  There is an evident and rapid trend towards the adoption of evaluation
exercises for national research systems for purposes, among others, of
improving allocative efficiency in public funding of individual institutions.
However the desired macroeconomic aims could be compromised if internal
redistribution of government resources within each research institution does
not follow a consistent logic: the intended effects of national evaluation
systems can result only if a "funds for quality" rule is followed at all levels
of decision-making. The objective of this study is to propose a bibliometric
methodology for: i) large-scale comparative evaluation of research performance
by individual scientists, research groups and departments within research
institution, to inform selective funding allocations, and ii) assessment of
strengths and weaknesses by field of research, to inform strategic planning and
control. The proposed methodology has been applied to the hard science
disciplines of the Italian university research system for the period 2004-2006.
