The manipulation of scholarly rating and measurement systems: constructing excellence in an era of academic stardom

ABSTRACT

Higher education institutions are joining many other social entities in shifting how participants are evaluated; work is undergoing increasing analysis through metrics, big data analytics, and related methodologies. As applications of academic metrics expand, new formulations of what is considered as ‘excellence’ in teaching and research are being constructed and new kinds of academic ‘star’ faculty and journals determined. Academic participation is being tightly coupled with specific, manipulable quantitative measures, providing formidable lessons about how intellectual endeavors are valued. This paper presents analyses of ‘performative metrics’ approaches: metrics-related methodologies are being manipulated at levels including faculty member, department, publisher, and university, often in ways well described by game and drama theory (Howard 1994). Academic life is often associated with potentials for unbiased pursuits of knowledge; as discourse intensifies concerning metric manipulation, identities and reputations of academic participants could shift, providing challenges to those who desire trust and impartial merit rewards.

KEYWORDS:

• University rankings
• academic publishing
• faculty evaluation
• journal citations
• ethical considerations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.