Research Impact

As part of our Scholar Services, librarians can create research impact reports for individuals, research groups, or departments using a variety of metrics including: 

• Publication citation counts
• Journal impact factors
• Author H-index
• Altmetrics

Research impact reports take approximately two weeks. 

Metrics play a crucial role in various aspects of scholarly work and provide quantifiable measures to assess article, author, and journal level research. Examples of how we currently use metrics include:

• Evaluation of Research Impact: Metrics provide a quantitative measure of the impact and influence of research. They help gauge the quality, visibility, and significance of scholarly work. These metrics are often used in academic evaluations, such as promotion and tenure decisions, grant applications, and institutional rankings.

• Tracking Research Trends: Metrics can reveal trends and patterns within a research field. By analyzing metrics over time, researchers can gain insights into emerging areas of interest, popular topics, and shifts in scientific paradigms. This information can guide future research directions and collaborations.

• Promoting Open Science: Metrics can facilitate the dissemination of research by providing evidence of its impact. Open access publishing and metrics make research more accessible, allowing a broader audience to engage with scholarly work. This transparency promotes collaboration, reproducibility, and the advancement of knowledge.

• Resource Allocation: Funding agencies, institutions, and policymakers may use metrics to inform resource allocation decisions. By identifying influential research and successful researchers, they can allocate funds, infrastructure, and support to maximize the impact and productivity of the scientific community.

It is important to note that while metrics provide useful insights, they should be used in conjunction with qualitative assessments and expert judgment. Metrics alone cannot capture the full scope and value of research, and they should be interpreted cautiously, taking into account the specific context and discipline of the research.

 "Research Impact" by Angel Clemons, Sarah Drerup, and Tessa Withorn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Image Credits: This guide includes screenshots from Web of Science, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Altmetrics Bookmarklet, and Scimago Journal Ranking.