Research Evaluation in Practice: Interview with Linda Butler. Linda Butler During your career, you have taken part in government-driven research projects using bibliometrics methodologies. Could you give an example or two of the outcomes of these research projects and the way they informed scientific funding? The most influential body of research I have undertaken relates to analyses of the way Australian academics responded to the introduction of a sector-wide funding scheme that distributes research funding to universities on the basis of a very blunt formula.
The formula is based on data on research students, success in obtaining competitive grant income, and the number of research outputs produced. For research outputs, a simple count is used. These findings were part, though not all, of the driver for Australia to introduce a new funding system for research. See also: Powerful Numbers: Interview with Dr. Examining the literature, there appear to be far more research evaluation studies focusing on life and medical sciences. Academic Ranking of World Universities | ARWU | First World University Ranking | Shanghai Ranking. InCites. V.5.6] - All Databases Home. Scientometrics. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Le Forum des Classements des Universités Suisses. Oxford Journals | Social Sciences | Research Evaluation. Microsoft Academic Search. Spotlight.