Impact of Evaluation-Based Funding on the Content of Scientific Research
Evidence suggests that evaluation-based funding mechanisms trigger adaptive behaviour in scientists, leading to unintended changes in knowledge production. However, there is no conclusive evidence about when (under what circumstances), how (by what processes) and with what effects researchers adapt to these mechanisms. This study aims to answer these crucial questions. To overcome the methodological weaknesses of earlier studies, a comparative investigation of several research fields and universities is conducted in Australia, Germany and The Netherlands, combining qualitative interviews, ethnographic observations and bibliometric studies.
Publications:
- Gläser, Jochen, Stefan Lange, and Grit Laudel, 2009: Auswirkungen der evaluationsbasierten Forschungsfinanzierung an Universitäten auf die Inhalte der Forschung: Australien und Deutschland im Vergleich. Wissenschaftsrecht 42 (4), 329-352.
- Gläser, Jochen, Stefan Lange, Grit Laudel, Uwe Schimank (2008). Evaluationsbasierte Forschungsfinanzierung und ihre Folgen. In: Friedhelm Neidhardt, Renate Mayntz, Peter Weingart and Ulrich Wengenroth (Hrsg.): Wissensproduktion und Wissenstransfer. Bielefeld, transcript Verlag: 145-170.
- Gläser, Jochen and Grit Laudel (2007). Evaluation without Evaluators: The impact of funding formulae on Australian University Research. In: Richard Whitley and Jochen Gläser (eds.): The Changing Governance of the Sciences: The Advent of Research Evaluation Systems. Dordrecht, Springer: 127-151.
- Laudel, Grit, and Jochen Gläser (2006): Tensions between Evaluations and Communication Practices. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 28, 289-295.
pdfAbstract: When publications are used in the evaluation of research performance, tensions between the simplifying, standardising approaches of evaluations and the communication practices of scientific communities are likely to arise. An analysis of data gathered in an evaluation at the Australian National University demonstrates that many academic disciplines employ communication channels that are recognised neither by the current Australian funding formulae for university research nor by universities internal evaluation systems that mirror those formulae. This discrepancy has the potential to distort the communication practices and ultimately the production of knowledge in some fields.