Research assessment reform and OA

Universities UK has called for the reform of research assessment in the UK.  For details, see its November 9 press release.  For some of the OA connection, see its policy briefing, The future of research assessment: the principles of reform (October 2006).  (Thanks to Colin Steele.)  From the policy briefing:

4.9 A marker of 'performance' is citation analysis of
journal articles. This can provide good coverage, soundly
based data and a link to quality. There is, however, a
possibility that changes to the structure of publication
through 'open access' will in due course supersede
traditional journals. Developments in this area will bring
their own advantages and create opportunities for the
development of new indicators. Much of the work in this
area, as well as the opportunities it presents, is not
currently on the radar of policy makers. It is essential that
this is explored further before decisions are made. A key
question is the extent to which citation metrics are
appropriate as a resource allocation model because of the
impact that this could have on behaviour. As with input
measures, it is likely that they could be used productively
as part of a basket of indicators in a supporting role.

PS:  For more on the OA connection, see Stevan Harnad's frequent comments on how research assessment creates incentives for self-archiving, to facilitate the submission process and (with the transition to a metrics-based assessment) to give authors the benefit of the OA impact advantage.