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Measuring Research Impact: Profiling & Identity

Use bibliometrics to measure the impact of your publications

Contact Us

For help or advice with any Measuring Research Impact / Bibliometrics query please email eprints@soton.ac.uk.

Profiling and Identity Services

All of the services linked here can be transferred with you if you move between institutions.

All you will need to do is update your details (current post/institution/etc.) and in particular email addresses if appropriate.

Types of Profiles

ORCID allows you to register for a persistent ID for yourself.

  • You get a profile and can import your existing publications from Scopus and CrossRef. ORCID provide useful guidance on import options.
  • When you publish you will increasingly be able to give ORCID IDs, allowing the papers to be added to your profile automatically. 
  • You can link ORCID with database-specific identifiers/profiles like ResearcherID.
  • You can register your ORCiD with the university via Pure. See Chapter 13 of the Pure Manual for more details.

Web of Science have a service called ResearcherID. You can create an account, which comes with a a (free) unique personal identifier. You can add your papers to your account, track citations of those papers in the Web of Science. The profile can be public or private and also tracks metrics about you like the h-index.

Using ReseacherID can make finding your work easier in an authors search. I.e. filtering your work from those by people with the same family name and initials. This also can make finding bibliometric impact metrics easier, and more accurate.

To register & set up your ResearcherID

  • Go to the Web of Science
  • Choose ResearcherID from the 'My Tools' menu (top right of the screen).
  • Login to your WoS account, otherwise choose Register.
  • Fill in the details as requested to complete your registration.

For more information about ResearcherID, visit the website, and the ResearchID training page. For help setting up your profile, please contact us.

Google Scholar has a similar service called 'My Citations' service - you can create a profile and track your publications' citations.

Unlike ResearcherID, the Google Scholar service can attempt to update your profile automatically. It finds citations that it thinks belong to you, and can add them automatically to your profile. Alternatively you can request it sends you an email to confirm you want to add the item(s).

Altmetrics

This is an emerging movement to use a wider range of metrics in addition to traditional citations. This can include discussion (e.g. Twitter), saving (e.g. Mendeley, Delicious) and sometimes viewing or recommending an item.

This can give a better picture of impact, but until this is better understood probably needs to be used with caution.

We have a lot more information on our guide to altmetrics.