Measuring the Impact of Engineering Research Publications

Published

June 12, 2011

Author(s)

Stacy M. Bruss, Susan L. Makar

Abstract

The Information Services Office (ISO) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently conducted a study to assess the publishing impacts for a group of engineering researchers. While the original request focused on calculating the h-index values for 44 authors, by broadening the scope of the study we were able to look at publishing patterns and help the group increase the impact of their research by identifying other publishing venues. ISO used Google Scholar, a free Web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across many disciplines and publishing formats, as the primary tool to conduct a citation analysis. Google Scholar indexes technical reports, trade publications, conference proceedings, and other non-journal literature where the group often publishes. Although there are disadvantages to using Google Scholar, as compared to Web of Science, it was the best option for conducting analyses of the non-journal literature. ISO’s study presented recommendations for increasing the impact of the group’s publications based on the citation analysis. Having conducted this study, ISO is better able to provide impact analyses to other NIST engineering and similar research groups who publish in the non-journal literature. This poster will illustrate ISO’s methodologies and results in using Google Scholar to help engineering researchers both measure and increase the impact of their research. On a practical level, for libraries that do not have a subscription to Web of Science, using Google Scholar is an attractive and free option to consider.

Proceedings Title

N/A

Conference Dates

June 12-15, 2011

Conference Location

Philadelphia, PA

Conference Title

SLA 2011 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

publications, impact analysis, Google Scholar

Citation

Bruss, S. and Makar, S. (2011), Measuring the Impact of Engineering Research Publications, N/A, Philadelphia, PA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=908745 (Accessed April 29, 2026)

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