Introduction or preface

This paper presents a view of research evaluation from the perspective of a large, multidisciplinary public university in the United States. Faced with increasing demands for accountability to the public, such universities currently lack adequate approaches to research evaluation. In fact, many of the approaches to research evaluation tend to rely on disciplinary standards for what counts as excellent research. Although these standards protect the autonomy of disciplines, departments, and faculty members, they do not speak to a notion of accountability that goes beyond accountability to academic peers. Public universities in the US should follow the example of the US National Science Foundation and find a way to incorporate concerns for broader societal impacts into their approaches to research evaluation.