LibGuides: Assessing Impact: Metrics, Altmetrics and Impact Factors: Making Your Research Visible

Making Your Research Visible

Metrics and altmetrics are used to measure the importance or research as demonstrated by usage, recognition and awareness. They are derived by algorithms that measure research that is both visible to machines and easy for machines to understand.

Anytime a machine finds if difficult to determine if an author for Article A is the same author of Article B, things may get missed in the counting. For this reason it is important for researchers with common last names to ensure that algorithms can easily identify their research and count it as theirs. The best way to do this is by securing a Researcher ID. There are several out there but the most common is the ORCiD. It is integrated into several databases such as Web of Science and Dimensions.

Another way of enhancing the visibility of your research; and hence its count; is by using Author Profile Tools. Not only do these provide a profile that makes it easier for people to identify you as a fellow researcher, grant recipient or scholar; they also provide researchers with a wealth of information about their impact. Some, like publons, not only provide information from their site, they also import metrics from databases or from a Researcher ID.

A third way to make your research more visible is by publishing your research in Open Access. Open Access publications are used more and hence tend to have better metrics and altmetrics.