Course description

You’ve probably heard of citation counts, JIF or the Altmetric Attention score  – but what do those numbers really mean? Can they be trusted? How should they be used? This session introduces research metrics, citation-based indicators and alternative metrics, such as counts of policy and social media mentions. It will enable you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of metrics and understand their implications. The training will be informed by the University of Nottingham Responsible Use of Indicators Principles so attendees will be confident they can follow university policy and best practice.

This in-person session will provide the opportunity to discuss research metrics in the broader academic landscape, considering issues such as research integrity, equity and responsible research assessment.

Target audience

This course is available to any University of Nottingham staff or students but will be especially useful for postgraduate researchers and staff directly involved in research.

Learning outcomes

After the session participants will be able to:

• Explain different kinds of metrics and their sources
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of specific metrics
• Use metrics appropriately in practice, following the policies for use of responsible use of research metrics at University of Nottingham