To establish a scientific research performance evaluation index system for departments by applying Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process.

A questionnaire composed of 10 first-level indicators, 36 second-level indicators and 95 third-level indicators was developed according to literature review and expert interview. Then two rounds of expert consultation were conducted by adopting Delphi method, the authority of experts was evaluated by the authority coefficient. Based on the analysis and discussion of the findings of the first round of expert consultation, an updated version questionnaire was developed, the evaluation indicators were re-selected and determined by the same way. After two rounds of discussions, the scientific research performance evaluation index system of the hospital department was finally developed. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process and product method were used to calculate the weights and combined weights, respectively.

After two rounds of consultation, 9 first-level indicators, 28 second-level indicators and 67 third-level indicators were finally established in the scientific research performance evaluation index system of hospital departments. The expert authority is 0.79, which shows that this research has a higher authority. From the standpoint of significance test, the P values are all less than 0.01, indicating that the consulting experts meet the requirements for the consistency of the index scores, and the results are reliable.

An effective index system for scientific research performance evaluation of departments has been established in this research, however, it still needs further validation in practice.. In the future, it will need to be combined with grading standards and methods, and subjective assessment by experts to test the scientificity and feasibility of the evaluation index system to assure continuing improvement.

Delphi method; Analytic hierarchy process; Hospital; Scientific research performance index