Building the infrastructure to make science metrics more scientific

Research leaders, policy makers and science strategists need evidence to support decision-making around research funding investment, policy and strategy. In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in the data sources available that shed light onto aspects of research quality, excellence, use, re-use and attention, and engagement. This is at a time when the modes and routes to share and communicate research findings and data are also changing. In this opinion piece, we outline a series of considerations and interventions that are needed to ensure that research metric development is accompanied by appropriate scrutiny and governance, to properly support the needs of research assessors and decision-makers, while securing the confidence of the research community. Key among these are: agreed ‘gold standards’ around datasets and methodologies; full transparency around the calculation and derivation of research-related indicators; and a strategy and roadmap to take the discipline of scientific indicators and research assessment to a more robust and sustainable place.