Responsible use of publication metrics at the University of Oulu

Reporting bibliometric analyses

The University of Oulu is committed to the use of responsible publication metrics. Bibliometric Services together with the university's Working group for responsible assessment of the researcher has compiled a publication analysis template for use in recrutement processes.

Reporting of bibliometric analyses takes always into account the purpose and target of the analysis, as well as the discipline, and available publication data . It is recommended that both the author of the analysis and the requester toghether review the report to ensure the correct interpretation of results.

Recommendations of Finnish and international guidelines

• It is recommended that publication metrics are used mainly to support qualitative peer-review. When evaluating an individual researcher, expert evaluation should be used as the main evaluation method.
• The data, methods of analysis and results shall be as open and transparent as possible.
• Whenever possible, the subject of the evaluation should be able to verify the data used in the analyses and the results of the analyses.
• The results should be reported with the accuracy of the indicator values relevant to the subject, methods and data of the evaluation. Inappropriate indicators should be excluded from the reporting.
•  Publication and citation practices vary significantly between disciplines. Thus results of analyses should not be compared.
• Producing and interpreting publication metrics requires expertise. It is important that all stakeholders understand the used methods and their limitations, and can interpret and utilize the results of analyses in a responsible way.

For more information on the subject, see the Finnish national guide to publication metrics