At the Leatherby Libraries, we know that research does not end with publication—it continues through visibility, engagement, and impact. That is why our librarians are here to support Chapman University researchers in navigating the world of metrics, citation analysis, impact factors, altmetrics, and researcher IDs and profiles.

Whether you’re a faculty member preparing for a tenure review, a graduate student building your scholarly identity, or a researcher curious about how your work is perceived, we have resources and expertise to help.

Research Profiles and Assessment LibGuide

One of the best places to start is our comprehensive Research Profiles and Assessment LibGuide. This guide offers an overview of:

  • Metrics – Find brief definitions for several standard metrics used to describe scholarly publications.
  • Impact Factors – Learn more about these measures, which reflect the average number of citations per article published in a journal.
  • Altmetrics – Discover ways to measure online attention and engagement, whether in social media or the news — beneficial for recent research that hasn’t had time to garner traditional citations yet! 
  • Researcher Profiles and IDs – Create an ORCID-ID, Google Scholar ID, and more.

 This guide serves as a gateway to meaningful research assessment, covering everything from understanding h-index, comparing journal ranks, and tracking your scholarship’s reach on social media.

Assistance from LRDS Librarians

The Library Research & Data Services (LRDS) team is here to help make sense of the numbers behind your scholarship. Our librarians can:

  • Assist in creating and optimizing researcher profiles to ensure your work is accurately attributed.
  • Help find and interpret citation and metric data to understand your scholarly impact.
  • Support you with contextualizing citation and metric data for grant applications, tenure and promotion reviews, and more.
  • Advise on responsible metrics practices that reflect the true value of your work.

Workshops, Instruction, and Consultations

To learn more about research metrics and how to further the scholarly impact of your research, the LRDS team also offers :

  • Workshops on topics like ORCID, impact factors, and open access publishing opportunities. 
  • Classroom and faculty instruction tailored to specific courses or department goals.
  • One-on-one consultations for faculty, students, and staff.

Regardless of what stage you are at in your research journey, the LRDS team is here to guide you every step of the way.

*This blog is part of the Investigating Library Research & Data Services (LRDS) series. For any questions about LRDS and how the library can support your research or academic journey, please email the LRDS team at lrds@chapman.edu.