摘要：This article is a report on the use of citations in the evaluation of scientific research. The idea that the evaluation of research should be conducting using “simple and objective” measures is increasingly prevalent in today’s academic world, which has generated a “culture of numbers”, based on the fact that such evaluations are more precise and attempt to overcome the subjective judgements of peer review. Nevertheless, these considerations are analyzed by professionals who “deal with numbers” – mathematicians and statisticians. The belief in numbers lacks a sound basis when the numbers are poorly applied or interpreted, as can occur in the case of using statistics to classify journals, documents, people, programs and disciplines. The authors call attention to the illusory objectivity of numbers and to the fact that evaluation based on citation data can provide a limited, superficial and incomplete vision of the quality of research.
关键词：Evaluation;Impact factor;H index;Scientific research.;Avaliação;Fator de impacto;Índice H;Pesquisa científica.
