C-PRISM: Complexity-informed profile for research impact and scholarly merit.

Abstract

The h-index, despite widespread adoption, inadequately captures the multidimensional nature of scholarly contribution, conflating productivity with impact while ignoring leadership, independence, research integrity, and collaboration quality. We introduce the Complexity-informed Profile for Research Impact and Scholarly Merit (C-PRISM), a comprehensive framework that re-conceptualizes research assessment as a multidimensional profile rather than a scalar metric. C-PRISM integrates seven measurable dimensions; Leadership, Independence, Influence, Momentum, Depth, Integrity, and Collaboration, each capturing distinct epistemic functions within the research ecosystem. Drawing on principles from complex systems thinking, C-PRISM provides context-sensitive evaluation suitable for hiring, promotion, and grant review while maintaining computational feasibility through standard bibliometric databases. We demonstrate C-PRISM's application through detailed calculation examples. The framework offers a paradigm shift from reductionist metrics to holistic assessment, acknowledging that scientific impact is inherently multidimensional and cannot be meaningfully compressed into a single number.