Research Impact
Research impact refers to the value that research adds to the academic community by influencing the course of new knowledge creation in the subject. Impact can go beyond, resulting in the societal component of how the study influences and improves how people, organizations, countries, and the entire globe evolve in the future (see UK Research and Innovation for more information).
Research Metrics
To identify the impact brought by research, quantitative calculations are implemented to facilitate the process of recognition and are regarded as research metrics. In general, metrics strive to serve as a source for evidence-based decision-making by researchers, librarians, and institutions. Research metrics can be classified into four categories:
Check the below recommendation for more information:
Exploring Research Impact in Academia and Why It Matters : Perspectives on the Public Good and the Role of Research in Society
by
Article metrics offer insights into the influence of specific academic papers. The measurements examine how the academic community reacts to and interacts with the published work.
Indicator: Citation Count
Citation count refers to the frequency with which an academic article is mentioned in other academic publications.
Example: Google Scholar
Indicator: Usage
Usage, also known as access count in certain platforms, concerns the number of downloads and views, often through the publisher’s website or open access repositories.
Example: SpringerOpen
Journal metrics are the measurements used to assess the performance, impact and quality of academic journals. It uses bibliometric data to calculate the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year. Such metrics help to identify reputable journals in a particular field of work, with trustworthiness and authoritativeness.
Indicator: Journal Impact Factor
Journal Impact Factor, supported by Clarivate, calculates the average number of citations received by articles in a journal over the past two years. An update of results will be reported annually. With the higher impact factor calculated, it is considered that the concerned journal is more influential.
Tips: variation of JIF can also be found, such as five-year JIF and quartile ranking
*HSUHK Library has no subscription and access to this tool and relevant databases
Indicator: CiteScore
CiteScore, developed by Elsevier, measures the number of citations to documents published in a journal over a four-year period based on Scopus data. These documents involve articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers. Check out Scopus now to explore more!
Indicator: SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)
Like CiteScore, which the source of data is also from Scopus, SJR calculates the number of times a paper in a particular journal is cited. The major difference lies on the fact that SJR weights citations based on the prestige of the citing journal, with the foundational concept of which an influential journal will be more likely to receive citation from other significant journals. While SJR is incorporated in Scopus, you can also access this indicator by visiting SJR's website.
Indicator: Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP)
SNIP calculates field- or subject-specific differences in citation practices, which emphasizes the contextual impact and offers a direct comparison between different fields. While SNIP is incorporated in Scopus, you can also click here to access the indicator via the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), University of Leiden – its founding institution.
Indicator: h-index
Introduced by J.E. Hirsch in 2005, the h-index is calculated by the number of publications for which an author has been cited by other authors at least the same amount of times. Often used as the indicator for author metrics, the variation of h-index would also be applied as a measure to identify top journals.
Example: Google Scholar (h5-index)
*Click to see how metrics are calculated and presented in Google Scholar
Author metrics are the assessments made to evaluate the performance, productivity, and impact of individual researchers. It reflects the influence that researchers brought to their field of work and even the entire academic community.
On top of citation and publication counts, where the former refers to the number of times an output has been cited by others and the latter concerns the number of outputs the researcher has authored, a specific indicator is used to measure the performance of a researcher: the h-index
*Click to access the original paper written by Hirsch on how the calculation works
Other than traditional calculations, more emphasis has shifted to the measurement on attention received from the public. Combining the terms “alternative” and "metrics", Altmetrics addresses the attention to an academic work being mentioned on various online sources. This includes the number of times an article has been shared on social media channels like X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook, mentioned in government policies, and mainstream media. By adding this assessment to traditional calculations, a more comprehensive representation of the impact resulted from the research shall be achieved.
Indicator: Altmetric.com
Altmetric.com provides the analyzing platform for calculation of these alternative metrics. The Altmetric Donot is the visualized representation of online attention and relevant impact received by a research output, categorizing into different colours for different sources.
Image source: Altmetric.com
*HSUHK Library has no subscription or access to this tool
Indicator: PlumX
Supported by Elsevier, PlumX Metrics is a subscription-based measure that combines traditional calculation of article-level metrics with mentions and social media indications. It consists of five dimensions:
Image Source: Scopus Blog
*HSUHK Library has no subscription or access to this tool
Indicator: Impactstory
Impactstory serves to display your research profile with the inclusion of alternative discussion of your works. This involves the amount of discussion around your research outputs in popular social media platforms.
*Personal registration is required with an X (i.e.Twitter) account
Looking for ways to boost your research visibility? Other than the methods mentioned in the dissemination session, check out some suggestions below on how you can do further:
Choose Open Publishing
Open access is where it's at when it comes to getting your research out there and making a real impact! When you publish in open access journal, your work is freely available for anyone to read, no paywalls or subscriptions are required. This means more audiences will be able to access your papers, especially global audiences. And more readers equal more citations, while you will be exposed to more collaboration opportunities and build your networks easily.
Engage in Data Sharing
Your data becomes more discoverable and accessible to a larger audience than simply readers of your published articles when you make it publicly available. Higher citation rates result from this enhanced accessibility since it makes it easier for other scholars to locate and build upon your work. By allowing you to share preprints and early versions of your research before official publication, data sharing also facilitates speedier dissemination of your findings.
Update Author Profile
Refreshing your profile regularly with your latest publications and achievements allows others to recognize you and your contributions in the field. It benefits your credibility and authority, making it more likely that others will engage with your research or establish potential collaboration. You can make use of your research identifier (e.g. Google Scholar Profile, ORCID ID, ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID) for easy management of your works.
Utilize Social Media
Other than engaging in academic social networks, utilizing social media can enhance the visibility of your research by allowing you to reach a broader audience and engage with various communities beyond the academic world. It provides you a unique channel to present your research with a variety of formats, like infographics and videos, making your audience, who are mostly the general public without relevant professional knowledge, to understand easily and further share your findings with others. This exposure can lead to more discussions, collaborations, and citations of your work. Remember, this is what Altmetrics calculates!