Towards socially robust S&T indicators: indicators as debatable devices, enabling collective learning

Since indicators play an increasing role for decisions regarding research policy and management, the issues of their epistemological status and conditions of robustness are important ones. The purpose of this article is to show that the building and interpretation of S&T indicators is a normative process which is thus debatable, such debates having to take the form of collective learning processes through what we call the 'indicators assessment forum'. One can identify several international working groups and conferences dedicated to indicators discussion, which raises the issue of the extent to which they fulfill the mission of being assessment forums for the indicators. In conclusion, the article first calls for evaluating their capacity for fostering such collective learning and, second, suggests that being debatable is not a limitation, but the essence of the contribution of indicators to decision-making processes.