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Published: Thursday September 24 2009

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Research Information Network (RIN)

Mixed messages: researchers' perceptions of research assessment affects
what they publish and why.
A new report Communicating knowledge: how and why UK researchers publish
and disseminate their findings published by the Research Information
Network (RIN) and JISC shows how researchers are concerned by what they
perceive as mixed
messages about the channels they should use to communicate their research
findings. The report highlights the need for more consistent and effective
guidance from funders and higher educational institutions. If they wish to
encourage researchers to disseminate their work through a variety of
channels as well as in
high-status journals, they must give stronger and more positive messages
about how those channels will be valued when it comes to assessing
researchers' performance they must give stronger and more positive messages
about how those channels will be valued when it comes to assessing
researchers' performance.
The rise in investment in research over the last ten years has been
accompanied by an increasing emphasis on measuring, assessing and
evaluating research, its outputs and impact. Commissioned by the RIN in
conjunction with JISC, this report
investigates how researchers' perceptions of how they are being assessed
affects their decisions on when, where and how to publish and disseminate
their findings. It demonstrates the significant variations between
researchers in different disciplines not only in the dissemination channels
they use, but also in their patterns of collaboration (and how they
acknowledge the contributions that members of a team have made), and in how
they decide cite the work of others.
All these patterns of behaviour are changing, in part as a result of
technological developments. And there are signs that the citation
practices, for example, of younger researchers are different from those of
their more senior colleagues. But the readiness with which outputs in the
form of scholarly journal articles can be assessed and measured has
underpinned their increasing dominance over all other forms of
publication and dissemination. Researchers' perceptions and understanding
of the messages they receive from funders and from universities may often
be mistaken, but they influence what researchers publish and how, and they
give rise to real concerns. Many researchers see a damaging tension between
their desire to
communicate via channels which enable them to reach and influence their
intended audiences - often beyond academia - as rapidly as possible, and
the pressures to publish in high-status journals. Changes in assessment
procedures, whether via the Research Excellence Framework (REF) or from
other sources, will change
researchers' behaviour further. Many are already considering citing their
colleagues' work more often.
The report provides important evidence for funders and policy makers, as
well as for
the research community, in the continuing consultations about the future
mechanisms for assessing research performance. It also shows that it is
necessary for this to be an ongoing process to keep monitoring the changes
in technology and research practices. It is important that changes in those
mechanisms are based on a detailed understanding of both the behaviours and
the motivations of researchers
across the full range of disciplines and subjects.
The report is available at www.rin.ac.uk/communicating-knowledge