Article citation rates, the h-index and journal impact factors are increasingly used in decisions regarding faculty hiring, tenure and promotion, research policy, and funding allocations and awarding of grants. There is concern that these indices may be replacing the informed judgement of peers in these decision-making processes. The theme of the current issue of ESEP (Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics) is “The Use and Misuse of Bibliometric Indices in Evaluating Scholarly Performance”. Several articles present a range of perspectives, and present alternative tools and metrics that might do a better job.