Programmatic evaluation and comparison based on standardized citation scores

The evaluation of scientific and technological performance is a complex process requiring many sources of input and that must be carefully synthesized and interpreted. One measure of performance is the number of citations received by an individual´s scientific publications or patents. A methodology is proposed for standardizing citation counts that allows them to be directly compared for individuals working in different time frames and in different subject areas. Standardized performance measures for individuals can be aggregated to study group performance or to compare performances across subgroups or entire programs. The use of citation-based indicators has the advantage of providing large-scale evaluations at relatively low cost.