Metrics & Profiles
Research Impact
Research impact attempts to measure how research has contributed to the world. It can be measured on a number of levels, including personal (based on the author), and output (based on a publication or body of work). Measuring and demonstrating impact can be helpful for preparing funding and promotion applications, academic CVs and research assessment activities. It is becoming increasingly important for funders that the impact of research can be planned for, tracked, and demonstrated.
Research impact can be measured quantitatively (for example, by metrics) or qualitatively (for example, by peer review). It can also be measured in the context of academia (for example, by citations) and outside of academia (for example, social and economic impact).
Research Metrics/Bibliometrics
The University of Waikato has access to a number of paid and free sources for research metrics. The resource that is best for you will depend your subject area, and what you are looking to quantify with research metrics. Research metrics can be used to demonstrate the impact of your research for grants or applications; they can also be used to identify high-impact journals, research trends, and potential collaborators. Some sources of bibliometrics include:
- Scopus and SciVal
- Overton
- Google Scholar
- Dimensions – free version
Responsible use of metrics
There are many ways to measure research impact. Metrics provide a useful way to quantify attention and reach within a discipline, however, it's important to acknowledge their various limitations and use them responsibly. This responsibility sits with everyone in the research community, from individual researchers at all levels, through to publishers and hiring committees.
The Metrics Toolkit outlines the limitations of different types of research metric, along with notes about how they're calculated and examples of appropriate use. Other resources that explore the responsible use of metrics include the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Leiden Manifesto.
Profiles Checks
The library offers researchers at the University a comprehensive and personalised service we call a Research Profile Check, which is designed to help you understand and maximise the impact and visibility of your research. There are many benefits to a Research Profile Check, these vary depending on the stage of your publishing career, but may include:
Ensure your research profiles are up-to-date and linked where possible to save you time updating and correcting profiles in the future. We will review your profiles on platforms like Google Scholar, ORCID and Scopus, identifying any discrepancies and suggesting improvements.
Many research profiles are automatically created and/or populated. We can assist you to identify and correct any inaccuracies in your research profiles, ensuring your work is properly credited to you and the University of Waikato.
Gain valuable insights into the impact of your research through comprehensive analysis of various metrics from a range of sources. Our Open Research Team will provide a report to help you understand the influence and visibility of your work within your field and beyond. This is valuable at any stage of your career, from doctoral candidates and Early Career Researchers just starting to publish, through to academic staff creating PBRF portfolios or applying for grants or promotions.
Increase the accessibility and reach of your research, and ensure compliance with any Open Access policies [link to Open Access Policies section]. Our team can guide you through the process of identifying and depositing eligible publications in Research Commons, and can provide support for making your research open in other ways.
The Open Research Team at the University of Waikato is committed to working with academics who wish to make their research open in ways that work for them.