The Search for Self-evaluation of Knowledge

papers presented at a workshop on the evaluation of research held at the University of Milan (November 29, 2012). Italian academics are currently experiencing the second nationwide research assessment, a monumental task involving bibliometric analysis and peer review of more than 184,000 publications, i.e. typically three publications per scientist, self-selected as the best research of each scholar. At the same time, universities have implemented an array of self-evaluations, often through the Nucleo di Valutazione’s board of experts (appointed by the Rectors) or other bodies. The objectives, scope, and styles of the national assessment and the internal evaluation differ. The workshop in Milan, organised by the Nucleo di Valutazione of University of Milan and the researchers of the UNIMIVAL team (a project self-managed by ten young scientists), focused on the contributions of experts from other Italian universities and from abroad about the specificity of internal evaluation and its relationship with national assessments. The debate was lively, ignited by a set of distinguished speakers, including Remy Barrè (CNAM, former director of the OST), Britt Holbrook (University of North Texas), Luciano Floridi (University of Hertfordshire ), Henk Moed (Elsevier), Victoria Ley (Agencia Estatal Antidopaje, former Director of ANEP), Birgit Schmidt (IFQ), Sergio Benedetto (ANVUR), Silverio Bolognani (Università degli Studi di Padova), Dario Braga (Università degli Studi di Bologna), Bruno Dente (Politecnico di Milano), Aldo Geuna (Università degli Studi di Torino), Gilles Pècout (Ecole Normale Superieure Paris), Paolo Rossi (CUN), and Alberto Silvani (Università degli Studi di Milano). We are extremely grateful to Alberto Silvani, editor of this journal and an expert on these topics, for inviting us as guest editors for this special issue. We are unable to publish here all the contributions, nevertheless we hope that the readers of RIV will find these papers of interest. We have also included papers EDITORIALE