Italy’s most highly cited researchers defend use of metrics

As support for dropping quantitative metrics gains steam, researchers are highlighting their benefits

Some of Italy’s most highly cited researchers have taken a stand against a Europe-wide push to reform research evaluation to be more qualitative.

The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (Coara), which has been gathering support this year, aims to base assessment “primarily on qualitative evaluation” and drive the abandonment of “inappropriate” use of metrics.