Academic Rankings between the “Republic of Science” and “New Public Management”

Academic rankings mediate between the differing goals of the “republic of science” and of “new public management”. Nevertheless, rankings recently have come under scrutiny. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of academic rankings, in particular, their unintended negative consequences on the research process, and conclude that academic rankings do not fulfil their intended goal. We discuss input control, that is, rigorous selection and socialization, supplemented by periodic self-evaluation and awards as a way to mitigate the tensions between the concept of the “republic of science” and “new public management”. (89 words)