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Bibliometrics for researchers

  • Information about bibliometrics and bibliometric analyses

What is bibliometrics?

Bibliometric analyses are quantitative studies of publications and publishing patterns.

The analyses often result in metrics that are increasingly being used to shed light on the influence and dissemination of researchers or publications. The metrics should not stand alone as a yardstick for research quality.

Bibliometric analyses range, for example, from simple counts of an institution’s or an author’s publications, to different types of citation analysis.

Applications

Bibliometric analyses and metrics can, for example, be used in connection with fundraising, development of publishing strategies or reports in connection with the completion of projects.

Bibliometric analyses can also be used to map and visualise the structure of new as well as old research areas, show the current focus within a given research topic, or show which researchers or institutions often collaborate within the various fields of research.

H-index

H-index is a bibliometric metric that compares an author’s publications and citations. The metric is often criticised and there are several sources for the calculation of the h-index.

Journal metrics

There are a number of different metrics for journal impact which, among other things, can be used to compare the different journals’ prestige and influence. The most frequently used is Journal Impact Factor, which can be found in Journal Citation Reports.

Citations

Citations are often used as an indicator of research impact. It is typically the databases Web of Science and Scopus that are used in citation analyses.

Altmetrics

Altmetrics (social media impact) are new impact measures based on data from social media, such as blog posts, tweets, bookmarks and downloads. Altmetrics are more immediate measures, in comparison to citation counts which follow the natural flow of the publishing process and therefore often take a long time to establish.

PURE

PURE is Aarhus Universitets Institutional Repository. A reseachdatabase, used to collect, maintain and add visibility to publications et al from Aarhus University. This and more on PUREs own website.

Publisher's name and address of publication

In order to make reliable bibliometric analyses it is important that publications are published with unambiguous and unique address information and that authors are easy to identify.

By creating a unique researcher ID (ORCID, for example) you make it easier for others to distinguish you from other researchers, which helps ensure that you receive recognition for your work.

You also ensure that you and your colleagues maintain systematic and uniform address information on your publications, so that they can be attributed correctly to the university, the faculty, the department or center.

We offer

AU Library provides advice and conducts bibliometric analyses for managers and employees at Aarhus University. 

Contact AU Library if you have specific requests for an analysis, or if you need advice on the possibilities available.

Need help?

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact the liaison librarian associated with your field, who will be happy to assist you with your questions.

Alternatively, you are always welcome to contact your local library.  

Revised 22.10.2024
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