Introduction to a special issue on performance evaluation

This special issue contains edited and revised papers from the 10th International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators, held in Vienna in September 2008. Three papers focus on the introduction of new indicators: the impact vitality, the field factor and different types of the h index, for different evaluative purposes. Two papers deal with the application of bibliometric methods in the social sciences and humanities (monographs, and a detailed comparison of the publication output an research impact of three European universities). Other topics are studies of the interaction between mobility and scientific performance, the development of research academic careers, and the influence of different counting methods of multi-authored publications in the distribution of financing costs in possible future world licenses. The last paper is a very complete study of some Israeli research institutes from a dynamic perspective.