and is dedicated to the Strategy Evaluation Protocol 2021-2027.

Leonie van Drooge • March 04, 2021

research evaluation

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