Metrics Literacies

Developing online material to develop ‘metrics literacies’—an integrated set of competencies, dispositions and knowledge that empowers individuals to recognize, interpret, critically assess and effectively and ethically use scholarly metrics.

Scholarly metrics, such as the h-index or impact factor, are widely applied in academic tenure and funding decisions, but often inappropriately. The quantification and oversimplification of research impact harms all scholarly disciplines by creating adverse effects, such as self-plagiarism, gratuitous self-citation and honorary authorship. This project aimed to reduce the misuse of metrics and adverse effects by improving understanding and use of scholarly metrics across academia. Specifically, it was looking to support researchers and research administrators in developing metrics literacies—an integrated set of competencies, dispositions and knowledge that empowers individuals to recognize, interpret, critically assess and effectively and ethically use scholarly metrics.

Infographic summarizing the Metrics Literacies project. Visual elements were created with the help of generative AI.

The project has brought together an interdisciplinary team of bibliometricians, science communicators, media producers, and education technology scholars as well as student from film and theatre. Leveraging subject expertise of research evaluators and technical expertise of film producers, Youtubers and podcasters, we produced, tested and disseminated educational videos that explain scholarly metrics in an efficient, effective and engaging manner. Based on Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning, the resources combined auditory and visual elements to reduce the load for a single channel. The h-index, one of the most popular scholarly metrics, was used as a case study.

Collaborators

Stefanie Haustein, Lauren Maggio, Alyssa Jeffrey, Robin Champieux, Carey Ming-Li Chen, Isabelle Dorsch, Elizabeth Gadd, Marie-Josée Archambault, Peter Musser, Alli Torban, Michelle Riedlinger, Germana Barata, Fiona Smith Hale

All research output of the Metrics Literacies project will be made available on Zenodo.