Research Projects by CHESS Staff

“Research monitoring” refers to the systematic procurement and scientific processing of information about the research system in Switzerland and its environment, dedicated to the responsible, reflective and critical use of metrics. The scientific project attempts to fill a gap in this area.

Higher education institutions are challenged in many ways by issues of competitive orientation, quality management, open science, profile building and public accountability that require explicit governance.

However, the governance of higher education institutions requires valid information on the input, process and output of knowledge production, which is reflected in scientific communication processes (e.g., publications in journals, conference papers, social media). Data from peer review processes cannot usually be used as sources of information for the overall evaluation of research, as there is only limited access to the data and, moreover, generalising statements are often not possible. In addition to peer review, bibliometrics has established itself as a complementary source of information. Bibliometrics quantitatively analyses information that arises in the scientific process (e.g., publications, citations, social media). Within the framework of evaluative bibliometrics, such data can be condensed into key figures and indicators that can support the diagnosis, control, decision-making and evaluation processes in higher education systems. However, the use of indicators requires reflection on the quality of the metrics, consideration of the context of application and possible consequences of their use (e.g., gaming). Scientometrics or quantitative science research expands the analytical framework. Here, science as a whole is empirically analysed and a variety of information sources (e.g., SNF, Federal Statistical Office, bibliographic databases, patents) are used for analysis.

Goal

The central aim of the project is, on the one hand, to obtain, process, monitor and scientifically analyse information about the Swiss research system and its environment in order to create empirical foundations for strategic decision-making and governance. On the other hand, competences in the field of scientometrics and bibliometrics are to be built up and the critical handling of different sources of information is to be promoted.

Barth, A., Marx, W., Bornmann, L. & Mutz, R. (2014). On the origins and the historical roots of the Higgs boson research from a bibliometric perspective. European Physical Journal, 129(6), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2014-14111-6

Bornmann, L.; Mutz, R., Haunschild, R., Moya-Anegon, F. de, Almeida Madeira Clemente, M. de, & Stefaner, M. (2021). Mapping the impact of papers on various status groups in excellencemapping.net: a new release of the excellence mapping tool based on citation and reader scores. Scientometrics 126 (11), 9305–9331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04141-4

Fraumann, G. & Mutz, R. (2020). The h-index. In: R. Ball (Eds.). Handbook Bibliometrics (p. 169–177). Boston: DeGruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110646610

Mutz, R. (2022). Diversity and interdisciplinarity: Should variety, balance and disparity be combined as a product or better as a sum? An information-theoretical and statistical estimation approach. Scientometrics, 127, 7397-7414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04336-3.

Mutz, R. (2023). Die Universität Zürich im Spiegel der Rankings - Ergebnisse einer bibliometrischen Analyse. Bericht an den Rektor der UZH.

The following monitoring tools (open source) were developed with the assistance of Dr. Rüdiger Mutz (CHESS) and can also be used to analyse the Swiss higher education system:

1. ExcellenceMapping (https://www.excellencemapping.net): The web application visualises the impact of publications published in different subject areas (and across all subject areas) (bibliometric and altmetric indicators). The web application was developed in collaboration with staff of the Max Planck Society (Dr.Dr.habil Lutz Bornmann, Dr. Robin Haunschild), two graphic designers (Moritz Stefaner, Mirko Clemente), Felix de Moya (SCImago group) and is regularly updated and further developed.
2. ExcellenceNetworks (https://www.excellence-networks.net): This web application visualises how successfully universities or research-oriented institutions work together. It was developed by the same authors as ExcellenceMapping.
3. CitedReferenceExplorer (CRExplorer) (http://www.crexplorer.net): This application analyses the documents cited most frequently in publications (cited references). The application is particularly suitable for investigating the historical roots of research fields, for example the historical roots of the “Higgs boson” (CERN, Geneva).

SYoS-Project of ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is running the “Swiss Year of Scientometrics SYoS” project from 2022 to 2023, sponsored by swissuniversities (https://yearofscientometrics.ethz.ch/), in which CHESS is involved. This is a series of events on questions of the responsible use of metrics in research evaluation.

Bibliometric advice and services are offered, especially for members of the University of Zurich (e.g., literature research, publication strategies, resonance of research in the scientific community, open access, profiles).