Reviewed: May 2025

There are a number of types of outputs and outcomes that can be measured. 

Several tools exist to help research funders measure the outputs and outcomes of funded research:

Dimensions looks at publication metrics, which gives a measure for the academic impact of a publication. Dimensions provides information on the number of citations a research article has over set periods of time. This can be examined across the full length of time a paper has been published; within the last two years to provide a more ‘recent’ metric; or relative to other articles in the same research area.

Altmetric looks at online attention and activity, which can be used to monitor and report on the attention surrounding the research outcomes. This can help stakeholders see a richer picture of the reach and influence of research on society. Scores depend on the reach of the source, and there is the potential for gamification, i.e. the use of bots to post about a publication multiple times on social media to increase its impact score.

Clarivate analytics provides a measure for the reach of a research article through the ‘impact factor’ of a journal. It’s important to consider the size of the research field when using this measure, as niche fields with lower reach will have lower scores.

Other guidance in this section includes:

• Classifying research impact

• Methods for capturing research impact

• Challenges to measuring impact

• Communicating research impact

• Using theory of change to evaluate the impact of funded research

• Research impact