As a researcher you may want to share your work widely in order to increase access/ visibility, keep track of your research impact, as well as connect with colleagues. Building a personal brand allows you to market your achievements and become more accessible to a wider audience. Below are a list of resources to assist with that process.
MSOE Librarian would like to acknowledge and thank Librarian Ruth Bueter at Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library for their Predatory Publishing libguide, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Much of this libguide has been adapted from that source.
Research Impact can be defined differently depending on the field, institution, or organization.But research impact definitions at their core boil down to the influence and benefits that is derived from the work.
The definition can expand to include who is benefiting from or being influenced by - academia, society, the economy, healthcare, governmental policy, etc.
Research Impact is not always as straightforward as a citation count, the scope of the impact is often iterative and nonlinear.
Impact can be measured for:
What is a good impact factor? This is highly dependent on the specific field of the journal. It is important to note that you should not compare impact factors across disciplines. A "good" impact factor in one field might be higher on average than that of another. For example: An impact factor in Engineering of 5 might be considered excellent but in the Medical field might be considered poor.
Research Impact can effect:
There are several different methods of measuring your research impact. They include:
Author impact is usually calculated on citation metrics. Citation metrics look at how many times an article has been cited by others in their work. A citation metric can be used to determine the productivity and influence of an author. The most common author metric is called an h-index.
Think of the h-index as the yardstick we can use to compare individual authors.
An H-index is calculated by counting the number of publications for which an author has been cited by other authors at least that same number of times. For example: if an author has an h-index of 15 that means that 15 of the authors articles have been cited at least 15 times each. If the author writes their 16th article but it is only cited twice - the H-index remains at 15, only increasing if their citations increase above the number of total articles.
Sites such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus can help provide this information. Please note that MSOE does not have institutional access to Web of Science or Scopus.
There are several ways you can increase your impact:
Article impact can help determine if an article is important to a particular field of study. It can also give you an indication of the popularity or contested nature of the topic itself. While citation counts can be used in evaluating an article - it should not be solely relied upon as an indicator of actual quality. It only tells us one piece of the puzzle. It is important to note that some disciplines have a lower numbers of field specific journals and/or usage, these should not be compared to other disciplines.
Article metrics should be derived from traditional sources as well as from altmetrics (sources like social media).
Journal impact measures how often a journal is cited, and while it cannot tell you if a journal is good - it can be a marker of visibility or importance within a field. While there is no guarantee that your article will be read, shared, or cited publishing in a highly cited journal can help grant you a level of prestige and give your resume/ CV that extra edge. However, please note that Journal Impact is not the only factor you should be considering when you publish. Metrics like Journal rankings, reputation, best fit, etc. should also be considered when choosing where to publish.
Most commonly known journal metrics comes from the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) which is sourced from the Journal Citation Report (JCR) from Web of Science (a database).
Looking for journals to publish in can be quite the daunting task. There are thousands of journals out there - including Predatory journals looking to scam researchers and the public. How does one choose? The following resources can help assist you in selecting a journal:
What is a predatory Journal?
A predatory journal is the term for a journal that takes advantage of researchers by employing deceptive or unscrupulous practices. In 2019, a group of stakeholders from 10 different countries came together to create an official definition of predatory publishing:
"Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices."
Common tactics to look for:
How is predatory publishing harmful?
Key things to look for:
If you have suggestions for how to make this page better, please contact Elizabeth Jerow, Library Director (jerow@msoe.edu).