Identifying Outstanding Scientists Using Bibliometric Indicators

March, 2022
IDA document: D-33048
FFRDC: Science and Technology Policy Institute
Type: Documents
Authors:
Authors
Xueying Han, Sally S. Tinkle, Pavel Panko, Nathan N. Dinh, Gabriella G. Hazan, Gifford J. Wong, Abby R. Goldman, Luba Katz See more authors
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy asked the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) to evaluate whether outstanding scientists can be identified using existing bibliometric indicators and to assess the limitations of using bibliometric indicators for this purpose. STPI was also asked to develop a new analytical approach that takes advantage of bibliometric indicators to determine which individuals are outstanding scientists. Specifically, the two research questions addressed in this study are: Can bibliometric indicators be used to accurately identify outstanding scientists within a scientific discipline through time, and what are the limitations of their use? And, Can new analytical approaches be developed to identify outstanding scientists within a scientific discipline through time?