Ex-ante evaluation of research project funding : what is the importance of scientific quality?

The paper presents a meta-analysis of peer-review system in a specific competitive scheme, the Research Project of the National Interest (PRIN), to verify how reforms of peer-review mechanisms in the ex-ante evaluation can improve reliability and transparency of the process beyond the effectiveness of selecting the best proposals. [Publisher's text].

Research infrastructures play a central role in contemporary science, allowing scholars to conduct high-level research and fostering data sharing and results' circulation. This case study, applied to a local community of sociologists, explores specific modes of use in social sciences, effects on research design, and users' opinions regarding the quality of scientific outputs derived from their exploitation. [Publisher's text].