Citations Count! Getting Your Research Known (information literacy)

What is the rationale for doing this?

How does it fit with institutional strategy?

What are the main features of the provision?

What are the aims and expected outcomes?

The rationale of this staff workshop is to explain the drivers, in particular the proposed REF requirements, behind increased need for citation and impact factor analysis; to explore the benefits and routes to Open Access publishing; and to equip authors with the skills to find their own bibliometric data using Library and web databases.

The proposals for the REF indicate that, at least for the science and technology (STEM) disciplines, bibliometric indicators such as citation counts may be required.  There is also an increased interest from the academic community in using data such as H-Index, citation counts and impact factors to select journals for publishing in and to track and promote their research impact.  The workshop is part of the University’s Staff Development Programme and the Research Staff Career Development Skills Programme organised by the Human Resources division. 

There are 5 main themes to the session:

1. Explaining the drivers for the increased requirement for citation analysis.

2. Promoting consistency in the form of the author’s name and the University name. 

3. Selecting a journal for publication using, for example, impact factor analysis.

4. Making work visible through Open Access publishing .

5. Finding citations, H-index, impact factors and other bibliometric data.

To equip research staff with greater understanding of the availability and use of bibliometric data and of issues surrounding Open Access publication.

Are there any pre-requisites for engagement, e.g. levels of skill, years of experience, essential pre-activities?

How many participate in each 'activity'?

The session is open to all research staff, with a maximum of 25 per session. In addition to the programmes coordinated by Human Resources, in response to invitations, the session has also been tailored to and presented within individual academic Schools.

How do you monitor effectiveness?

Who do you seek feedback from?

Do you have benchmarks?

Numbers attending the centrally organised sessions have been fairly low. Where sessions have been organised specifically for individual academic Schools, however, attendance has been far higher.