Metrics and Impact: Impact

All types of recordings should be considered for impact, including music, audio, film, TV, podcasts, and video art. The impact of audio and video recordings can be difficult to demonstrate, however you can show distribution and reach by using:

• View/stream/download statistics from platforms like YouTube or Spotify 
• Social media shares and mentions 
• Reviews in online and print media 
• Inclusion in festivals or broader compilations
• The citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Published creative writing could include fiction, poetry, screenplays, scripts, pieces of journalism, published speeches, reviews (art, books, performances) and exhibition catalogues. Evidence of the impact of these outputs can include:

• Information from publishers (ie. sales or download figures)
• Prestige of the publisher or publication
• Inclusion on university or course reading lists
• Award nominations or prizes
• Best-seller lists
• Editions or translations
• Social media mentions or shares
• Review of the work published
• Library holdings
• Information on any accompanying work (ie. performance of a play script, production of a screenplay)
• The citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Metrics for books and chapters Books and book chapter metrics can assist in measuring the reach and impact of your scholarly publishing. They can be more difficult to find than article and journal metrics, since Scopus and Web of Science are not comprehensive in their coverage and don't consistently index book chapters.

Below is an example statement for a book or chapter

Sutherland, A. (2009). The Albatross in Music and Art. Melbourne: Bird Publications.

Monograph detailing novel approach to critical evaluation used in 7 major projects. 4 reviews in major publications. Held in 33 academic libraries worldwide.

Book reviews 

These can provide evidence of the esteem in which your publication is held by others in your discipline. These metrics may be useful for promotion, employment and grant applications. To find book reviews you can search for a book title using quotation marks in the University of South Australia Library Collection, and then filter under “Resource Type” to “Reviews”.

Library holdings

Library holdings can give an indication of the reach of your publication, and demonstrate that it is considered useful for teaching and research purposes.​ Below are some catalogues that you can search for your holdings. 

• The University of South Australia Library Collection

• Trove - includes the holdings of Australian libraries and archives

• WorldCat - holdings in libraries worldwide

• Jisc Library Hub Discover (Copac) - holdings in libraries in the UK and Ireland

Google Scholar

Search Google Scholar to find citation metrics for book or book chapters – see below. 

Other measures of impact that may be useful:

• Listing on university or course reading lists
• "Best seller" lists
• Awards received
• Prestige of the publisher
• Number of editions
• Translations
• Publisher supplied information, for example: sales statistics, number of downloads from publisher's website etc.
• the citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Live performances can include theatre, dance, music, spoken word performances, and performance art. Evidence of impact of performances may be demonstrated by:

• Social media shares and mentions
• Reviews in online and print media
• Audience numbers or viewers
• Invitations to perform at festivals
• Public and community engagement and potential collaborations/li>
• The citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Evidence of impact for individual artworks often needs to be collected and managed personally. Evidence can include:

• Commissions
• Invitations to exhibit
• Sales data
• Collaborations
• Inclusion in exhibition catalogues
• Inclusion in collections eg. holdings of a state or national gallery or major private art collection
• Artist-in-residence programs may indicate public and community engagement
• The citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Artworks in any medium may be considered. Exhibitions of multiple artworks (as an artist and/or curator) should be treated separately

Evidence of impact for the exhibitions of multiple artworks may need to be collected and managed personally. Some information may need to be sought from the venue or gallery. Impact might be demonstrated by:

• prestige of the venue
• commissions and invitations to exhibit
• visitor numbers
• electronic downloads and website visits
• sales data
• exhibition catalogues, sales and downloads
• reviews
• social media activity
• the citation and page count for discussion in critical texts eg. an art critical monograph that discusses the work of an artist

Individual artworks in any medium should be treated separately

An alternative metric to measure the impact of your research are altmetrics. These are sometimes used in conjunction with citation and journal metrics or as an alternative. Altmetrics are collected from online sources such as Tweets, Comments, Posts etc. They can be found by using the Altmetric Explorer database or other sources such as catalogues, publisher’s website etc.

See the Altmetrics section of this guide for more information.