Quality assessment of Spanish universities’ web sites focused on the European Research Area

Summary This work has analyzed and evaluated the dissemination of research done at Spanish universities through the World Wide Web (WWW) in order to obtain a map of the visibility of the information available on this research and to propose measures for improving the quality of this diffusion, all within the social and institutional context of the European Area for Higher Education. The methodology applied in the study has used both qualitative and quantitative research methods to obtain some quality indicators on the dissemination of university research. The object of study consists of a sample of 19 Spanish universities, chosen according to their representativeness by Autonomous Community and their administrative and scientific weight. The process of defining indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, as well as the collection and analysis of data, are explained. The results give us a detailed panorama of the state of the art of the visibility of information on research in the web pages of selected universities. This has allowed us to make certain proposals for improvement that can contribute to the excellence of its dissemination.