ICMR impact scale may deter research in public interest, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• The ICMR has proposed the Impact of Research and Innovation Scale (IRIS) to measure the impact of biomedical, public health, and allied research projects.
• IRIS will measure research impact in publication-equivalents (PEs), assigning values to research papers, policy citations, patents, and commercial devices.
• A research paper cited in policies/guidelines is assigned 10 PEs, while a commercial device being used at scale is assigned 20 PEs.
• The aim of IRIS is to provide a standardized frame of reference to assess the impact of diverse research projects.

Detailed Insights:

• IRIS aims to incentivize researchers to diversify their research portfolios beyond citable academic papers.
• The PE system may undervalue certain types of research, such as commentary and narrative review papers, which are assigned 0 PE.
• Research leading to policy changes (10 PEs) may be deemed less impactful than commercial devices (20 PEs), potentially discouraging basic science and academic medicine.
• There are concerns that IRIS could incentivize the commercialization of research at the expense of its role as a public good.
• The development of IRIS should follow rigorous research standards, with transparency and mechanisms for accountability.
• A Delphi study could be used to form a consensus on the assignment of PEs to different indicators.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Impact of Research and Innovation Scale (IRIS): A scale proposed by ICMR to measure the impact of research projects.
• Publication-Equivalents (PEs): Units used in IRIS to quantify the impact of different research outputs.
• Delphi study: A structured communication technique used to gather expert opinions and reach a consensus.