Towards a multidimensional valuation model

The use of scientometric indicators for individual research assessment has been severely criticized over the years due to their limited capacity to discriminate between different scientists and capture differences in a statistically reliable manner. Nevertheless, science managers and policy makers make use of these indicators for recruitment of scholars, promotion or allocation of funds. This has provoked strong reactions from the academic community. We argue that the greatest threat of the current use of bibliometric indicators for the assessment of scientists goes beyond technical or methodological decisions, and is more related to the irreflexive use of metrics at the individual level. By linking with the current literature and our own experience on conducting research evaluation, we here present a tentative valuation model which tries to balance between a conceptually-informed framework and a methodological viable operationalization. The model is designed so that it can be operationalized by making use of bibliometric indicators, although we acknowledge that it is sufficiently broad as to give room to non-bibliometric indicators.