From Citations to Interactions: Hybrid Indicator for Responsible Research Assessment and Open Science Evaluation

This presentation outlines the development and feasibility of a semi-quantitative hybrid indicator for responsible research assessment and Open Science evaluation, moving "From Citations to Interactions". Rationale: Traditional citation-based indicators are deemed unsuitable for assessing the societal impact of university research, which is expected to open and interact with society at large. The hybrid indicator measures the Level of effort presumed to generate societal impact, based on recorded interactions. Approach: The evidence-based model uses two datasets from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF): (1) Recorded societal interactions (N=1390) and (2) UEF-affiliated popular and professional publications (N=1550). The summed and normalised occurrences are converted into star ratings (semi-quantitative approach) across four Fields of Science (FoS). Conclusion: The study demonstrates the feasibility of the hybrid indicator and its suitability for creating a new indicator model using the provided datasets. The model is offered as a transparent and openly-explorable foundation to verify and make visible the societal interactions of a research organization or unit, encouraging open conversation around the role of societal activities in research assessment.