Research Impact

How do I measure the impact of my work?

Generally, there are two ways to measure an author's impact:

• create a citation report listing each work with a citation count;
• calculate an index score that assigns a numerical value to the overall impact of an author's publications.

These methods are not exclusive. A citation report can identify specific works with high impact and provide an easy way to list both total works and total citations. An index score can illuminate nuances missed by a citation count (for example, the recency of citations).

These tools measure citations within "traditional" publishing (books, articles, published papers):

These tools aggregate and compile data from a variety of sources, including some traditional citation tools and others not listed above.- Some are free but others require a one-time or annual fee (not paid for by the Library).

Citation Reports in Web Of Science

In Web of Science, you can create citation reports for your own publications (using ResearcherID). You can also create citation reports for lists of publications involving other researchers.

Citation Reports in Google Scholar

1. Create a Google Scholar profile.
2. Add publications to your profile, or allow Google to find your publications automatically. (Double-check Google's recommendations; you may often find publications from other researchers with similiar names.) 
3. Click "My Citations" on the Google Scholar home page to get a list of articles, citation counts, and graphs.