General

1. Checking the relevance for development [1] [2]of a given research. Is this research useful for:

• Improving the standard of living of the people (health, food, economy, environment...)
• contributing to remove constraints to development [3]
• helping decision-makers, persons in charge of development (governments, local authorities, NGOs, local associations, etc.)
• training development workers (at various levels)
• teaching in universities and technical schools

2. Assessing quality and contributing to maintain or improve the quality of development research [4]:

• scientific quality [5]
• organisation of research, leadership

3. Strengthening of research capacity [6]:

• individual researchers [7]
• institutions [8] (research institutes, universities)

4. Ensuring accountability towards:

• funding sources
• authorities
• the public at large ( Where is the best research? How good is it? 
   

Objectives of evaluating research projects

1. Ex-ante evaluation of research projects [9]

See above: General

 Add :

• to select eligible research projects for funding
  • to allocate resources for a new research proposal : financial resources : fund raising, financing research, financing research and higher education institutions, extending previous funding, etc.
  • human resources : recruitment of researchers [7]

2. Ex-post evaluation of research projects [9]

See above : General

Add : evaluation for

• deciding to publish the results of research
• deciding to extend an on-going research
• deciding to award a degree to the author
• awarding a prize or a distinction
• disseminating scientific knowledge about development and its problems
   

Objectives of evaluating researchers and research teams

See above : General

• individual researchers [7] :
  • senior researchers
  • young researchers
• research teams [8]
  • to assess past performance
  • to assess potential

Evaluating scientific publications

Evaluating the publications [10] in order to judge

• their scientific quality
• their clarity and completeness, useful for practical applications
• the correct choice of the publication channels, in view of  possibly interested stakeholders
• their accessibility