基于ESI的大学和学科评价的局限性

Limitations of ESI Database Applied to Universities and Disciplines Evaluation

探讨基本科学指标(Essential Science Indicators,ESI)数据库应用于大学及学科评价的局限性,为合理使用ESI指标体系提供理论依据。根据ESI数据库的结构特征、指标构成和排序规则,详细论证ESI应用于大学和学科评价的局限性。研究显示,ESI数据库应用于大学和学科评价具有明显局限性:不同学科入选ESI阈值差异巨大,入选难度极不均衡;大学和学科排名完全依赖论文被引频次,忽略了各大学论文产出能力;被引频次的"共享式"计数可能导致评价失真,并可能诱发急功近利的"科研合作";办学规模和学科设置对ESI大学排名影响巨大;ESI中社会科学学科太少,以社会科学为主的高校严重被低估。

To explore the limitations of the application of the Essential Science Indicators(ESI) database in universities and disciplines evaluation, and to provide a theoretical basis for the rational use of the ESI index system. According to the structural characteristics, index composition and sorting rules of the ESI database, the limitations of ESI in evaluating universities and subject fields are discussed. The application of ESI database to universities and disciplines evaluation has obvious limitations: The difference of ESI thresholds in different disciplines is huge, and the difficulty selected in ESI database is extremely uneven;It completely depends on the citations of papers, ignoring the papers productivity of various universities;The "shared" counting of citations may lead to distortion of evaluation and may induce "scientific cooperation" for quick success;The scale and discipline setting have a great impact on the universities ranking in ESI database;Too few social science disciplines in ESI, colleges and universities with social sciences are seriously underestimated.