Bibliometrics & Responsible Research Evaluation: Introduction

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. For further guidance on the appropriate use of metrics, see the Statement on the Responsible Use of Research Metrics in UCD.

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

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

I would like to thank Robin Kear (Univ. of Pittsburgh), Katherine Akers (Emory Univ., Atlanta GA), Lucy Lions (Northwestern Univ., Evanston IL) and Andrew Spencer (Macquarie Univ., Sydney) for their permission to use some content from their guides.

The Library's Research Essentials @ UCD Library programme offers an extensive range of training sessions and workshops (open to all staff and students) on a range of practical topics to help support your research including: publishing and impact, open access, research data management, geospatial data, data visualisation, and systematic reviews.

Full details and booking can be found on the UCD Library Training Calendar or by clicking on the image above.