Publications or Citations - Does it Matter? Beneficiaries in Two Different Versions of a National Bibliometric Performance Model, an Existing Publication-based and a Suggested Citation-based Model

The paper discusses the adoption of the Norwegian Publication Model in a Danish context and examines arguments for supplementing or substitution the current mechanism where reward is based on publication activity with one based on citations. Based on national publication data from 2009 from the Danish model, belonging to the science and technology research area, and corresponding citation data, we examine the Danish universities’ relative input when it comes to publications and subsequently examine the relative output from these publications, i.e., the “returns on investment” from the model, either the current publication points, or the alternative, citations. Findings support the claims that high-performing units would benefit more from a citationbased approach, but at the same time also show, contrary to what was conjectured, that in the present case the same university also benefits the most from the current publication model. Based on the findings, we discuss the publication versus citation-based models, or hybrids between them, and argue that citation-based models in performance-based funding context are harder to influence and most likely will support already existing cumulative advantages.