When research assessment exercises leave room for opportunistic behavior by the subjects under evaluation

• Published in: Journal of informetrics Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 830 - 840
• Main Authors: Abramo, Giovanni, D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea, Di Costa, Flavia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2019
• Subjects: Bibliometrics; Italy; PBRF; R&D management; Research policy; R&D management; Italy; Research policy; PBRF; Bibliometrics
• ISSN: 1751-1577; 1875-5879
• DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2019.07.006

•We test the lack of opportunistic behavior by universities floowing the Italian VQR.•VQR penalized university performance if professors resulted unproductive.•Universities could reduce penalization favoring gift authorships.•New productives show a higher than average share of intramural publications.•Nevertheless opportunistic behavior by universities does not seem to take place. This study inserts in the stream of research on the perverse effects that PBRF systems can induce in the subjects evaluated. The authors’ opinion is that more often than not, it is the doubtful scientific basis of the evaluation criteria that leave room for opportunistic behaviors. The work examines the 2004–2010 Italian national research assessment (VQR) to test the lack of possible opportunistic behavior by universities in order to limit the penalization of their performance (and funding) due to the presence of scientifically unproductive professors in faculty. In particular, institutions may have favored “gift authorship” practices. The analysis thus focuses on the output of professors who were unproductive in the VQR publication window, but became productive (“new productives”) in the following five years. A number of universities show a higher than average share of publications by new productives that are in co-authorship exclusively with colleagues from the same university. Although this might be thought to reflect opportunistic behavior by universities, the empirical evidence does not support this assumption.