This guide provides an introduction to the tools and indicators used for measuring research impact. Some benefits of research impact, and the role it plays in the research evaluation process, include:
HSLS provides educational and advisory services for University of Pittsburgh's health sciences community to support research impact projects and inquires. Here are some examples of how the library can help:
Bibliometrics consists of different quantitative indicators that analyze the impact of scholarly works. Most of these indicators are citation-based with a focus on journal articles. This page covers some of the most commonly used indicators for authors, articles, and journals.
The h-index measures the productivity and citation impact of an author. Its calculation is based on the number of papers (h) that have received at least h citations. Example: an author's h-index is 20. This means that they've published 20 papers that have been cited at least 20 times each.
Limitations include:
Look up the h-index in:
Citation counts are the main way of determining the impact of an individual article. In theory, highly cited articles are interpreted as impactful publications. Keep in mind that it takes time to accrue citations and citation patterns are different across disciplines. Google Scholar and Web of Science all keep track of citation counts and are displayed on the search results page.
Other citation-based article indicators include:
Journal indicators, which are based on citation patterns of their articles, can be helpful for finding publications that will give your research greater visibility. However, it's important to understand that these indicators are only one part of journal evaluation process. Use of these indicators for measuring the quality of a journal, as well as the quality of individual authors who publish in them, has been argued against. Read the DORA declaration for more information.
ESI provides citation analysis on authors, journals, institutions, and countries. This can be helpful for adding additional support to CVs, biosketches, grant applications, and more to show:
Publication data from the Web of Science is used on a rolling 10-year period.
InCites helps analyze the research impact and productivity of authors, journals, institutions, and research areas. Use InCites to:
Publication data from the Web of Science is used from 1980 and is updated on a monthly basis.
Altmetrics are a collection of indicators that complement bibliometrics by capturing the online engagement with scholarship, such as (but not limited to) mentions from:
Nearly any type of research output can be tracked with altmetrics, as long as it has a DOI number. Examples include:
Altmetrics are a great way to see the immediate impact of your work, in comparison to other research metrics such as article citation count, which can take years to accrue meaningfully. They also complement bibliometrics because not only can you see the number of times someone has mentioned your work, you can also read the Tweet or news article to understand how your work was discussed. This might also provide a glimpse at the societal impact of your work.
Keep in mind the following limitations when using indicators for research evaluation:
For more information on using indicators responsibly, see the Leiden Manifesto, DORA, and The Metric Tide.