How bibliometrics and school rankings reward unreliable science

How much is a citation worth? $3? $6? $100 000?Any of those answers is correct, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations over the past few decades.123 The spread between these numbers suggests that none of them is accurate, but it’s inarguable that citations are the coin of the realm in academia.Bibliometrics and school rankings are largely based on publications and citations. Take the Times Higher Education rankings, for example, in which citations and papers count for more than a third of the total score.4 Or the Shanghai Ranking, 60% of which is determined by publications and highly cited researchers.5 The QS Rankings count citations per faculty as a relatively low 20%.6 But the US News Best Global Universities ranking counts publication and citation related metrics as 60%.7These rankings are not, to borrow a phrase, merely academic matters. Funding agencies, including many governments, use them to decide where to award grants. Citations are…
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