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Research impact measures the affect of your research in the world. This can be measured as the impact of a single article or the total research produced by an author as a whole. There are multiple metrics used to measure article and author impact including traditional metrics and altmetrics. Using multiple metrics gives a holistic view of research impact.

Why is it important?

  • Shows the application of your research into practice
  • Provides evidence of your contribution to your field
  • May be required for grant applications, awards and career advancement

The DORA Declaration makes a number of recommendations for improving the way in which the quality of research output is evaluated. The recommendations are for various stakeholders including funding agencies, institutions, publishers, metrics organisations and researchers.

DORA Recommendations

  • the need to eliminate the use of journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, in funding, appointment, and promotion considerations;
  • the need to assess research on its own merits rather than on the basis of the journal in which the research is published; and
  • the need to capitalise on the opportunities provided by online publication (such as relaxing unnecessary limits on the number of words, figures, and references in articles) and exploring new indicators of significance and impact.

Recommended Resources

Request a Researcher Impact Report

Author impact is a reflection of the overall impact of a researcher in their field. This includes the number of articles published, the number of citations or the average number of citations per publication. Good metrics are generally reliable, however weak metrics are not necessarily due to low impact. Do not rely on on one set of metrics to fully represent your impact.

Common author metrics

The below table provides an overview of several common, freely available author-level metrics, their use and limitations, and where to find your own.

Metric Site Use Limitations
Number of published articles

Monash Health Research Repository

Google Scholar

Total number of articles ever published

Indicates productivity

 Does not take research quality or level of impact into account
Number of citations

Google Scholar

Scopus Preview

Total number of times an author's work has been cited 

Measures scholarly influence

 Publication type influences citation patterns (review articles receive a disproportionate number of citations).
H-index

Google Scholar

Scopus Preview

Indicates the number of papers (h) an author has published that have been cited at least (h) times

Measures scholarly influence and productivity

Favours prolific authors and established researchers as citations increase over time.

Insensitive to highly cited papers.

Should not be used to compare researchers in different field.
i10-Index Google Scholar

Number of citations that have at least 10 citations

Measures scholarly influence and productivity

 Only measures citations in Google scholar.
Personal Impact Factor Scopus Preview

Calculates the average number of citations for all research published by an author

Measures average scholarly impact

 Includes self citations and is only available in Scopus Preview

Additional author-level metrics are available via subscription databases such as InCites, SciVal, and the paid version of Scopus. Researchers affiliated with a university may have access to these databases. 

 

Recommended Resources

Article impact reflects and demonstrates the influence of a single publication. Traditional metrics, such as number of citations, are better suited to traditionally published works. Altmetrics are better suited to measuring non  peer-reviewed journal articles such as conference presentations or guidelines.

Traditional Article Metrics

The below table provides an overview of common article-level metrics, their use and limitations, and where to find your own.

Metric Site Use Limitations
Number of citations Google Scholar Total number of citations of that article This number may differ between databases as each database may not have every publication that has cited your publication.

Percentile or Citation Benchmarking*

Scopus*

SciVal*

Web of Science*

Indicates the impact of an article compared to similar ones.

Based on publication date, document type and discipline.

 Can be used to compare researchers and articles from different fields.

Field Weighted Citation Impact*

(FWCI)

Scopus*

SciVal*

Ratio of actual citations compared to expected number of citation based on field averages.

FWCI =1 impact is equal to average

FWCI <1 impact is less than average

FWCI >1 impact is greater than average

Can be used to compare researchers and articles from different fields.

Suitable for fields with fewer citations generated compared to STEM areas of research

*If you are affiliated with a university, you may have access to the subscription version of Scopus, SciVal and Web of Science to access Citation Benchmarking and Field Weighted Citation Impact metrics.

Recommended resources:

Altmetrics are non-traditional or alternative metrics that consider the impact of research beyond citations in peer reviewed literature. It measures the impact of your research on social media, in scholarly networking sites, in repositories and in policy.

Why are altmetrics important?

  • Offers insight into the impact of your research outside of academia
  • Demonstrates the influence of your research findings on real-world policy and practice
  • Indicates the interest and engagement with your topic
  • Includes all types of research output, not just journal articles
  • Provides real-time information about the impact, rather than accumulating citations over years

What tools can I use to measure altmetrics?

Recommended resources:

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