Introduction

Metrics and the measurement of impact is another area of research support which academic librarians are likely to be familiar with. Those who have experience of stock selection and weeding will have looked at the usage statistics of various titles while those working to deliver new services will undoubtedly have had to justify the impact they have on users to secure further funding. In recent years the emphasis on research impact has increased exponentially, partly because of the global financial climate where all money spent must be justified. Because of these increased pressures, and the threat of formal research assessment exercises such as the REF, busy researchers have been required to add yet another stage to their project by measuring its effect and demonstrating their personal impact. There is also a new pressure to show the impact that research projects have in the world beyond the academic institution, for example how they inform policy and practice. However, impact is a difficult concept to measure and with so many metrics available researchers may struggle to choose the most appropriate ones for their needs.

This chapter discusses the importance of these issues and outlines how libraries can work to ease the pressure on researchers. At the end of the chapter, readers will have a clear understanding of what metrics are, the most common types of metrics and how they contribute to the wider measurement of impact. Readers will be able to outline the limitations of metrics as an assessment method and be better equipped to work with their research community to create a more balanced picture of impact. Metrics are most commonly discussed at the promote stage of the lifecycle as this is where the measurement of impact become important to individual researchers. They are often factored into the publish stage when authors select a suitable title to approach with their output. This chapter also contains an activity where readers can prepare their own impact report using a range of metrics.

What are metrics?

Metrics are numerical measures used to assess the quality and impact of research. In the context of scholarly communication this means evaluating research outputs, the work of individual academics, the success of a particular publisher or the body of work produced by an institution as a whole.