The 139th GIST Seminar "How to define, document, measure, and assess book publishing in the social sciences and humanities? A discussion of possible solutions."

Speaker	Prof. Gunnar Sivertsen Research Professor Emeritus at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) in Oslo, Norway
Time	13:30-15:00 (JST), 05:30–07:00(CET), Jan 28 Wed, 2026 (Doors open at 13:00)
Venue	Hybrid 4th Floor, Research Meeting Room 4A, GRIPS 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Access) Zoom link will be sent by the day before the seminar via e-mail.
Sponsor	GRIPS Innovation, Science and Technology Policy Program (GIST) Research Project to Develop Data Infrastructure and Indicators for Monitoring the Humanities and Social Sciences funded by MEXT
Language	English (No Japanese translation)
Fee	Free (Pre-registration required)

<Outline>
The lecture starts by documenting and explaining the important roles of book publishing versus journal publishing in the SSH, both for the creation and communication of new knowledge and for interacting with education, culture, and society. The documentation problems are discussed in relation to both the library systems, the metadata indexing systems, and current research information systems. The measurement problems are discussed as a question of bibliometric indicators that can balance the efforts behind book publishing against those involved in journal publishing. Lastly, the question of how book publishing in the SSH could be assessed is discussed in relation to a few national research assessment systems in Europe. Here, the role of peer review in scholarly book publishing is also discussed as well as the role of national versus international publishers.

<Notifications>
This is an in person and online seminar.
Zoom link will be sent by the day before the seminar via e-mail.

Simplified personal history

Gunnar Sivertsen is Research Professor Emeritus at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) in Oslo, Norway. He has a background in the humanities with a PhD on 18th Century Scandinavian literature, but most of his career has been dedicated to research for research policy needs. He was the founder of bibliometrics in Norway and designed the current research information system in Norway (CRIStin) as well as the Norwegian Publication Indicator with a balanced representation of the social sciences and humanities. More generally, Sivertsen’s research contributes to science-based innovation in the development of research evaluation, research funding, and the use of indicators. He has advised the development of research evaluation and funding systems in several countries in direct interaction with governments, institutions, and academic communities. He has co-authored publications with researchers from more than 30 countries and has published in fourteen different languages. He was awarded the Derek de Solla Price Memorial Medal in 2025 for “outstanding contributions to the fields of quantitative studies of science”.

Application,Inquiry

Registration: Please register at this Registration Form by 17:00 JST (9:00 CST), Jan 26 Mon.
If you cannot open the form, please send email to GIST Secretariat, gist-ml@grips.ac.jp. Registration email must include: 1) your name, 2) institution, 3) position, and 4) e-mail address.

Events

Archive