Scoreboards of research excellence

A critical discussion is presented of what could be understood as research excellence, and how to deal with fundamental issues and methodological challenges in operationalizing and evaluating this complex, multi-faceted notion in terms of measurable attributes at organizational levels. This paper argues for a systemic and interactive approach, combining multiple perspectives and stakeholders, while incorporating a wide range of information sources and quantitative indicators within the analytical framework of a 'scoreboard'. Context-specific and customized scoreboards show promise as a structuring tool in informed debate, indicator selection, comparative analysis and benchmarking studies of research excellence. Guidelines and recommendations are illustrated by way of a fictitious scoreboard with recent empirical data for economics research at the universities in the Netherlands.