dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA quantitative analysis of measures of quality in science
| Authors | S. Lehmann, A. D. Jackson, B. E. Lautrup |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0701311 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0701311 |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11192-007-1868-8 |
| Journal | Scientometrics 76:369-390,2008 |
Abstract
Condensing the work of any academic scientist into a one-dimensional measure of scientific quality is a difficult problem. Here, we employ Bayesian statistics to analyze several different measures of quality. Specifically, we determine each measure's ability to discriminate between scientific authors. Using scaling arguments, we demonstrate that the best of these measures require approximately 50 papers to draw conclusions regarding long term scientific performance with usefully small statistical uncertainties. Further, the approach described here permits the value-free (i.e., statistical) comparison of scientists working in distinct areas of science.
{
"annotation_id": "8ae01f0d-7dc0-4210-8215-04b98c1ff083",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:17.895000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:17.895000Z",
"file_hash": "0282072b141881fd2f9b98cbcea1de0246b4245235c7b1a426e31c2e07f72aca",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Condensing the work of any academic scientist into a one-dimensional measure\nof scientific quality is a difficult problem. Here, we employ Bayesian\nstatistics to analyze several different measures of quality. Specifically, we\ndetermine each measure\u0027s ability to discriminate between scientific authors.\nUsing scaling arguments, we demonstrate that the best of these measures require\napproximately 50 papers to draw conclusions regarding long term scientific\nperformance with usefully small statistical uncertainties. Further, the\napproach described here permits the value-free (i.e., statistical) comparison\nof scientists working in distinct areas of science.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0701311",
"authors": [
"S. Lehmann",
"A. D. Jackson",
"B. E. Lautrup"
],
"categories": [
"physics.soc-ph",
"physics.data-an"
],
"doi": "10.1007/s11192-007-1868-8",
"journal_ref": "Scientometrics 76:369-390,2008",
"title": "A quantitative analysis of measures of quality in science",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0701311"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "e12e271f-07a7-4f4a-8246-b697a3951108",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}