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Increasing discrepancy between absolute and effective indexes of research output in a Brazilian academic department

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Abstract

We investigate possible effects from a strong encouragement for a large number of publications on the scientific production of a Brazilian cell biology department. An average increase in individual absolute production and a concomitant decrease in individual participation in each paper were detected by traditional bibliometric parameters, such as number of publications, citations, impact factors and h index, combined to their “effective” versions, in which co-authorship is taken into consideration. The observed situation, which might well represent a national trend, should be considered as a strong warning against current criteria of scientific evaluation heavily based on uncritical counting of publications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biologia Teórica, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    AntÔnio F. Pereira De Araújo

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  1. AntÔnio F. Pereira De Araújo
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Correspondence to AntÔnio F. Pereira De Araújo.

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Pereira De Araújo, A.F. Increasing discrepancy between absolute and effective indexes of research output in a Brazilian academic department. Scientometrics 74, 425–437 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1817-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1817-6

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