ABSTRACT
This chapter considers evaluations that concern research collectives, that is faculties, universities, research fields or even countries. It focuses at the two main methods of evaluation: peer review and use of bibliometrics. The general idea of research evaluations is to identify and recognise quality and excellence in research. In research evaluation, researchers themselves are an obvious stakeholder as objects of assessment. It is obvious that researchers, being the objects of assessment, have the right to be informed on the rules and objectives of an assessment. They have the right to expect that assessments are provided in a way that treats researchers equally. Regarding the collective of researchers, one can differentiate three major forms of assessment: research assessments of a certain administrative unit or research field, financing formulas for distribution of resources to universities and university rankings. The usefulness of universities remains a salient topic in research policy discussion.
