Benchmarking Performance
Republished from © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
By Emily Hart, Liaison Librarian and Research Impact Lead at Syracuse University Libraries
Since 2020, the Research Impact Team at Syracuse University Libraries has been making great strides toward improving the research reputation of Syracuse University and supporting its research enterprise. Comparing the performance of a university and its departments to the achievements of peers can be a highly effectively way to understand output and impact, as well as inform future strategy. Although benchmarking is not currently a regular activity for the Libraries’ Research Impact Team, requests are starting to trickle in. For example, one of the colleges recently asked to map its unique research areas to specific keywords. They wanted to understand the work they are doing in general, but also to highlight their activities in specific fields, e.g., renewable energy or activities related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They also wanted to understand how they are performing in those areas compared to other universities. To respond to this inquiry, the Research Impact Team mapped their areas of research to keywords using Scopus fields, then pulled Scopus data for peers on the same keywords/fields to do a comparison.
For more information or to inquire about support from the Research Impact Team, email riteam@syr.edu.