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How Do I Measure My Impact?

Why do we measure impact?

 

Research impact is a way to measure the influence or contributions a researcher has made to his or her field.  There are many different ways to measure this but the most widely accepted today includes quantitative measures such as the ones discussed below.  Researchers and institutions are under increasing pressure to show value on the research they generate.  One way to do that is to show the influences it has had among other researchers.  As others build upon published work, they cite the research, showing its significance.  Publishing multiple, highly cited papers is often equated with "success" in many fields.

Bibliometrics and altmetrics approaches to measuring impact are noted below.

Bibliometrics - citation counts

The tools that are described in this guide for measuring impact through h-index and citation count include Google Scholar, Researcher ID and Scopus ID.  Google Scholar requires a free Google account to use where Researcher ID and Scopus ID require your PSU access ID to log in.  All three options require users to verify that relevant publications are included in your ID.

  • Publication Counts (can include all works)

Refers to the total number of works (articles, patents, book chapters, data sets, etc.) authored or co-authored by an individual. This measures amount of output and not the impact of that output.

  • Citation Counts

The number of times a researcher has cited a journal article / book / data set / etc. in scholarly material. Highly cited works are often regarded as high quality and significant.

  • h-index

An author's h-index is a way of measuring a researcher's productivity and impact in a single value. An h-index is "n" number of articles that have been cited at least "n" number of times. Researchers with higher h-indexes are generally thought of as more prolific, as they have more output (publications) and impact (citations).

The h-index was developed by Jorge Hirsch and introduced in 2005. The following paper describes the h-index calculation in detail.

Hirsch, J.E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(46), 16569-16572, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0507655102

Altmetrics - immediate discussion of public impact

Altmetrics are article-level metrics that demonstrate immediate or more recent public discussion on a published article, as long as the published article has a DOI (digital object identifier). 

Common altmetrics measures:

  • social media posts Twitter/X, BlueSky
  • mentions in blogs, news, Wikipedia
  • number of views or downloads

Two examples of altmetrics: 

  • AltmetricsTM: Download and install the free bookmarklet, then click when you are viewing a page containing DOI embedded in the metadata, and metrics will be displayed in a pop-up window. After installing the bookmarklet, test it on this article. 
  • PlumX: Metrics are displayed when viewing an article within specific bibliographic databases such as Scopus and ScienceDirect. An example of a database record showing PlumX metrics is here (Penn State University IT credentials required).