Searchable database of previously submitted case studies from various institutions.
This resource is licenced under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence by Claire Sewell, the Office of Scholarly Communication, Cambridge University Libraries.
This unit has talked throughout about the connections between metrics and measuring impact but it is important to remember that impact is a subjective concept. What is impactful to one researcher may not be to their department and it can be very difficult to attribute a change directly to any one factor. One solution to this is to use substitutes to indicate impact - something known as surrogate measures.
A powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person
- Cambridge Dictionary
Metrics are often used as a quantitative substitute measure of impact, for example the number of researchers publishing or the amount of citations a paper has received are taken as indicators of the impact that they are having on wider society. While this is important, researchers also need to remember that metrics only show one (numerical) part of a wider story. They also need to consider other, qualitative measures of impact which look at the wider effect of research both within and outside academia.
This has become an increasingly important issue for researchers at every stage of the research lifecycle. When applying for funding they are likely to have to record the potential impact of their work so that funding bodies can factor this into their judgment and individual researchers are again asked to showcase the impact of their work in order to gain promotion. One of the biggest motivations comes in the form of Impact Case Studies for the REF. These case studies were introduced in the 2014 exercise and assess the effect of research on society in general and will count for 25% of the total score in the next REF. Case studies are written in a narrative format outlining the basics of the project and its wider impact. This is a challenge for many researchers who are more used to talking about the results of their work or the effect on their immediate discipline. They may have to use more accessible terminology to reach a non-specialist audience - a whole new way of writing than the methods they are used to!
For library staff this offers both challenges and opportunities. It can be hard to get researchers to realise that impact means dealing with more than just numbers, especially in a system where everything is measured. However, it can also be an opportunity to introduce services such as writing workshops which can encourage researcher engagement wth the library.
