Analysis of the criteria of the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI) for the concession of the research incentives in Education

Abstract

The importance of the evaluation of the Higher Education has recently increased, on one hand, because of the creation of the European Higher Education Area and, on the other, as the new Spanish Organic Laws establish research incentives and accreditation processes of the university professors. Although many studies were conducted in relation to the criteria, parameters and indicators for this evaluation, there are very few works which focus on analyzing the criteria for the concession of the research incentives. For this reason, the objective of the current study consisted of conducting this analysis, focusing on the field of Education. The results show that the most important criterion to get an incentive is the publication of articles in journals included in the Journal Citation Reports. Other publications can be assessed if they accomplish a series of criteria according to the Assessing Committee, which have been mentioned since 2005. It has been shown that the criteria are not specific and that there is no established reckoner which could be applied to evaluate the merits of the solicitants. The rate of negative evaluations is very high, in absolute terms and also in comparison to other areas. Thus, the authors include some recommendations for the future.