The purpose of this section is to help you understand the different ways of increasing and measuring the impact of your research.
In addition to this guide, we organise training on the topic. View the next training sessions in the Responsible and open science training guide under Impact and visibility of the research.
In the library's metrics team, we follow the principles of responsible research and researcher evaluation, and work to promote awareness in both.
The impact and visibility of research can be assessed by analysing research outputs and related citations. These methods of analysis are called bibliometrics or publication metrics.
In other words, bibliometrics refers to quantitative analysis based on publications, in which the relationships between publications and citations are examined through various quantitative indicators. Traditional indicators, such as impact factor of journals, the number of citations, and h-index have been the dominant indicators in determining the valuation of research. However, these metrics have attracted criticism because they do not necessarily consider all dimensions and impacts of research. Responsible bibliometrics aims to provide an approach that considers quality, transparency, societal impact, and diversity. It aims to promote open science and diverse publishing, as well as to reduce harmful incentives, such as rushing to publish a lot of articles.
Read more: Finnish national guide to publication metrics: Responsible publication metrics.
Bibliometrics, i.e. publications and citations related to them, can be used to examine the impact of research. Today, bibliometrics is relatively easily available and it is important to understand the advantages and limitations involved. Especially since bibliometrics may be used increasingly often in various contexts related to research and researcher evaluation.
It should also be noted that the researcher has a dual role in terms of evaluation and bibliometrics. The researcher may be the subject of evaluation for example in a recruitment situation and, on the other hand, they may be the person doing the evaluation as a member of an evaluation panel.
Image: Examples of researcher evaluation situations.
Responsible metrics is conducted in accordance with good scientific practice. Respect for the researcher and their personal data is the starting point for transparent and responsible evaluation. When conducting responsible metrics, national recommendations and guidelines are followed.
Qualitative research evaluation methods, such as peer review, should be used alongside quantitative indicators.
Tampere University has signed the international DORA declaration (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment) in 2019. The signatory institutions commit to making the assessment of scientific merits transparent, equitable, and diverse. See the DORA declaration.
Tampere University has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment by the international Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) in 2022. The agreement commits to responsible research and researcher evaluation. See the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment.
The Tampere Universities community systematically monitors and evaluates the progress and impact of open science and research with its own open science and research policies and action plans, and makes the necessary decisions based on them to achieve the objectives.
The Tampere higher education community guidelines
At national level, responsible evaluation of research and researchers has resulted in several recommendations and guidelines:
See more:
The Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and Procedures for Handling Alleged Violations of Research Integrity in Finland (pdf).
The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK), Universities Finland UNIFI, the Rectors' Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Arene, and the Research Council of Finland have jointly drawn up a template for a curriculum vitae in accordance with responsible conduct of research. It aims to instruct the author of a CV from the point of view of research integrity so that the merits would be presented as comprehensively, truthfully, and comparably as possible.
Further information: Finnish National Board on Research Integrity: Template for researcher's curriculum vitae
According to the guidelines of the Research Council of Finland, the list of publications should contain the following information:
Main categories of the classification of publications of the Ministry of Education and Culture:
A. Peer-reviewed scientific articles
B. Non-peer-reviewed scientific writings
C. Scientific books (monographs)
D. Publications aimed at the professional community
E. Publications aimed at the general public
F. Public arts and applied arts activities
G. Theses
H. Patents and invention disclosures
I. Audiovisual materials and ICT programmes
Further information: Research Council of Finland
