This guide explains the concepts and tools of metrics (sometimes called bibliometrics) as they apply to research publications. This involves counting the citations to articles, journals, authors, etc. and ranking them using various methods. It is useful for researchers.
Research metrics are used to apply a quantitative lens to the impact of research. They provide a method for ranking or comparing research outputs in a numerical way.
It's important to remember that these metrics are not an assessment of the quality of a piece of research. They are simply a quantitative measure of aspects like citation frequency, which is often used as a proxy for influence and reach.
The most common method for calculating metrics is citation counting. This involves counting how many times a research output (like an article, a journal, or an author's body of work) is cited by other publications over a specific period. In theory, a highly cited work is considered influential because it is being widely read and built upon by other researchers. This data is compiled and provided by large database providers.
The University of Oxford is a signatory of the
San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
Key principles of DORA include:
Moving away from using journal-based metrics, like the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), as a stand-in measure for the quality of individual research articles
Encouraging a broader view of research impact, looking at various types of research outputs, not just journal articles
Metrics can support, but not replace, qualitative, expert assessment of research
The University of Oxford has developed principles to promote responsible use of metrics, based on DORA and the Leiden Manifesto.
View the principles and implementation examples on the Research Support website.
Metrics (bibliometrics) - The attempt to quantify the impact of a piece of research usually by counting citations.
Citation counting - Combining all the citations a work (article, book chapter, journal, etc.) has received on a specific platform over a specific period of time. Different platforms will have different citation counts for the same work.
Altmetrics - Counting mentions of research appearing in non-academic media including social media, policy documents and new media.
ORCID - A unique, persistent digital identifier that you control. It distinguishes you from every other researcher and links all your professional activities and outputs, from publications to datasets and grants.
