Research Guides: Measure Scholarly Impact: Overview

Different Measures of Impact

Quantitative measures of impact include measurements of journals, authors, and individual articles or book chapters.

Journal impact is measured measured by the Impact Factor, which is the most-widely accepted metric to measure a journal.
Author impact is measured by the H-Index.
Article impact measures such as Altmetrics measure how many times an article has been used/downloaded, etc.

Qualitative measures of impact include: service on policy-making bodies, consulting, presentations, etc.

Which to Use?

The most appropriate measure depends on the values of the researcher's institution and what the researcher wants to showcase. Sometimes, the tools used, the type of output measured, and the career stage of the researcher can affect the results.

Different disciplines have different ways to assess impact. For example, in the Sciences and Medicine, quantitative factors are more highly regarded than in the Arts and Humanities, while Accounting uses both.

Recommended Resources

Web of Science
A multi-disciplinary database that provides comprehensive citation data for thousands of journals.

Google Scholar
Create a profile to track your individual author metrics.
Publish or Perish Software
Calculates h-index and other metrics using Google Scholar; requires installation on your desktop.
PLOS: Article Level Metrics
An open access database that covers journals in the sciences and medicine and measures how scientists and the general public engage with published research at the article level.
Scholarometer
Facilitates citation analysis and evaluates the impact of an author's publications using information from Google Scholar.

Journal Citation Reports
Compare journals using citation data: most cited, highest impact, etc. Covers virtually all areas of science, technology, and the social sciences.

Need more help?

Scholarship & Research Support
Consultations, support, and tools to help researchers.

Related Guides

Evaluate and Enhance Your Scholarly Impact Workshop

Evaluating and Enhancing Your Scholarly Impact
Workshop slides

Best Practices for Enhancing the Visibility of a Researcher's Scholarly Activities
A document developed by the Scholarly Communications Committee of the American Society for Engineering Education, Engineering Libraries Division (ASEE/ELD)