Bibliometrics and the evaluation of Australian sociology

The Australian government has expressed a continuing interest in the assess ment of research productivity as a basic element of a 'rationalised' resear ch funding process. Bibliometric analyses are among the techniques that the government uses to evaluate the quality of research performance. Like many other disciplines, sociology is a target of these assessments. This paper presents data to demonstrate how Australian sociology might measure up if s ubjected to an inquiry using these methods. Data are provided on the standi ng of Australian sociology internationally and on the research contribution s of major Australian universities. Several important methodological issues are reviewed and discussed. It is concluded that Australian sociologists w ould be well served by becoming active participants in the ongoing national debate over the assessment of research performance and the allocation of f unding for tertiary education and science.