How Faculty Demonstrate Impact: A Multi-Institutional Study of Faculty Understandings, Perceptions, and Strategies Regarding Impact Metrics

Faculty and institutions are increasingly called upon to present succinct, quantified descriptions of their research impact to administrators, funders, legislators, and academics. This project sought to explore how and what researchers think about research impact measures across disciplines and institutions. Presenters will discuss findings from a multi-institutional survey of faculty (n=1202) addressing their familiarity with metrics and altmetrics and impression of the accuracy of these metrics. We discuss how researchers use such statistical measures to demonstrate the importance of their scholarship, and their attitudes towards use of scholarly metrics by administrators. We also address possible implications for librarians supporting these faculty members.