Colleagues/ A Very Important Publication: _The Use And Misuse Of Bibliometric Indices In Evaluating Scholarly Performance_ / _Ethics In Science And Enviromental Politics_ / Editors: Howard I. Browman, Konstantinos I. Stergiou THEME SECTION: Quantifying the relative performance of individual scholars, groups of scholars, departments, institutions, provinces/states/regions and countries has become an integral part of decision-making over research policy, funding allocations, awarding of grants, faculty hirings, and claims for promotion and tenure. Bibliometric indices (based mainly upon citation counts), such as the h-index and the journal impact factor, are heavily relied upon in such assessments. There is a growing consensus, and a deep concern, that these indices - more-and-more often used as a replacement for the informed judgement of peers - are misunderstood and are, therefore, often misinterpreted and misused. The articles in this ESEP Theme Section present a range of perspectives on these issues. Alternative approaches, tools and metrics that will hopefully lead to a more balanced role for these instruments are presented. Browman HI, Stergiou KI / INTRODUCTION: Factors and indices are one thing, deciding who is scholarly, why they are scholarly, and the relative value of their scholarship is something else entirely Campbell P / Escape from the impact factor Lawrence PA / Lost in publication: how measurement harms science Todd PA, Ladle RJ / Hidden dangers of a 'citation culture' Taylor M, Perakakis P, Trachana V / The siege of science Cheung WWL/ The economics of post-doc publishing Tsikliras AC/ Chasing after the high impact Zitt M, Bassecoulard E/ Challenges for scientometric indicators: data demining, knowledge flows measurements and diversity issues Harzing AWK, van der Wal R / Google Scholar as a new source for citation analysis Pauly D, Stergiou KI / Re-interpretation of 'influence weight' as a citation-based Index of New Knowledge (INK) Giske J / Benefitting from bibliometry Butler L/ Using a balanced approach to bibliometrics: quantitative performance measures in the Australian Research Quality Framework Bornmann L, Mutz R, Neuhaus C, Daniel HD / Citation counts for research evaluation: standards of good practice for analyzing bibliometric data and presenting and interpreting results Harnad S / Validating research performance metrics against peer rankings (Open Access) Links To Full Text Available Are Available At [ http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/08/google-scholar-as-new-source-for.h... <http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/08/google-scholar-as-new-source-for.html> ] AND/OR [ http://tinyurl.com/5mko5q <http://tinyurl.com/5mko5q> ] Regards, /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Associate Professor Science and Technology Librarian Iowa State University Library Ames IA 50011 gerrymck@iastate.edu There is Nothing More Powerful Than An Idea Whose Time Has Come Victor Hugo [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490 <https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.blogger.com/profile/09093368136660604490> ] Iowa: Where the Tall Corn Flows and the (North)West Wind Blows [ http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/ <https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://exchange.iastate.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://alternativeenergyblogs.blogspot.com/> ]