Bibliometrics is the quantitative analysis of publications. It can be used alongside qualitative, expert assessment to provide evidence of academic impact.
This guide provides information about the most common tools that individual researchers or research administrators can use to measure their own or their institutions citation impact. It is important that research metrics are used responsibly, in a fair, transparent and robust way.
Journal Citation impact: The impact of particular academic journals can be measured by the number of times their articles are cited and where they are cited.
Researcher Citation impact: The number of works a researcher has published and the number of times these works have been cited can be an indicator of the academic impact of an individual researcher
Output (Article/Book) Citation Impact: The academic impact of particular works, such as journal articles, conference proceedings, and books, can be measured by the number of times they are cited by other works
Altmetrics: Measures that capture the attention a resource generates on the social web, mainstream media, policy documents or other sources. They can be applied to journal articles, books/book chapters, software, datasets, websites, videos, etc.
There are many ways to assess research impact and outcomes and researchers should aim to assess their research based on its own merits and they should not rely solely on journal publication and journal impact factors. The Government of Canada's research funding agencies, along with many other funding agencies and institutions around the world have signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). DORA aims "to improve the ways in which the output of scientific research is evaluated by funding agencies, academic institutions, and other parties."
The main themes in the declaration are: