SOM Research Impact: Home

Research impact is the demonstrable contribution that research makes to academia and society.

• Academic impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes in shifting understanding and advancing scientific method, theory and application across and within disciplines
• Economic and societal impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy, and its benefits to individuals and organizations. 

While there are many reasons to measure research impact, there has not been universal agreement on how to do so. Additionally, as methods of scholarly communication expand beyond the traditional journal article, existing metrics become less relevant. New metrics continue to be developed in attempts to improve upon existing measures.

Where you may need to highlight or demonstrate the impact of your scholarly work.

• Preparing your promotion dossier.
• Promoting the work of the institution.
• For foreign scholars, completing requirements related to visas and permanent residency.
• Applying for grants, and reporting on the activities of your funded research where you may be asked to identify "broader impacts of your work."
• Applying for jobs, and updating your CV.
• Identifying yourself as an expert outside of your academic peers (media, public, legislators, etc.). 

This guide is presented in two halves. First, we divide metrics by type: journal, author and publication level, as well as altmetrics. This section compares metrics platforms, discusses how metrics can be used by researchers, and highlights specialized tools. Second, we divide metrics by the major subscription platforms provided by the library: Scopus, Web of Science, and Dimensions. This section contains detailed guides of how to use the platforms and example searches. Much of the information in one half is duplicated in the other -- researchers do not need to read the entire guide.

Adapted from UC Berkeley and UCSD

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID, pronounced like the flower) is an open, community-based, non-profit organization whose goal is to create and maintain a registry of unique research identifiers which allow your colleagues, institution, publishers, and funding agencies to link you to your work and distinguish you from researchers with similar names. 

Researcher Identifiers, also known as Digital Author Identifiers (DAI) or Scholarly Identifiers, are unique numeric codes that establish a unique identity for a given author or creator. Research Identifiers are becoming more important in today's scholarly and publishing systems because the number of authors and research outputs keeps expanding globally, challenging our ability to associate individuals with their works accurately and unambiguously.