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LIBRARY SUPPORT FOR RESEARCHERS
RESEARCH EVALUATION & METRICS
Introduction
Evaluating research is complex with many stakeholders conducted for many reasons. Assessments are popular with governments because it is felt that such frameworks provide accountability to the public. Funders use such assessments to create benchmarks for the standard of research being done. Universities also benefit financially when they write their research strategies around the requirements of assessments. However, the demands of assessments can be cumbersome and stressful for researchers and can create tension between faculty colleagues.
Until recently, the main considerations of assessment had remained unchanged. Thanks to emerging open scholarship principles and practices, where new forms of contribution and expression of scholarship are available and engage new audiences and communities, assessment systems are being reconsidered. Change to traditional research evaluations are influenced by initiatives such as the 2013 San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), the 2015 Leiden Manifesto for research metrics and the 2020 Hong Kong Principles for assessing researchers.
Responsible evaluation should include both qualitative (narrative) and quantitative (metric) sources informed by discipline values and norms. There are limitations to research metrics and consequently there is a wide range of discussion and activity to ensure that measures are used responsibly and that stakeholders experience a level playing field.
The menu options in this guide will help you to understand what metrics are available and where they can be found. The pages are organized by the type of measurement being sought, i.e. that of individual articles or books, journals, authors, or institutions/research groups).
Types of Metrics
These are the major categories of research impact and engagement measurements.
Metrics Toolkit
The Metrics Toolkit allows researchers to explore by different types of publications and select metrics for particular types of impact, research and discipline. The toolkit was developed by a group of information professionals with advice from an advisory board.