  While bibliometrics are widely used for research evaluation purposes, a
common theoretical framework for conceptually understanding, empirically
studying, and effectively teaching its usage is lacking. In this paper, we
outline such a framework: the fast-and-frugal heuristics research program,
proposed originally in the context of the cognitive and decision sciences,
lends itself particularly well for understanding and investigating the usage of
bibliometrics in research evaluations. Such evaluations represent judgments
under uncertainty in which typically not all possible options, their
consequences, and those consequences' probabilities of occurring may be known.
In these situations of incomplete information, candidate descriptive and
prescriptive models of human behavior are heuristics. Heuristics are simple
strategies that, by exploiting the structure of environments, can aid people to
make smart decisions. Relying on heuristics does not mean trading off accuracy
against effort: while reducing complexity, heuristics can yield better
decisions than more information-greedy procedures in many decision
environments. The prescriptive power of heuristics is documented in a
cross-disciplinary literature, cutting across medicine, crime, business,
sports, and other domains. We outline the fast-and-frugal heuristics research
program, provide examples of past empirical work on heuristics outside the
field of bibliometrics, explain why heuristics may be especially suitable for
studying the usage of bibliometrics, and propose a corresponding conceptual
framework.
