自然指数对高校科研能力评估的意义与思考——以南方科技大学为例

Thoughts and significance of scientific innovation capability evaluation based on nature index by taking Southern University of Science and Technology as an example

作为2014年新推出的一项科研评价指数,自然指数能通过文章计量数和分数式计量数两个指标数据反映出国家、地区、科研机构和大学等高水平论文的产出能力、创新趋势、创新能力、优势学科和合作潜力,为我们提供了一种新的评估高校科研能力的方法。自然指数以12个月为统计时长,定期更新,对被评价机构在82种顶级自然科学类期刊上发表的研究型论文进行了统计分析。与基本科学指标数据库(ESI)评价体系需要监测十年的论文数据相比,自然指数的排名更能反映出被评价机构在短期内的科研产出情况,能更客观公正的评价新建高校科研产出的情况。以南方科技大学为例,该校建校未满十年,ESI数据与其他老牌高校还有一定差距,但从自然指数数据显示,该校高水平论文一直在飞速增长,上升势头非常明显,2018年已跃居内地高校第27位,深圳地区首位。数据还表明该校与海外大学的科研合作十分密切,发表的高水平论文以外部合作为主,其优势学科为化学和物理学科,生命科学和地球与环境科学相对比较薄弱,学科发展水平较不均衡。同样,自然指数评价体系也存在一些不足,如对学者的贡献程度没有区分,默认每位作者的贡献相等;统计的是论文数量和分数式计量的总量,没有以个人平均产出作为衡量标准等。随着自然指数的推广,入选自然指数统计源的各期刊,极有可能被科研管理部门在科研评价中赋予更高的权重,也会成为科研工作者投稿时选择顶级期刊的一个标准。自然指数以一种全新的视角评价了高校的科研产出情况,为今后的科研管理工作提供了一定参考。

As a new research evaluation index launched in 2014,nature index(NI)reflects the high-level paper output capacity,innovation trend,innovation ability,preponderant disciplines and cooperation potentiality of countries,regions,scientific research institutions or universities by using the two indicators of article count(AC)and fractional count(FC).It provides a new way for us to evaluate the research ability of colleges and universities.Nature index is updated regularly with a statistical duration of 12 months.It tracked the information of more than 20,000 scientific research institutions around the world and about 60,000 authors of high-quality scientific research papers.It conducted statistical analysis of research papers published by these institutions in 82 top natural science journals such as Nature,Science and Cell in the previous year.The journals are divided into four categories,chemistry,earth and environmental sciences,life sciences and physics.The journals were selected by two independent panels of working scientists around the world.Compared with the essential science indicator(ESI),a database of papers to be monitored for ten years,nature index′s ranking can better reflect the scientific research output of the evaluated institutions in the short term and evaluate the scientific research output of newly-built universities in a more objective and fair way.Taking Southern University of Science and Technology(SUSTech)as an example of the national higher education comprehensive reform experimental school,which was established in 2012,the university aims to build a world-class research university rooted in China.SUSTech has been less than 10 years old,and ESI data still lags behind other established universities.However,according to nature index data,the number of high-level papers of the school has been growing rapidly,with a clear upward trend.In 2018,the university ranked 27 th among China's Mainland and the first place in Shenzhen.The data also show the university′s close cooperation with overseas universities in scientific research.This is because 90%of the university′s teachers have worked overseas.The high-level papers published by the school are mainly based on international cooperation.The dominant disciplines are chemistry and physics,life science and earth and environmental science are relatively weak,and the discipline development level is uneven.This is due to the early establishment of the physics and chemistry departments.Similarly,the natural index evaluation system also has some shortcomings,such as the degree of contribution to scholars is not differentiated,the default contribution of each author is equal;the statistics are the total number of papers and fractional measurement,not measured by individual average output.With the popularization and application of natural index,the journals selected as the statistical sources of the natural index are likely to be given a higher weight by the scientific research management department in the evaluation of scientific research,and will also become a standard for scientific researchers to select the top journals when submitting their papers.The natural index evaluates the scientific research output of colleges and universities with a new perspective,which provides a reference for future scientific research management.