Supporting Bibliometrics by Jenny Delasalle, Academic Support Manager (Research), University of Warwick. Presentation at the Research Evaluation: Is It Our Business? The Role of Librarians in the Brave New World of Research Evaluation 29 June 2011, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Campus.

1. JIBS - “Research evaluation - is it our business? Librarians' roles in the brave new world of research evaluation” Supporting BibliometricsJenny DelasalleAcademic Support Manager (Research)

2. I will cover… Some background information about University of Warwick and about me. Bibliometrics in use: how they can be relevant to researchers Understanding bibliometrics: stuff I tell researchers!

3. About me & my role at Warwick Academic Support Librarian (Research) Head of Academic Services Research Exchange Advisers, Co-ordinator, Assistant., Ambassadors

5. What the Library offers to Researchers Subject expert ASLs who liaise with departments about their needs & deliver information skills training, enquiries support, etc Specialist collections, including MRC (Archive) Information Management strand on the Research Student Skills Programme One-off, tailored workshops and presentations. WRAP repository & NEW Publications Service Expertise on advanced information skills… including bibliometrics, copyright, publishing, Web 2.0 The Wolfson Research Exchange

6. Liaison with …. IT Services Student Careers and Skills - for training students (including PhD students) Graduate School – administration of post-graduate students (including PhD students) Institute for Advanced Studies – early career fellowships Learning and Development Centre - part of HR, for training staff. Research Support Services – help with grant applications but also managing fincances throughout project Management & Planning office – handle REF return but also provide HoDs with information. Communications Office – promoting Warwick research Legal Compliance – guidance on copyright, data protection, etc

7. Routes to reach researchers at Warwick RSF – Research Staff Forum Research Committee Faculty Research Forum (chairs) (Heads of) Research Centres/ Institutes (Heads of) Doctoral training centres Directors of Graduate studies PhD supervisers’ training Direct e-mail (list from HR) Via ASLs, Graduate SSLCs and Library reps Communications Office newsletter every week & monthly magazine & the Uni Intranet LDC newsletter WRAP newsletter Library website, Research Exchange website, blogs, Facebook

8. An interest in bibliometrics! Journals to keep/withdraw Repository management: advocacy messages that OA publishing boosts citations. Does repository deposit make a difference to citations? Will the REF include citation measurements? Web of Knowledge training free, through Mimas JiscmailLis-bibliometrics list.

9. Our Approach to bibliometrics Understanding of bibliometrics is a key information skill Best not to refer to the term “bibliometrics” itself? Cover elements of these in other workshops: “Getting Published” “Literature Searching” Use the controversy around publication “strategy” to engage audience: workshop at a doctoral centre. Publicise our expertise: amongst researchers and University management. Online material to complement our offer. REx website: Researcher to Researcher approach

14. Bibliometrics in use Considering where to publish. What do we do about the REF? Benchmarking a department. Evidence for a job application/grant application/salary review, etc Measurements in University rankings.

15. Appraising journals when considering publication Librarians: Know the data sources (WoK Ifs, SciMago SJR, RePec, Anne-WilHarzing’s website) Know about Open Access Know where journals are indexed & which indexes are important to a discipline Other than impact factors, we have knowledge of: Features of journals such as letter, blogs, reviews, etc Copyright agreements Publicising your work using Web 2.0 Other publication channels than journals: how to measure them! Cross-disciplinary perspective.

16. Impact Factors : JCR and SciMago

17. What can we say about REF 2014 and bibliometrics? Not much – yet! Watch for announcements this summer. Work with department which gathers our return. Ensure that publications data is properly recorded. Medicine, Science and Engineering most likely candidates.

18. Benchmarking a department No. of papers published by a department in a given period, for example: Source: http://www.science-metrix.com/pdf/SM_CETC_Energy_Report_V05_F3.pdf NB how do you define which papers to be included for each set? No. of citations: total or per paper?

19. Evidence about an individual – h-index h-index of 4 means there are 4 published papers each with at least 4 citations OR: Professor X has a total of 10 publications Publication 1 20 cites Publication 2 18 cites Publication 3 11 cites Publication 4 7 cites ----------------------------------------------------------- h-index: 4 Publication 5 4 cites Publication 6 3 cites Publications 7,8,9,10 0 cites

20. Evidence about an individual (2) Egghe's g-index – aims to improve on the H-index by giving more weight to highly-cited articles. Contemporary h-index - aims to improve on the H-index by giving more weight to recent articles and therefore rewards academics who maintain a steady level of activity. Be wary of others’ declared h-index scores: which data sets are they based on? Context is everything!

21. Measurement in University Rankings Which ones matter to your University? Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) - also known as ‘The Shanghai Rankings’ Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings The QS World University Rankings Webometrics Ranking of World Universities A good ranking… helps universities attract the most talented researchers. university can set higher fees and attract more funding for research. BUT how they are calculated might not mean that a high h-index is the thing to ask of your researchers… !

22. Understanding Bibliometrics Not one “bibliometric” measure but many: Paper counts journal impact factors The h-index citation scores at article level visitor numbers (or other info) for online articles Motivations for publication. Motivations for citation. Effects of collaboration? Discipline? Differences in data sources: their coverage/collection, the measures they publish and the graphs/analysis they offer.

23. RAE: what was submitted? All institutions 2008 RAE journal articles: 167,831 All institutions 2008 RAE all types: 222,177 https://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Project-Merit/Merit-Search/

24. RIN (September 2009). Communicating knowledge: How and why UK researchers publish and disseminate their findings, Research Information Network; JISC.

25. Collaboration effects Other researchers – own discipline, or other disciplines? Peer review practices vary: in the Arts can take upwards of 6 months. With industry – publication good for them? Agreement on what to publish & where Acknowledging contributions: variety of practice Negotiation skills!

26. Some motivations for citations Paying homage to experts Especially those likely to be peer reviewers! Credit to peers whose work you have built upon Lend weight to own claims Provide background reading Criticising/correcting previous work Sign-posting under-noticed work (own paper which would affect your h-index!) Self citations!

27. Citation patterns Most publications have little or no citations. Variety across the disciplines. Therefore comparisons within a discipline are most useful. Percentages against a world average within each discipline are more useful than basic numbers.

28. Sceptical and informed!