Research: Alternative Metrics for Humanities, Arts and Social Science

Researchers working in Humanities, Arts and Social Science (HASS) areas may find that 'traditional' research metrics such as citation reports gathered from Web of Science (WOS), Scopus or Google Scholar do not portray a full picture of your scholarly output.

Here are some ideas of alternative ways you can demonstrate impact:

• Books and Book Chapters are not generally included in academic database metrics but their impact can be demonstrated in many ways. 
• Exhibition or Performance catalogues, photographs and reviews.
• Awards, Prizes, Scholarships and Grants.
• Conference participation.
• Commissioned works.
• Articles and mentions in non-scholarly communications such as The Conversation, News sources etc.
• Social Media mentions, shares and status (as long as they are positive!).
• Inclusion on editorial boards or as a peer-reviewer for well respected journals.
• Membership and position in respected industry boards or committees
• References to your work in judicial decisions or case studies.
• Phd. Supervision.
• Patents.

Metrics Toolkit

The Metrics Toolkit can help scholars and evaluators understand and use citations, web metrics, and altmetrics responsibly in the evaluation of research.  The Metrics Toolkit provides evidence-based information about research metrics across disciplines, including how each metric is calculated, where you can find it, and how each should (and should not) be applied. You’ll also find examples of how to use metrics in grant applications, CV, and promotion packages.

altmetric.com 

Have some free tools available including 'bookmarklet' that researchers can install in their browser to instantly get an Almetrics score for an article and track how much attention recent papers have received online.

Please note: Federation University does not have a subscription for altmetric.com but there are some free tools available.

altmetrics.org (archived)

"Altmetrics expand our view of what impact looks like, but also of what’s making the impact. This matters because expressions of scholarship are becoming more diverse." (Altmetrics :a manifesto)

Impactstory

An open-source website that helps researchers explore and share the online impact of their research.

PlumX Metrics

A suite of metrics brought out by Elsevier to provide insights into the ways readers interact with individual pieces of research output in the online environment.

Library Holdings. Use Trove for Australian Libraries or the WorldCat database to search for academic, public, and special libraries that have your book in their collection.

Book reviews. Positive reviews of your publication can also be an excellent indicator of reach, impact, and influence in a field.

Sales/Usage Statistics. Generally obtained from the publisher, sales, inclusion on bestseller lists, and usage statistics such as downloads of an ebook or library loans can showcase the impact and reach of your work.

Prizes or awards Including shortlistings.

Educational usage. Use of your book as a prescribed text for School or University.

Goodreads is a free social cataloguing website with a user-populated database of books, annotations and reviews.

Invitations to speak. Including conferences, corporate engagements or writers festivals.

Media Mentions provide alternate impact from mainstream academic publication output.

Distribution and Translation. What international markets has your book been released into? Has it been translated?