Dr. Thed van Leeuwen

In the presentation we will discuss a number of issues related to the application of bibliometric analysis in research assessment contexts, particular when it comes to the evaluation of scholarly activity in the social sciences, the humanities, and law (SSH&L). The issues we will discuss relate to the language of publications and coverage issues, which play a role while discussing the application of bibliometrics in the assessment of research and scholarly activity in the SSH&L. From a wider international perspective, we will further focus on German research performance in the social sciences, humanities, and law, over a period of nearly 30 years how coverage issues and language of publication have influenced scholarly activity and the international visibility of research output in these domains when written in German.

A next topic we will discuss relates to the application of metrics based upon citation analysis. More specifically we will focus on different function references have in the field of historical research, and the consequences this difference has in the light of research assessment in that field when discussing classical bibliometric techniques. Finally, when there is some time left, we will discuss the problems of the two most often used bibliometric indicators, the Journal Impact Factor and h-index as indicators representative of a certain publication culture, and as such not applicable in SSH&L.

Thed van Leeuwen is senior researcher at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) of Leiden University in the Netherlands and the leader of the working group on the development of bibliometric indicators for the Social Sciences, the Humanities, and Law. He obtained his PhD degree in Quantitative Sciences Studies at the University of Leiden. His scientific publications focus on issues related with respect to application of bibliometrics in policy contexts. Next to his position in CWTS he is also contributing to the working group Evaluation Practices in Context (EPIC), particularly based upon his experience in the policy realm of bibliometric studies. Recently he has been also involved in the discussion on Open Access publishing, particularly of interest for the Netherlands.