Research performance of Australian and New Zealand marketing academics: Achieving rigor and relevance

Abstract

Assessing academic performance is challenging and assessing academic performance that makes a contribution to society is especially challenging. Evaluations need to take into account academic rigor and the relevance of the work. We suggest relying on whether an article is published in an elite journal does not necessarily lead to a significant scientific contribution or practical relevance. Rather, to gain insight into a scientific contribution, academic rigor and relevance judgments have to be made as to the work’s contribution to discovering and verifying knowledge in the discipline and across disciplines. While qualitative judgments can be made, indicator-driven metrics play an important role in objective assessment and several citation metrics are readily available to assist in assessments. We suggest there is a need for a portfolio of performance indicators, as there is no one best measure of success. Different indicators highlight different aspects of performance, hence the portfolio approach. We conclude by outlining eight key areas that should be considered when making academic performance assessments.