Measuring Research Impact

As the same as other universities, CMU recognizes "Tenure is one way in which the freedom to teach and to do research without arbitrary interference is protected. This protection of academic freedom is the fundamental purpose of tenure" CMU/FA Agreement. This recognition is aligned with CMU's statements and values.

Tenure and promotion often value researchers' scholarly impact. CMU department bylaws provide criteria and guidelines for scholarly and creative activity, while this guide provides a set of resources from the Libraries' collection and other sources to support CMU faculty, students, and researchers who look for a variety of ways to identify evidence of research impact of scholarly output.

Different disciplines use different metrics and standards. There are advocacy and debates about how "impact" is valued. The guide is aimed to provide resources holistically that can be used by individual users for their own purposes and by their own judgements.

Note: measuring research guide is developed by referencing the publication: Roemer, Robin Chin, and Rachel Borchardt. 2015. Meaningful metrics: a 21st century librarian's guide to bibliometrics, altmetrics, and research impact.Chicago : Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.