Plenary Lecture
Scientometrics and Evaluation of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Đilda Pečarić
Department of Information and Communication Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
The University of Zagreb
CROATIA
E-mail: dpecaric@ffzg.hr
Abstract: The more intense and stricter demands of scientific policy is that scientific production in the Humanities and Social Sciences be evaluated with bibliometric methods and indicators (by impact factor, publishing in most cited journals, citations and visibility in „prestigious“ data bases, etc.). Theoreticians and advocates of bibliometric and scientometric methods are very skeptical regarding the application of these indicators in Humanities and Social Sciences. The fact that WOS database does not have or does the ranking list of journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences, can be read as a warning on the shortcomings of this approach. Obvious reason for lack of the ranking list of journals (impact factor of the journals) by WOS database can be found in the nature of the Humanities and Social Sciences, which do not have only scientific function. Papers are published on national languages and are not primarily intended for scientific communication but for much larger audience. That means that papers, essays and books in Humanities and Social Sciences have also cultural, educational, social and political purposes.
In spite of actual philosophy of globalization and theory that science is (or must be) international - it is a fact that Humanities and Social Sciences are primarily oriented to the research and promotion of cultural and national identity. Their subjects binds them to the national domain, although this does not exclude a multinational research, international comparisons and exchange of experiences.
Our stand is that papers in Humanities and Social Sciences cannot be measured by strict standards of scientific communication taken from the natural, medical and engineering sciences (in terms of communication forms). Because the data do suggest that this approach eliminates as non-scientific work 2/3 of production of workers in the Humanities and Social Sciences. It is obvious that cultural, educational, political and pedagogical functions are an integral part of the social and scientific responsibility of the author in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Therefore, their activity can be measured rather by influence factor and not by impact factor on which literal application of scientometric’s methods insists.
Brief Biography of the Speaker: Đ. Pečarić graduated Information Technology at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, in 2004. This author received her doctorate degree in 2010 in the field of Information Science at University of Zagreb, in Zagreb, Croatia. From 2006 she works as lecture at the Department of Information and Communication Sciences, at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Authors field of interest is Bibliometric, Graphical presentation of data, Teaching Methods and Education.