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Library services for researchers - Research impact

Research impact 

When you apply for an award, grant, promotion or probation, you need evidence to support the impact narrative of your research. There isn’t one perfect metric that will be suitable for every situation, they all have strengths and weaknesses in different contexts. No single source of metrics will include all possible evidence of impact so to ensure you gather suitable and relevant evidence of your impact, it is important to consult a range of qualitative and quantitative sources.
This guide covers both research impact (alternative, author and article or book level metrics) and academic impact (the contribution research makes to society, environment, culture or the economy).

When you are thinking about the evidence of your research impact, consider the following:

What is your research impact narrative?
Think about the story you want to tell about yourself and your context, the impact of your work and your successes, then find the evidence that supports your story. You should use evidence appropriate to your discipline and career stage, and the context and purpose of your research.

What is the impact of your work and your successes?
You also may want to consider the impact of your work within academia, and the societal impact or practitioner-based impact within the community.

What evidence can you find to support your narrative?
This guide outlines how you can locate key evidence types to demonstrate your author impact, article level impact, book impact and alternative measures of impact, which are used to support applications for awards, grants, probation and promotion.

UOW staff have access to ImpactTracker on the myVVid platform, to track and store evidence of impact.

Further evidence types and sources to demonstrate the impact and esteem of your work can be found in UOW’s Impact Catalogue (UOW Staff Intranet).

Research impact support and training

Finding evidence that demonstrates your research impact can be complex. The Library’s Research & Engagement team can work with you to understand and apply the metrics or evidence, supporting the narrative you create, and partner with you to locate key evidence types used to support applications for awards, grants, probation and promotion.

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