Citation Research and Impact Metrics

Selected steps from the 30-Day Impact Challenge

This open access book has 30 suggestions for concrete steps to take to help improve the visibility and reach of your work. Here are a few highlights. For more detailed instructions, go to the appropriate section of the book.

Claim your ORCID

• ORCID is a permanent, unique identifier for your research. It will stay the same even if you change your name or move to a different institution, and it disambiguates your research and publications from work by author(s) with the same name.
• Many publishers and funders require an ORCID as part of the submission or application process, and will automatically populate your publications to your profile as they are published.
• If you already have an ORCiD, review your publications and ensure they are up to date.

Set up your Google Scholar Profile and claim your publications

• A Google Scholar profile can help you determine your H-Index, increase search engine optimization (SEO), and make your work more discoverable.
• If you already have a Google Scholar Profile, review your publications and ensure they are up to date.

Determine whether you have the right to self-archive any papers you’ve already published

• Use SHERPA-RoMEO to determine whether you are allowed to archive a pre-print, post-print, or publisher’s PDF of an article you’ve written.
• If you have published in a journal that does permit archiving of pre- or post-prints, consider uploading your work to ASU Library's KEEP Repository. The KEEP Repository gathers, indexes, and preserves the scholarly output of Arizona State University. Uploading your work provides another access point for others to discover your work, and can also support related datasets and research material that you might not be able to include with your published paper.

Find reputable open access journals in your field

• Publishing in an open access journal can make your work more accessible and extend its reach.
• Here are some tips for finding highly ranked open access journals.

Connect to other researchers on Mendeley (or Zotero)

• Mendeley- Create a profile and join other research groups.
• Zotero - The My Publications feature allows you to automatically create a bibliography of your research and share copies of your work.

Create a profile on Impactstory

• Impactstory is a profile service that consolidates altmetrics for a more holistic view of one’s scholarly impact.

Update your LinkedIn profile to include your research

• Linkedin is another way to share your publications with a wider audience, which can increase citations, increase altmetrics, and improve your article rankings when searched in Google Scholar.
• To share information about your publications on Linkedin:
  • On your Linkedin profile page there is a blue “Add Profile Section” dropdown menu in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. If you do not see this, scroll down and it should appear. Click on this dropdown menu and select “Accomplishments” and then “Add publication”
  • Fill in the required information, including a brief description. The publication will now appear in a section titled “Accomplishments” on your LInkedin profile.  
  • You can use this same dropdown menu to link to a project, such as a poster or presentation you presented at a conference.
  • Note: Linkedin will not automatically share this update with your connections, but you can choose to share it if you would like to get more views.

Create Citation Alerts

• You can request notifications whenever someone else cites your work using Google Scholar, other databases such as Web of Science or Scopus
• View detailed directions for these alerts, as well as many others, on Impact Challenge Day 29.