Bibliometric Analysis or bibliometrics is the quantitative analysis of publications and their metadata. It is most commonly applied to academic literature. Quantitative, statistical, and Natural Language Processing methods are applied to this metadata to measure research output, impact, and influence across disciplines, institutions, and time periods. It can also be used to track the exchange and dissemination of ideas, trace co-authorship and citation networks across time, and identify under-studied research topics.
Getting Started with Bibliometric Analysis at Dartmouth
After reviewing this Library Guide carefully, you can find additional instructions and materials for getting started at:
Key Metrics Include:
- Citation counts – How often a paper has been referenced by others
- H-index – Measures both productivity and citation impact of a researcher
- Journal metrics – Impact factors and rankings
- Collaboration networks – Co-authorship patterns
- Research trends – Emerging topics and declining fields
Value of Bibliometric Analysis
For Researchers
- Track your research impact – See who's citing your work and where
- Identify collaboration opportunities – Find active researchers in your field
- Benchmark your productivity – Compare your metrics to peers and competitors
- Support grant applications – Provide evidence of research impact and influence
- Stay current – Discover emerging trends and highly-cited recent work
For Research Administrators & Evaluators
- Assess institutional performance – Compare research output across departments or universities
- Inform strategic planning – Identify research strengths and growth opportunities
- Evaluate faculty – Support promotion and tenure decisions with citation data
- Demonstrate ROI – Show funding bodies the impact of research investments
For Graduate Students
- Identify key papers and authors – Find the most influential work in your area
- Map your research landscape – Understand how your topic fits into broader conversations
- Find potential supervisors or collaborators – Locate active researchers in your field
- Prepare literature reviews – Track citation chains forward and backward
Important Caveat
Bibliometrics measure visibility and influence, as recorded in incomplete and biased datasets, not research quality. Use metrics as one indicator among many, always combined with peer review and qualitative assessment. Citation practices vary greatly across disciplines—what's considered high impact in physics differs vastly from philosophy or social work. Bibliometric databases over-represent scientific and medical literature and under-represent work done in the Arts and Humanities, especially work in those fields published in non-article formats (i.e. books).