Interesting Nature editorial on measuring individual scientific achievement.

“A poll of Nature’s readers suggests that feelings about metrics are mixed. Many researchers say that, in principle, they welcome the use of quantitative performance metrics because of the potential for clarity and objectivity. Yet they also worry that the hiring, promotion and tenure committees that control their fate will ignore crucial but hard-to-quantify aspects of scientific performance such as mentorship and collaboration building, and instead focus exclusively on a handful of easy-to-measure numbers related mostly to their publication and citation rates.”

“. . . transparency is essential: no matter how earnestly evaluation committees say that they are assessing the full body of a scientist’s work, not being open about the criteria breeds the impression that a fixed number of publications is a strict requirement, that teaching is undervalued and that service to the community is worthless. Such impressions do more than breed discontent — they alter the way that scientists behave. To promote good science, those doors must be opened wide.”

Check out the special Science Metrics section that Nature created to facilitate discussion on metrics for assessing scientific performance.