Survey on the usage of indicators and metrics in research assessment

1. Detailed description of the research project

We are very pleased that you are interested in participating in the research project "Survey on the usage of indicators and metrics in research assessment" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Felix Schönbrodt from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. This study is Run by the CoARA Working Group "Responsible Metrics and Indicators". No harm due to the participation in this study is expected.

2. Content and purpose of the study

The goal of the survey is to review the metrics and indicators used in member institutions of the Responsible Metrics and Indicators Working Group (RMI WG) of CoARA. The aim is to investigate the status quo of how metrics and indicators are used in research assessment. This will be a ground for preparing an integrative framework of indicator-based and qualitative research assessment.

3. Group of persons concerned

Voluntary, English-speaking individuals aged 18 or older who can report on indicator usage in their institution.

4. Data to be collected

We ask for your email address in order to send you link that allows a continued participation in the survey, and also to ask for approval of quotes. We ask several questions on the usage of metrics and indicators for research assessment in your institution as well as your personal opinion on the validity and usefulness of some indicators.

5. Analysis of the data

The data generated in the study will be collected and processed at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München exclusively for scientific research purposes. The results obtained on the basis of the data will be published in summary form as a scientific publication.

6. Storage and dissemination of the data

For long-term storage, your sufficiently anonymized study data (see section 9) are transferred to an in-house storage unit at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

In compliance with Art. 25 Para. 3 BayDSG, a variant of the data, which can currently only be de-anonymized with disproportionate effort, is made available to third parties as an open data record on the internet in a repository for subsequent use. The purpose, type and scope of potential subsequent uses cannot be foreseen at this point in time. Thus, this study follows the recommendations of the German Research Foundation (DFG) for quality assurance with regard to verifiability and reproducibility of scientific results, as well as optimal data reuse.

Your contact email address: The contact email address will remain with the project leader for communication during the study only and will not be shared with any third party. After completion of the study, the contact email will be deleted.

7. Parties involved, data flows, and storing locations

Survey data is processed using the infrastructure provided by the LRZ. Data collected from study participants in the context of these projects will be processed as described in section 6. The data processing is carried out exclusively by a limited group of persons at LMU Munich (project management, (auxiliary) scientific staff, students as part of teaching) and collaborators from the CoARA Working Group. Thus, LMU Munich also bears the responsibility for compliance with data protection in terms of the GDPR.

8. Concrete duration of storage

Documents available to the project leader with email addresses of participants will be destroyed after completion of the study, as soon as they are no longer needed for follow-up inquiries. For scientific reasons, the sufficiently anonymized study data are stored locally without a fixed date for deletion and are made publicly available in a repository for subsequent use (see also section 6).

9. Pseudonymization procedure

- not applicable -

10. Risks and other information

The intervention of third parties (e.g., an attack on our servers) may result in a (partial) loss of data. In this case, the goal of the research project may be jeopardized. In the event of a successful attack, third parties could gain access to the data described in section 4. In the worst case, information about your identity is obtained (by combining the data) that might reveal your personal opinions about indicators and metrics for research assessment.

11. Legal basis

The legal basis for processing the aforementioned personal data is the consent in the second part of this document. Your data will be processed on the following basis: Art. 6(1)(a), Art. 7, Art. 9(2)(a), Art. 9(2)(j), Art. 25 BayDSG in conjunction with. Art. 89 GDPR, Recitals 33, 156, 159 GDPR.

12. Revocation on the part of the person concerned

Participation in the study is voluntary. You have the right to withdraw (revoke) your data protection consent at any time. The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until the revocation (revocation with effect for the future). Please address the revocation to the responsible department.

You will not suffer any disadvantages as a result of the revocation.

You can request deletion of your data from the data set by sending a declaration by email to the person responsible, stating the pseudonym/session ID known to you. After the data is completely anonymized, deletion is no longer possible. The deletion takes place immediately and cannot be reversed.

13. Name, contact details of the person responsible

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 Munich, Germany
Department of Psychology, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 Munich, Germany

Project lead

Prof. Dr. Felix Schönbrodt
Psychologische Methodenlehre und Diagnostik, Department Psychologie
Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 München, Germany
Email: Felix.Schoenbrodt@psy.lmu.de
Phone: +49 (0) 89 2180 5050

14. Contact details of the official data protection officer

Data Protection Officer of the University of Munich:

Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1

D-80539 Munich, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 89 2180 – 2414

https://www.uni-muenchen.de/einrichtungen/orga_lmu/beauftragte/dschutz/index.html

15. Reference to rights of the data subjects

In accordance with Art. 13 II b GDPR, you have the right to the following if the relevant legal requirements are met

Information (Art. 15 GDPR)

Objection (Art. 21 GDPR)

Data portability (Art 20 GDPR)
Deletion (Art 17 GDPR)
Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)

Correction (Art 16 GDPR).

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact the relevant department.

Furthermore, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority for LMU is:

Bavarian State Commissioner for Data Protection

P.O. Box 22 12 19

80502 Munich, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 89 212672 0

Email: poststelle@datenschutz-bayern.de

https://www.datenschutz-bayern.de

Survey on the usage of indicators and metrics in research assessment