Stop judging scholarly books by their publishers
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Loading... - Sasha Nano
- 09 Mar 2023
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National lists of prestigious presses don’t work—instead, encourage openness, says Eleonora Dagienė
The debate around reforming research evaluation revolves primarily around how journal articles are treated, particularly the importance of using peer review combined with responsible metrics. But books remain critical to scholarship in many fields, especially in the social sciences and humanities. And in some EU countries, processes for evaluating scholarly books are arguably even more of a mess than they are for articles.
Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Spain have encouraged researchers to target certain publishers by creating lists of those presses deemed most prestigious. Funding and professional advancement are tied to publishing in these outlets: in Lithuania and Norway, government research funds are allocated via metrics-based assessment; while in Spain, publisher lists influence promotion decisions. The general aim is to encourage excellence and make research systems more international.
Prestige problems
Lists are typically based on what publishers researchers are already using. They tend to combine international, anglophone imprints, such as the Cambridge and Oxford university presses, with the most popular domestic, own-language presses. Criteria for inclusion include use of peer review, presence of an editorial board, international authorship and use of book ISBN identification codes. Read More..
