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Library Research Support

Being an influential researcher

As a researcher, you can increase your influence by ensuring that your present yourself and your research outputs effectively.  This section looks at the various ways this can be acheived and the tools we have at our disposal to increase our impact.

Responsible use of metrics in research assessment

It is important to understand the limitations of any metrics you use and to use them for appropriate purposes.

Please read the SHU guide to responsible metrics.

SHU is also a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). This is a set of recommendations for funding agencies, institutions, publishers, researchers and other stakeholders, to improve practices in research assessment and is about about using quantitative indicators (metrics) responsibly.  

The Metrics toolkit is a great source of information about using metrics responsibly, including the limitations and use cases for individual indicators.

You may find the short video useful: The Leiden Manifesto for Research Metrics from Diana Hicks, et al. on Vimeo. It describes 10 principles to guide the use of metrics in research evaluation and is a video version of the Nature paper: Hicks, D., Wouters, P., Waltman, L.,  de Rijke, S. & Rafols I. (2015). The Leiden Manifesto for research metrics: use these 10 principles to guide research evaluation. Nature, April 23, 520:429-431. doi:10.1038/520429a.

The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Signatory of DORA badge

The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is a set of recommendations for funding agencies, institutions, publishers, researchers and other stakeholders, to improve practices in research assessment.

Sheffield Hallam University signed DORA on the 7th May 2019.

DORA is about using quantitative indicators (metrics) responsibly.  The key recommendation is not to use journal level metrics as a surrogate measure of the quality of individual research articles, or an individual academic’s contributions to their field, or for hiring, promotion, and funding decisions. While DORA focuses on eliminating the inappropriate use of journal metrics, it also covers more general issues with the use of metrics.

You can read the declaration including the recommendations on the DORA website.

We also recommend that you read the SHU guide to responsible metrics, which provides the SHU community with a set of principles outlining good practice in research assessment and the use of quantitative indicators.

If you have any questions about metrics and research assessment, please contact the Library Research Support Team:

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Collegiate Library [map pdf]

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