An Examination of Bibliometrics in Calls for Major Canadian Research Awards

Abstract

This study aimed to determine if bibliometrics are being sought as part of research award competitions, through an examination of calls for fifteen major Canadian research awards. This study further aimed to determine if there were indications that including bibliometrics in the award application process could be helpful towards a nominee’s success. In so doing, this paper contributes a Canadian perspective to a growing body of related research which has sought to address the lack of clarity in funding application assessment criteria and the role bibliometrics can play in addressing this issue. The study revealed no explicit requests for bibliometric indicators in the calls for nominations for the major research awards examined. Nevertheless, requests for nominees’ CVs and/or publication histories, which can serve as one basis for the bibliometric evaluation of performance, were regularly observed, as were mentions of interest in internationality, which can in turn be illustrated with the use of bibliometrics. Additionally, a prevalence of multidisciplinary review panels was observed, pointing to potential utility of normalized bibliometric indicators in the award nomination process. These findings suggest that there are aspects of award calls that correspond to existing bibliometric indicators, and so their use may be warranted even though, so far, they have not been asked for by name.

Keywords

• bibliometrics
• research assessment
• award calls
• Canada