Peer Review

Metrics-Toolkit.org | Helping you use metrics responsibly

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: May 18, 2026 by Library and Information Services

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

The Metrics Toolkit provides evidence-based information about research metrics across disciplines, including how each metric is calculated, where you can find it and how each should (and should not) be applied. You'll also find examples of how to use metrics in grant applications, CVs, and promotion dossiers. The Metric Toolkit was developed thanks to the 2016 Force11 PitchIt! innovation grant, as well as support from Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU).

Type of Material:

Reference Material

Recommended Uses:

This source may be used in class. Homework assignments are not included but may be created by users. The site can be used by both teams and individuals when learning about or teaching metrics.

Technical Requirements:

The technical requirements for this site are an Internet Browser and connection. Special software is not needed.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Users will understand what a metric means and how it is calculated.
Users will identify which metrics should be used for different types of impact, research objects, and disciplines.
Users will learn different ways to use metrics to benefit their research and career.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Users will need to know basic computer skills such as browsing and navigating a website. Familiarity with metrics will be helpful but is not required.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Research impact metrics is an important, relevant topic due to the amount of new metrics that have emerged over the last decade.
The concept of the website is good. Libraries offer workshops and LibGuides on the topic, but an interactive tool to help researchers decipher and use different types of metrics is needed.
Each metric has an organized, researched description. Outside research in these descriptions are hyperlinked, which is useful for the user.

Concerns:

The toolkit was designed to be used by several different users. However, individual researchers would benefit the most.
There are missing metrics, especially ones that are openly available, that could be added. For example, under “Explore Metrics” the “Journals” category only shows Journal Acceptance Rate and Journal Impact Factor as types of metrics. However, there are many journal metrics that are available free online that are not listed: Eigenfactor, Google Scholar Metrics, SCImago Journal Rank.
The website educates on different types of metrics and when best to use them. It would be useful to also organize the information by metric sources such as ImpactStory. I would like to see a list of metric sources, what metrics each one offers, and instructions on how to participate.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Introductory page succinctly states what the website hopes to achieve for the user. The website is primarily for researchers and the site does a good job customizing the tools to help those that are not familiar with the topic.
This site would be a good place for library science students to start exploring metrics. They can begin to understand how the type of impact, research object, and discipline influences what metrics a researcher needs in a short time frame.

Concerns:

I see no deficiencies in the site's effectiveness as a teaching tool.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The site is clearly organized and easy to use. It offers a clean design, regarding both font choices and layout.

Concerns:

How to search for specific metrics may not be immediately clear to all users.
While the overall design of the site is simple and clean, the WAVE accessibility checker identified issues that should be corrected for the site to be more usable.

Other Issues and Comments:: Overall, this is a well planned, informative site designed to achieve specific goals. One possible addition to the site that could assist those new to the research metrics concept would be a basic definition or statement about what research metrics are and why they are important. There are introductory materials included on the Resources page of the site but it may not be clear to users that they can consult that page to access more background information if they need it.
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