Getting Started

Citations to research publications and other citation-based metrics are often used as a measure of the impact of research publications.  Not all publication metrics are citation-based, for example collaboration and output indicators.  Metrics can be calculated for an individual article, for an author or journal.  For more details about metrics go to the Metrics section of this guide.

It is important to remember that quantitative measures are only one method of measuring research reach, and shouldn't replace qualitative measures such as peer review.  When using metrics, you should consider:

• The weaknesses, strengths and appropriate use of the metrics;
• What you are attempting to measure and whether metrics are appropriate; and
• Using multiple metrics, to provide a fuller picture of what is being assessed.

You can find more guidance about the about the responsible use of metrics in research assessment in the following sources:

• The Leiden Manifesto
• The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
• The Hong Kong Principles

Citation indexes can provide a range of different metrics at an article and author level, including citation counts (author and article), h-index (author) and output (author).  QUT Library subscribes to:

• Scopus
• Web of Science

There are other freely available options such as:

• Google Scholar
• Google Scholar Citations

Research evaluation tools analyse the research output of institutions, their departments and researchers. These tools can also assist with benchmarking the research performance of institutions and their researchers. These tools analyse citation data harvested from a citation index. The library subscribes to:

• SciVal (based on Scopus data)
• InCites (based on Web of Science data)
• The Lens (also has a freely available option)

If you're looking for a free option, you can access Dimensions, which has a free version.

A number of tools are available for calculating the impact of journals. 

• SCImago Journal and Country Rank:  is a portal that includes journals' scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.) The SCImago Journal Rank is a measure of scientific influence of scholarly journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals from which the citations have come.
• Journal Citation Reports provides impact factors for scientific journals.

See Finding tradiontal metrics for more detail on how to use these tools.

There are a number of journal quality lists compiled by different entities.  Many of them are discipline specific.  See below for a list of a few:

• The Journal Quality List compiled and edited by Dr. Anne-Wil Harzing, covers the areas of economics, finance, accounting, management, marketing, organisational psychology, sociology  and tourism.
• The Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Quality List (last updated 6th of December 2019)
• The Association for Information Systems' Journal Rankings edited by Carol Saunders, covers the areas of management information systems. 
• The Washington and Lee Ranking of Law Journals