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As bibliometric indicators are objective, reliable, and cost-effective measures of peer-reviewed research outputs, they are expected to play an increasingly important role in research assessment/management. Recently, a bibliometric approach was developed and integrated within the evaluation framework of research funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC). This approach helped address the following questions that were difficult to answer objectively using alternative methods such as program documentation review and key informant interviews: (a) Has the NCIC peer-review process selected outstanding Canadian scientists in cancer research? (b) Have the NCIC grants contributed to increasing the scientific performance of supported researchers? (c) How do the NCIC-supported researchers compare to their neighbors supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute? Using the NCIC evaluation as a case study, this article demonstrates the usefulness of bibliometrics to address key evaluation questions and discusses its integration, along complementary indicators (e.g., peer ratings), in a practice-driven research evaluation continuum.

Le mouvement homéopathique est généralement présenté dans l'historiographie comme un phénomène opposé aux principales transformations du XIXe siècle médical. Pourtant, l'étude du cas québécois fait apparaître un groupe de praticiens dont la stratégie de reconnaissance sociale et le mode de développement sont tout à fait comparables à ceux des médecins de l'école régulière. Les homéopathes se présentent en fait comme porteurs des progrès d'une médecine « moderne », « scientifique » et « professionnelle » et bâtissent des institutions très semblables à celles des médecins réguliers. La persistance de la controverse concernant la validité de la doctrine de Hahnemann et la concurrence entre les deux groupes de praticiens ne doivent pas masquer le fait que, du moins au Québec, le développement de l'homéopathie s'inscrit dans le mouvement plus général de reconnaissance sociale d'une médecine professionnelle., The homeopathic movement is often portrayed by historians as being opposed to the main transformations of nineteenth-century medicine. Nevertheless the Quebec case study shows a group of practitioners whose strategy for social recognition and mode of development were, in fact, similar to those of physicians of the regular school. Indeed, not only did homoepaths present themselves as "modern", "scientific" and "professionnal" representatives of medicine, but also, they built institutions almost identical to those of regular physicians. The persistence of the controversy about the validity of Hahnemann's doctrine and the competition between the two groups of practitioners must not obscure the fact that, at least within Quebec, the development of homeopathy was part of the more general movement toward the social recognition of professional medicine.