What is Bibliometrics?

Bibliometrics is a statistical analysis of resources such as articles, books and publications, as well as on citations in articles. Citation indexes as well as co-citation analyses, are used to measure research quality. Bibliometrics can be used to evaluate the impact on the academic community of a research paper, an individual researcher, a research group or institution, or a journal.

Key Metrics

IF

Impact Factor

Measures the average number of citations to articles published in a journal. Calculated annually by Clarivate Analytics.

Journal-level Annual Clarivate
h

h-index

An author has an h-index of h if they have h papers each cited at least h times. Measures both productivity and citation impact.

Author-level Productivity Impact

Databases for Bibliometric Analysis

Scopus

Scopus is a citation database which covers all disciplines. Students and staff at UR have access to Scopus via the programmes in Research4Life, such as HINARI and AGORA.

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Web of Science

Another leading bibliometric resource. The UR Library Services will soon share more detailed information on access.

Coming soon
Learn more

When to Use Bibliometrics

  • When applying for tenure, promotion or grants
  • By including bibliometric data on your CV
  • In order to show the value of your research to your institution
  • By showing return on investment to funding bodies, industry and the general public
  • Identify areas of research strength and weakness to inform future research priorities for an institution
  • Identify top performing journals in a subject area, to decide where to publish
  • Identify top researchers in a subject area, to locate potential collaborators or competitors

Bibliometric Tools

Google Scholar
Scopus
Web of Science
Altmetric
ORCID
Dimensions

Need Help with Bibliometrics?

Contact our research support team for assistance with measuring your research impact.