Thursday, July 21, 2016
When you look at a number, what story does it tell? This is the type of question that the Library is committed to answering through a unique local partnership.
For over a year, the Library has partnered with Institutional Analysis and Planning and the Office of Research to explore elements of research productivity and research impact in connection to the Transformational Research Theme of the University's Strategic Plan. Understanding bibliometric data, and capturing the story it tells, is a driving force of this collaboration.
As one type of research metric, bibliometric measures express an amount or degree of research or academic output; while many definitions exist, the European Commission defines bibliometrics as, "a statistical or mathematical method for counting the number of academic publications, citations and authorship". Authors often encounter this type of data in tools such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Bibliometric data is also often used in world university rankings, funding and award applications and university performance indicators.
The area of bibliometrics is interesting and complex! To learn more, consider exploring these resources:
- White paper: Measuring research output through bibliometrics,
the University's winter 2016 white paper on the topic - The Library also has a suite of bibliometric-themed guides:
Have a specific question? Always feel free to connect with the University's Bibliometrics & Research Impact Librarian, Shannon Gordon.
