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Policy documents as sources for measuring societal impact: how often is climate change research mentioned in policy-related documents?

Author

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  • Lutz Bornmann

    (Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society)

  • Robin Haunschild

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

  • Werner Marx

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

Abstract

In the current UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA), societal impact measurements are inherent parts of the national evaluation systems. In this study, we deal with a relatively new form of societal impact measurements. Recently, Altmetric—a start-up providing publication level metrics—started to make data for publications available which have been mentioned in policy documents. We regard this data source as an interesting possibility to specifically measure the (societal) impact of research. Using a comprehensive dataset with publications on climate change as an example, we study the usefulness of the new data source for impact measurement. Only 1.2 % (n = 2341) out of 191,276 publications on climate change in the dataset have at least one policy mention. We further reveal that papers published in Nature and Science as well as from the areas “Earth and related environmental sciences” and “Social and economic geography” are especially relevant in the policy context. Given the low coverage of the climate change literature in policy documents, this study can be only a first attempt to study this new source of altmetrics data. Further empirical studies are necessary, because mentions in policy documents are of special interest in the use of altmetrics data for measuring target-oriented the broader impact of research.

Suggested Citation

  • Lutz Bornmann & Robin Haunschild & Werner Marx, 2016. "Policy documents as sources for measuring societal impact: how often is climate change research mentioned in policy-related documents?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 1477-1495, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:109:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-016-2115-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-2115-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Robin Haunschild & Lutz Bornmann, 2017. "How many scientific papers are mentioned in policy-related documents? An empirical investigation using Web of Science and Altmetric data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1209-1216, March.
    4. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Filippo Chiarello & Gualtiero Fantoni, 2021. "Impact for whom? Mapping the users of public research with lexicon-based text mining," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1745-1774, February.
    5. Houqiang Yu & Xueting Cao & Tingting Xiao & Zhenyi Yang, 2020. "How accurate are policy document mentions? A first look at the role of altmetrics database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1517-1540, November.
    6. Yang, Chao & Huang, Cui, 2022. "Quantitative mapping of the evolution of AI policy distribution, targets and focuses over three decades in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    7. Bornmann, Lutz & Haunschild, Robin, 2018. "Normalization of zero-inflated data: An empirical analysis of a new indicator family and its use with altmetrics data," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 998-1011.
    8. Caterina Lucarelli & Camilla Mazzoli & Michela Rancan & Sabrina Severini, 2020. "Classification of Sustainable Activities: EU Taxonomy and Scientific Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    9. Xiaozan Lyu & Rodrigo Costas, 2020. "How do academic topics shift across altmetric sources? A case study of the research area of Big Data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 909-943, May.
    10. Zhihong Huang & Qianjin Zong & Xuerui Ji, 2022. "The associations between scientific collaborations of LIS research and its policy impact," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(11), pages 6453-6470, November.
    11. Cui Huang & Chao Yang & Jun Su, 2018. "Policy change analysis based on “policy target–policy instrument” patterns: a case study of China’s nuclear energy policy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(2), pages 1081-1114, November.
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    14. Diana Hicks & Julia Melkers & Kimberley R. Isett, 2019. "A characterization of professional media and its links to research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 827-843, May.
    15. Rachel Einecker & Andrew Kirby, 2020. "Climate Change: A Bibliometric Study of Adaptation, Mitigation and Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    16. Huang, Cui & Yang, Chao & Su, Jun, 2021. "Identifying core policy instruments based on structural holes: A case study of China’s nuclear energy policy," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    17. Marco Gatti, 2018. "The Impact of Management Accounting Research: An Analysis of the Past and a Look at the Future," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(5), pages 1-47, March.
    18. Yang, Chao & Huang, Cui & Su, Jun, 2020. "A bibliometrics-based research framework for exploring policy evolution: A case study of China's information technology policies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    19. Clemens Blümel & Alexander Schniedermann, 2020. "Studying review articles in scientometrics and beyond: a research agenda," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 711-728, July.
    20. Bornmann, Lutz & Haunschild, Robin & Adams, Jonathan, 2019. "Do altmetrics assess societal impact in a comparable way to case studies? An empirical test of the convergent validity of altmetrics based on data from the UK research excellence framework (REF)," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 325-340.
    21. Daniel Torres-Salinas & Domingo Docampo & Wenceslao Arroyo-Machado & Nicolas Robinson-Garcia, 2024. "The many publics of science: using altmetrics to identify common communication channels by scientific field," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 3705-3723, July.
    22. Lutz Bornmann & Robin Haunschild, 2017. "Does evaluative scientometrics lose its main focus on scientific quality by the new orientation towards societal impact?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 937-943, February.
    23. Dotti, Nicola Francesco & Walczyk, Julia, 2022. "What is the societal impact of university research? A policy-oriented review to map approaches, identify monitoring methods and success factors," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    24. Hashem Atapour & Robabeh Maddahi & Rasoul Zavaraqi, 2024. "Policy citations of scientometric articles: an altmetric study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4423-4436, July.
    25. Dorte Drongstrup & Shafaq Malik & Naif Radi Aljohani & Salem Alelyani & Iqra Safder & Saeed-Ul Hassan, 2020. "Can social media usage of scientific literature predict journal indices of AJG, SNIP and JCR? An altmetric study of economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1541-1558, November.

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