Background Use of bibliometric assessments of research quality isgrowing

Declaration of interest None. The aims of this paper are to discuss the measures used to evaluate the merits of psychiatric biomedical research, and to propose a new approach using a multidimensional selection of appropriate measures. Such measures can be used, for example, to inform decisions on the allocation of research funds (Lewison et al, 1998) within an institution or nationally, or on academic promotions. The choice of which indicators to use is critical. Different single or combined measures can produce entirely different results and implications. We propose that quantitative evaluations of scientific merit in a particular field of biomedical research need a fair set of relevant standardised indicators, chosen according to the type of research being evaluated. The set relevant for each sub-field of research can combine established bibliometric assessments (e.g. impact factors or citation indices); derived measures such as the ‘world scale’ score discussed below; and new indicators based on journal peer esteem, impact on clinical practice, medical education or health policy. Our approach comprises three steps, beginning with a clear definition of scientific ‘domains’ with an agreed set of boundaries, which are then translated into ‘filters’ to identify relevant publications from bibliometric databases, finally leading to the creation of standardised measures of merit in biomedical research. A domain can be defined at three levels: