Keeping with this year’s Open Access Week theme of Community over Commercialisation, it is important to remember that the value of research outputs to the larger community cannot be measured using traditional bibliometrics alone. 

Metrics alone cannot capture the full richness of academic contributions; they must be contextualised

Meiko Makita, Health Sciences Open Research Lead, University of Dundee

In recent years, initiatives such as the Leiden Manifesto, DORA and CoARA, have been advocating for research-intensive organisations to practise responsible research assessment. Using qualitative alongside quantitative methods to evaluate research is key to this approach. With the University of Dundee being a signatory of DORA, it is encouraging to see researchers and professional service staff put these principles into practice. 

In this blog, Meiko Makita highlights the limitations of using traditional metrics when trying to capture the qualitative aspects associated with research.  

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I have collaborated in various projects conducting research evaluations and exploring the dynamics of research itself. This involved assessing the impact, quality, and processes of research through alternative research indicators (almetrics), social media analysis and scientometrics.  

Traditional metrics, while useful, often fail to capture the complete picture of research influence and significance. Metrics alone cannot capture the full richness of academic contributions; they must be contextualised within the broader goals of research – addressing real-world challenges, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, promoting inclusivity and societal change, and creating a culture of knowledge sharing. 

Metrics may highlight research visibility, but they do not always reflect the significance of the knowledge produced or the lived experiences of those it affects. 

Open Research practices can improve research outcomes by increasing visibility and facilitating collaboration within the academic community and beyond. 

Meiko Makita
Health Sciences Open Research Lead, University of Dundee

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The University has access to Research Intelligence tools like SciVal, Altmetric and PlumX, that allows the use of both traditional and alternative metrics to measure the impact and influence of research outputs in the community.
Library Research Services provide guides and bespoke training on how to make the best use of these tools. 

Libguides for Research Metrics and Altmetric can be found here: 

Research Metrics: Measuring Research Performance – LibGuides at University of Dundee 

Altmetric at Dundee: Who’s talking about your research? – LibGuides at University of Dundee 

To arrange a training session on SciVal or research metrics please contact: discovery@dundee.ac.uk  

Manisha Menon 
Research Librarian, University of Dundee 

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Launched during International Open Access Week 2024, the Open Research Blog Series is a collection of testimonies, views, and opinions on Open Research from the University of Dundee research community. These have been collected by the Library and published to highlight the variety of Open Research practices employed by researchers across the University.