Exploring Faculty Understanding of Scholarly Research Metrics on One Campus: Using a Survey and Analysis to Strengthen Library’s Scholarly Communication Outreach | Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

Abstract:  Introduction: In recent years, the library has received inquiries from faculty on how departments on campus use scholarly research metrics to measure the impact of publications. The library provides training opportunities for faculty through individual consultations and sessions sponsored by the university’s Office for Faculty Excellence. However, librarians did not know comprehensively and specifically what metrics were being used across departments and disciplines in the university.

Methods: A 14-question survey was emailed between February 2022 and March 2022 to 959 tenured, tenure-track, and fixed-term faculty in non-health science departments at a regional public doctoral institution in the southeast. One hundred and fifty-two responses were collected and analyzed.

Results: Faculty responded from a wide variety of departments and disciplines. The most frequently reported tools used to personally track research impact were Google Scholar and h-Index. Respondents noted that online modules and instruction documents/infographics provided by the library would be most helpful to them.

Discussion: The majority of respondents acknowledged that scholarly metrics reflect at some level the importance of a researcher’s scholarly work. Respondents indicated that the use of these metrics to measure impact was helpful when equitably and transparently applied. Faculty perception of the significant challenge in measuring impact across disciplines was noted.

Conclusion: Guided by survey responses, the library’s Scholarly Communication Department will expand options for consultation and instructional support at different times of the year. Because faculty indicated that they selectively use these metrics in their annual evaluation and tenure and promotion cycles, the library will share resources and support ahead of these deadlines.