Über die Wirkung geschichtswissenschaftlicher Texte, oder warum impact eine zu einfache Lösung für ein komplexes Problem ist

This contribution deals with the latest endeavours in performance measurement in the humanities, especially historical sciences. It takes a critical look at the possibilities and the limitations of such procedures and thereby illustrates the changes in understanding scholarly activities. Against a backdrop of experiences with recent developments in science policy in Germany the article shows to what extent new systems of research evaluation tend to self-llegitimization and reproduction. In the case of the humanities and the social sciences this gives rise to an implicit general suspicion of inefficacy, which again ushers in intensive resource and time consuming new control mechanism. The positive effects of performance measurement are thwarted by a far greater number of unintended effects such as the increasingly strategic attitude in publishing.