Italy’s struggles with evaluation continue

Study suggests advent of assessment drove “anomalous” national citation patterns

More than a decade has passed since Italy introduced evaluations for research institutions and individual academics, and strong initial opposition has been replaced by general acceptance. But now evidence is growing that adaptation to assessments may be the cause of undesirable behaviour.

In July 2023, the evaluation agency Anvur released the results of the third evaluation exercise (Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca, VQR), which assessed work from 65,000 researchers at 98 universities and 14 other institutions. This was used to assign up to 30 per cent of universities’ ‘ordinary funds’—their basic budgets—and identify so-called departments of excellence that receive additional grants. A separate procedure grants individual researchers the qualification for career improvements (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale, ASN) on a quarterly basis.