Library Resources and Services for Social Work Faculty and Instructors

Bibliometrics are the statistical analysis of research (books, articles, and other modes of information sharing) which can be used to evaluate scope, output, and impact. 

Bibliometrics can be helpful for tracking understanding of the impact of your research, preparing for tenure or professional evaluations, and other conversations around your research. 

Lucy, Social Work Librarian, is available to create bibliometric reports for you and your research. 

At BU, some of the bibliometric tools we have available are: 

 

Web of Science

Web of Science is a multi-disciplinary citation database with many comprehensive tools for analysis of impact and number of citations for various resources.

Outputs Available

• Times Cited
• Total Number of Publications
• Hot Papers
• Most Cited Publications
• Publication Type
• Subject Area
• Journal Titles
• Co-Authors
• Collaborators
• Language of Publication
• Country of Publication
• Newer Metrics
• h-Index

Limitations

• While multi-disciplinary, the core of the collections tends to be in the sciences and social sciences

 

SciVal

SciVal is an excellent tool for both beginners and advanced users seeking greater access to bibliometric data. SciVal is power by the SCOPUS database, an internationally recognized publication database used by THE and QS world university rankings. 

Outputs Available

• Outputs in Top 10% Citation Percentile
• Publications in Top 10% Journal Percentile
• Journal Quartiles
• International Collaborators
• Corporate Collaborators
• FWCI (Field-Weighted Citation Index)

Limitations

• Only the last 10 years of research is available for evaluation and analysis

Creating an Account

1. Navigate to https://scival.com/landing
2. Click “Create Account” in the top right corner
3. Click “Sign in via your institution”
4. Search for/Select Boston University
5. Click “Access through Boston University”

SciVal Learning Resources

• Introduction to SciVal Webinar
• A Deeper Dive into SciVal Webinar
• Snowball Metrics (download the recipe book for advanced looks at some metrics)

 

iCite

iCite is a tool to access a dashboard of bibliometrics for papers associated with a portfolio. Users type in a PubMed query or upload the PubMed IDs of articles of interest. 

Output Metrics

• Provides RCR (Relative Citation Ratio) for scholarly research

 

Dimensions

Dimensions is an integrated database that allows researchers to search and analyze grants, patents, clinical trials, policy documents, and publications. This is a great tool for researchers working in patents, innovation, and clinical research.

Output Metrics

• FCR (Field Citation Ratio) for scholarly research

Creating an Account

 

1. Navigate to https://app.dimensions.ai/discover/publication
2. Click “Register” in the top right
3. Enter your bu.edu email and log-in via BU site
4. Confirm details

 

Altmetrics

Altmetrics or alternate metrics, are new ways to measure the impact of a scholarly article. Unlike standard citation counting which may take months or years to gather, altmetrics can provide a user with almost immediate feedback on the impact of a scholarly article through social media, news sources.

Output Metrics

• Tweets 
• Social media mentions

 

Overton

Overton is the largest searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers. It collects data from 188 countries and over a thousand sources worldwide. This is a great tool for analyzing global impact of think tanks, grey literature, and working papers.