Comparative analysis of a set of bibliometric indicators and central peer review criteria Evaluation of condensed matter physics in the Netherlands

In this paper first results are presented of a study on the correlation between bibliometric indicators and the outcomes of peer judgements made by expert committees of physics in the Netherlands. As a first step to study these outcomes in more detail, we focus on the results of an evaluation of 56 research programmes in condensed matter physics in the Netherlands, a subfield which accounts for roughly one third of the total of Dutch physics. This set of research programmes is represented by a volume of more than 5000 publications and nearly 50,000 citations. The study shows varying correlations between different bibliometric indicators and the outcomes of a peer evaluation procedure. Also a breakdown of correlations to the level of different peer review criteria has been made. We found that the peer review criterium ‘team’ shows generally the strongest correlation with bibliometric indicators. Correlations prove to be higher for groups which are involved in basic science than for groups which are more application oriented. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.