RETHINKING RESEARCH EVALUATION INDICATORS AND METHODS FROM AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE: THE FSS INDICATOR AS A PROXY OF PRODUCTIVITY

The current bibliometric indicators and methods for evaluation of research performance are generally inappropriate in the light of economic theory of production. World ranking lists, including those by noted research agencies, seem based on what can be easily counted rather than "what really counts". In this work we operationalize the economic concept of productivity for the specific context of research activity and propose a measurable form of productivity. From an economic perspective, we demonstrate the limits of the most commonly-used performance indicators and we present the indicator "Fractional Scientific Strength (FSS)", which better approximates the measure of research productivity. We present the methodology for measure of FSS at various levels of analysis: individual, field, discipline, department, institution, region and nation.