Research Metrics and Impact: Home
Feedback Welcome
This guide is still under development. We welcome any feedback; email the Library Research Services team library.research@otago.ac.nz
Research Metrics and Impact Guide
Use research metrics and tools to help describe and measure the depth of your research impact.
For more help, contact your Subject Librarian.
Author MetricsCalculate author metrics showcasing your research impact and reach. These metrics are useful for grant applications, promotions, and identifying key researchers and potential collaborators.
Journal MetricsIdentify reputable journals for publishing, evaluate the influence of journals in your field, and make informed decisions about where to submit your work.
Article MetricsTrack citations to get insights into the impact and reach of specific research outputs. Find information about metrics for journal articles, books and alternatives for non traditional outputs.
AltmetricsTrack online engagement with research, highlighting its impact through mentions, shares, and discussions across various platforms.
Broader ImpactFind tools and resources to help track your broader impact.
Using Research Metrics when Applying for Promotions and GrantsGet advice on finding and using metrics for promotion and grant rounds.
Featured Tools
What is it? SciVal is a research analytics tool developed by Elsevier that allows institutions and researchers to visualise research performance, benchmark against peers, and explore collaboration and funding opportunities using data from Scopus.
Why use it? Use SciVal to generate reports that provide tailored insights into your publication impact, collaboration networks, and disciplinary strengths all of which can support promotion, funding applications, and strategic planning.
Get started: Create a High Level Researcher Report (which includes Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI), citation counts, publication output over time, international collaboration rates, and the share of publications in top citation percentiles). Then add extra analyses (if they apply to you) such as Publications by Journal Quartile, or Scholarly Output in Policy / or Patents and Academic/ Corporate Collaboration.
See an example report:
- Learn how: Analysing Your Research Impact with SciVal (Online learning module)
- Learn more: Visit the SciVal support page
What is it? Dimensions is a research analytics platform and database from Digital Science that integrates data from publications, grants, patents, clinical trials, and policy documents.
Why use it? Dimensions can help you track output, citation impact, funding, and societal influence through key metrics like Field Citation Ratio (FCR), Relative Citation Ratio (RCR), and Altmetric Attention Score. Dimensions also supports VOSviewer visualisations, enabling you to visually explore research themes, collaborations, and citation networks for strategic insights.
- Learn how: Analysing Your Research Impact with Dimensions AI (online learning module)
- Learn more: Research Impact Analysis Using Dimensions Analytics & Altmetric Explore (25 min webinar from Digital Science)
- Example: Collaboration Network Visualisation
Responsible Metrics
It is important to use metrics responsibly to ensure transparency, context, and the avoidance of bias.
DORA's (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) New Guidance on Research Indicators (2024) outlines five key principles for using metrics responsibly:
- Be Clear: Define what each metric measures.
- Be Transparent: Ensure transparency in metric calculation and use.
- Be Specific: Use metrics relevant to the research context.
- Be Contextual: Consider the context of metric application.
- Be Fair: Avoid biases and distortions in metric use.
Licensing
This work in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.