Determining and Prioritizing the Evaluation Criteria of Humanities Scientific Outputs: A Case Study of Language and Literature Fields

Abstract

With regard to the specific nature and variety of the humanities fields and disciplines and the need to evaluate the humanities research outputs according to their nature and intrinsic characteristics, two questions has been posed and answered in this study as follows: “What are the criteria and indicators for evaluating the research outputs of humanities?” and “What is the prioritizing of the evaluation criteria according to the research approaches and goals in humanities?” Considering the differences in the fields of humanities, a case study of language and literature was conducted. This research was done with a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative stages). The first stage was carried out using a library research method to extract the criteria and indicators for the evaluation of the research outputs in the fields of language and literature. In the second stage, in order to finalize and prioritize the criteria, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among a number of experts in the fields of language and literature in two rounds of fuzzy Delphi. In the first stage, 42 indicators were identified and divided into 8 categories of criteria: 1) platform for creation, presentation and publication, 2) writing structure, 3) content, 4) impact in online environment, 5) scientific impact, 6) social impact, 7) economic impact, and 8) cultural impact. The prioritizing of the criteria was also based on their average obtained in the second round of fuzzy Delphi, which shows the impact of research approaches and goals on the priority of using the criteria.