Research Evaluation
Researchers are increasingly required to report on the impact of their work in evaluating the quality of research. Bibliometric databases such as Scopus and Web of Science play a crucial role in this process by providing quantitative data and metrics that assess the impact and influence of scholarly publications.
Scopus and Web of Science are global bibliometrics data sources, search platforms, and abstract and citation analysis tools widely used by ranking agencies like Times Higher Education (THE), World University Ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings, Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and other systems.
Systems and Tools
These bibliometrics tools produce reports on author profiles, Journal impact factors and quartiles, article-level metrics such as usage (citation counts, downloads, HTML views, abstract views), captures (bookmarks), mentions (blog posts, e-comments, Wikipedia references), social media attention, author-level metrics and altmetrics.
Training Material
In the NRF rating applications, promotion and tenure, researchers, institutions, and funding agencies use these bibliometric databases to measure impact and compare performance, identify collaboration, assess productivity, support funding decisions, and enhance visibility.
Systems and Tools
Bibliometric databases are specialised platforms that collect, analyse, and present data related to scholarly publications and their citations. Researchers can use these databases to generate various types of bibliometric reports and analyses, which provide insights into research outputs' impact, visibility, and citation patterns. Pull metrics (bibliometric and altmetric) reports from these bibliometric databases:
- Incites
- Scopus
- SciVal
- Web of Science
- Google Scholar
- Journal impact factors and quartiles (JCR)
- NWU Google Scholar Profiles
Training Material
The NWU Repositories (Boloka and DaYta Ya Rona) provide research profiles for researchers. These profiles typically include information about the researcher's publications, datasets, and sometimes other scholarly outputs. Researchers use these profiles to showcase their work and make it more discoverable within the academic community and beyond.
Systems and Tools
- Boloka creates researcher profiles (researcher publications and supervised work for theses/dissertations). See this example:
- Researchers can connect research data profiles with their ORCID profiles on DaYta Ya Rona and claim datasets.
- These profiles can be added to ORCID under websites and social links. See this ORCID profile with:
- Boloka (Institutional Repository)
- Supervised work
- Research data
Altmetrics (Alternative metrics)
These tools are increasingly used in research evaluation to complement traditional bibliometric metrics like citation counts. They focus on capturing online attention and disseminating research outputs beyond academic citations. Here are several vital uses of altmetric tools in research evaluation:
Systems and Tools
Altmetric Explorer is a web-based tool that tracks, monitors, and analyses scholarly research outputs' online attention and impact. This tool is designed to help researchers, institutions, publishers, and funders understand and visualise the broader impact of research beyond traditional academic citations.
Training Material