Abstract
As citation-based metrics are increasingly used for measuring research performance, the formation of
academics’ research choices and conceptions of academic freedom are affected. Critically examining the
behaviours of academics in today’s competitive publishing landscape, we argue that creeping managerial
practices are shaping research choices and perceived opportunities. In addition, observation indicates
that the way in which academic freedom is conceptualised is changing as a result of considering
academic performance through metrics. This raises questions of whether and to what extent
professional and academic autonomy remains in the hands of authors or are instead being outsourced
to metrics. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews with academics across the humanities and social
sciences, we found metrics relating to assessment, rankings and funding all direct research choices. This
research-in-progress paper identifies key issues and outlines future research to understand the wider
influence of metrification.
academics’ research choices and conceptions of academic freedom are affected. Critically examining the
behaviours of academics in today’s competitive publishing landscape, we argue that creeping managerial
practices are shaping research choices and perceived opportunities. In addition, observation indicates
that the way in which academic freedom is conceptualised is changing as a result of considering
academic performance through metrics. This raises questions of whether and to what extent
professional and academic autonomy remains in the hands of authors or are instead being outsourced
to metrics. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews with academics across the humanities and social
sciences, we found metrics relating to assessment, rankings and funding all direct research choices. This
research-in-progress paper identifies key issues and outlines future research to understand the wider
influence of metrification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | ACIS 2020 Proceedings |
| Publisher | Association for Information Systems (AIS) |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
| Event | Australasian Conference on Information Systems 2020: ACIS 2020 - Victoria University of Wellington (virtual), Wellington, New Zealand Duration: 01 Dec 2020 → 04 Dec 2020 https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis/#:~:text=The%20Australasian%20Conferences%20on%20Information,IT)%20to%20real%20world%20problems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2020/ (Proceedings) https://web.archive.org/web/20201129093553/https://www.acis2020.org/ (Website on Wayback Machine) |
Conference
| Conference | Australasian Conference on Information Systems 2020 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | Navigating our digital future |
| Country/Territory | New Zealand |
| City | Wellington |
| Period | 01/12/20 → 04/12/20 |
| Other | AAIS is the Australasian chapter of AIS, serving the IS community in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. AAIS seeks to promote and extend the support provided by a number of other organizations that are also active in the region. The Australasian Conferences on Information Systems (ACIS) is the premier conference in Australasia for Information Systems academics covering technical, organizational, business and social issues in the application of Information Technology(IT) to real world problems. |
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