Research Impact is measured through a variety of sources, such as journal impact factor, citations, or social media mentions. This guide serves as a resource for some of the methods for researchers to evaluate the impact of their scholarly works.
Research impact can be measures at multiple levels, including:
H-Index
The h-index is based on a list of publications ranked in descending order by the Times Cited count. The value of h is equal to the number of papers (N) in the list that have N or more citations.
The h-index is indicated by an orange horizontal line going through the Year / Total Year columns. The number of items above this line, which is "h" have at least "h" citations. For example, an h-index of 20 means there are 20 items that have 20 citations or more. This metric is useful because it discounts the disproportionate weight of highly cited papers or papers that have not yet been cited.
Calculating the H-index Value
The h-index factor is based on the depth of the library's product subscription and your selected timespan. Items that do not appear on the Results page will not be factored into the calculation. If your subscription depth is 10 years, then the h-index value is based on this depth even though a particular author may have published articles more than 10 years ago. Moreover, the calculation only includes items in your product database - books and articles in non-covered journals are not included.
The h-index was developed by J.E. Hirsch and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (46): 16569-16572 November 15 2005.
Pure Research Profiles
Augusta University's Research Profiles is a searchable database of expertise in our university. Explore the profiles, publications, and grant data of scholars within Augusta University and follow the network and collaborations outside of our university as well. The publications and grants listed for each faculty member reflect their expertise in the department(s) with which they are affiliated at Augusta University.
Access Pure Research Profiles at http://augusta.pure.elsevier.com/.
Journal Citation Reports
Journal Citation Reports (JCR)* is a unique resource that evaluates and compare journals using citation data.
Journal Citation Reports provide:
*JCR is only available for health sciences students, faculty, and staff.
Altmetrics
Altmetrics is an emerging category of impact measurement premised upon the value of “alternative metrics,” or “new metrics based on the Social Web for analyzing, and informing scholarship” (Jason Priem, Dario Taraborelli, Paul Groth, and Cameron Neylon, 2010. “Alt–metrics: A manifesto,” at http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/).
Tools to help you measure altmetrics:
Special Issue on Altmetrics, Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ) Volume 25, no. 2, Summer 2013
Article Level Metrics
As defined by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), Article-Level Metrics (ALMs) incorporate new data sources along with traditional measures to present a richer picture of how an individual article is being discussed, shared, and used.