{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T18:47:59Z","timestamp":1782845279006,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MIT Press","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,16]],"date-time":"2024-01-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1705363200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":15,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Books are an important output in many fields of research. However, they pose a significant challenge for research assessment systems, partly because of the limited availability of information to support the assessment of books. To inform book assessment practices, I present a systematic examination of the ISBN Manual and the Global Register of Publishers (GRP). I evaluate the extent to which these two sources can be used to determine the genre and publisher of a book as well as the country in which a book was issued. My analysis focuses on books submitted to the research assessment systems in Lithuania and the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2020. I show how the ISBN Manual captures the complex interactions between publishers, their imprints, and other organizations active in academic publishing, revealing the pitfalls of measuring books\u2019 quality by their publisher\u2019s prestige. The results also indicate that the ISBN standard provides no basis for the book genres mandated by research assessment systems in some countries. Finally, I demonstrate how the ISBN Manual and metadata accumulated in the GRP are convenient tools for designers of research assessment systems and are suitable for identifying ISBN registrants and performing bibliometric analysis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00284","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,16]],"date-time":"2024-01-16T16:20:34Z","timestamp":1705422034000},"page":"98-127","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["The challenge of assessing academic books: The U.K. and Lithuanian cases through the ISBN lens"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0043-3837","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Eleonora","family":"Dagien\u0117","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Institute of Communication, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"2024052115153301900_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"282","DOI":"10.1080\/00048623.2014.956462","article-title":"Open access in UCL: A new paradigm for London\u2019s global university in research support","volume":"45","author":"Ayris","year":"2014","journal-title":"Australian Academic & Research Libraries"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-68554-0_7","article-title":"Research quality criteria in the evaluation of books","volume-title":"The evaluation of research in social sciences and humanities","author":"Basili","year":"2018"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib3","volume-title":"Getting the word out: Academic libraries as scholarly publishers","author":"Bonn","year":"2015"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024052115153301900_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"623","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-03-2018-0063","article-title":"The culture of orphaned texts: Academic books in a performance-based evaluation system","volume":"70","author":"Broz","year":"2018","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"5","key":"2024052115153301900_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"477","DOI":"10.1177\/1354856518780456","article-title":"DIY peer review and monograph publishing in the arts and humanities","volume":"24","author":"Butchard","year":"2018","journal-title":"Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5920\/oapen-uk\/oaguide","volume-title":"Guide to open access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers","author":"Collins","year":"2015"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024052115153301900_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1177\/0011392116680020","article-title":"Global patterns in the publishing of academic knowledge: Global North, global South","volume":"66","author":"Collyer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Current Sociology"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib8","volume-title":"Monographs and open access: A report to HEFCE","author":"Crossick","year":"2015"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024052115153301900_bib9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1629\/uksg.280","article-title":"Monographs and open access","volume":"29","author":"Crossick","year":"2016","journal-title":"Insights: The UKSG Journal"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024052115153301900_bib10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"356","DOI":"10.1093\/reseval\/rvac044","article-title":"Prestige of scholarly book publishers\u2014An investigation into criteria, processes, and practices across countries","volume":"32","author":"Dagien\u0117","year":"2023","journal-title":"Research Evaluation"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib11","first-page":"2716","article-title":"Impact of national research assessment exercises on monographs and scholarly books authored by the Lithuanian researchers","volume-title":"ISSI 2019: 17th International Conference of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics","author":"Dagien\u0117","year":"2019"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib12","first-page":"299","article-title":"ISBNs as identifiers for books in research evaluations","volume-title":"18th International Conference on Scientometrics & Informetrics","author":"Dagien\u0117","year":"2021"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib13","volume-title":"Academic Book of the Future Project report: A report to the AHRC and the British Library","author":"Deegan","year":"2017"},{"key":"2024052115153301900_bib14","volume-title":"Monograph output of American university presses 2009\u20132013. 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