Measuring your research impact

Research impact is the effect that a piece of research has on the academic world听and the wider听community.听

  • How do I show research impact?

    Examples of ways to demonstrate听research impact:听

    • Attention from other researchers听

    • New theories, methods or research questions听

    • Contribution to new policies听

    • Improved services or products听

    • Healthier populations听

    • Increased awareness/understanding of cultures, values and ideas听

    As a researcher applying for jobs, grants, or promotions, it is increasingly important to be able to show that your research is making this kind of impact.听听

    Different听disciplines听have varied ways of officially communicating research (through articles, reviews, patents, book chapters, books, conference papers, posters, data sets, video/audio recordings, etc.), which means听there听are many ways to demonstrate听impact.听Publication metrics听are part of how this can be done.听

  • What are publication metrics?听

    Publication metrics are a way of measuring academic听activity, generally based on things that can be counted (quantitative).听听
    They can include things like the number of articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, etc.听you have听published, or how many times other authors have cited those publications in their own work.听听
    They can also include which scholarly journals you have听published in, and how those journals are ranked in terms听of prestige and influence.听听
    More recently they include alternative metrics (鈥渁ltmetrics鈥), which are designed to measure news, policy, and social media mentions of听your听research.听

  • What about other (qualitative) measures?听

    Depending on your field of research,听qualitative measures can also be an effective indicator of your productivity and influence. These measures can include:听

    • Publisher prestige听

    • Awards and nominations听

    • 贰诲颈迟辞谤蝉丑颈辫蝉听

    • Library holdings of your works听

    • International engagement and collaboration听

    • Industry or research听partnerships听

    • 笔补迟别苍迟蝉听

    • Previous successful grant or fellowship applications听

Tools听available to measure research impact听

For more tools, see听.听This provides evidence-based information about research metrics across disciplines, including how each metric is calculated, where you can find it and how it should (and should not) be applied.