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Where meaning meets metrics: Introducing the HKUST Research Impact Dashboard

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine tells such a story. Mary E. Brunkow, whose work brought new understanding of the immune system, has only 31 papers and an H‑index of 22 based on the data from scopus of 9th Oct 2025. She never appeared on Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists list. Yet her curiosity and determination led to a breakthrough that changed how we view human health. Her journey shows that top-tier scholars isn’t merely defined by metrices only— it’s driven by questions. She didn’t simply chase citations, H-index or rankings; she pursued meaningful discoveries and breakthroughs in research, and that pursuit earned her one of the world’s highest honors – the Nobel Prize.

How Metrics Help Us See Patterns Brunkow’s story reminds us that metrics alone cannot capture the full value of research — creativity, persistence, and curiosity often lead to the greatest breakthroughs. Yet for researchers, metrics still provide important insights. They help us see how ideas grow, how collaborations form, and how knowledge spreads across fields and regions. In fact, many Nobel laureates were once listed in Web of Science’s Citation Laureates or the Stanford Top 2% Researchers dataset, showing that metrics can sometimes reveal early signs of strong influence. Numbers such as citation counts, field‑weighted citation impact, and co‑authorship networks act like a footprint that show how research connect with previous studies, other institutions, and ideas within the global research community.
Tracking research footprint by Research Impact Dashboard To help our researchers uncover such footprint more easily, HKUST Library has developed the Research Impact Dashboard — a visual, easy‑to‑use platform built with Elsevier’s SciVal APIs. This dashboard helps HKUST researchers explore their performance from multiple angles in a responsible and informed way. Through the dashboard, you can:
  • Track your publication, citation, and collaboration trends over time
  • Identify your most influential works
  • Visualize how your research and partnerships evolve
Example: Exploring the Dashboard Let’s look at an example using Mary E. Brunkow’s Scopus Author ID.
  1. Select the Year Range (Last 3 years, Last 5 years, etc), documents type or whether self-citations are included.
2. Scroll down, and choose the research metrics you want to analyze — for example: Publications, Citation Count, or H‑index. 3. After confirming your selection, click “Analyze Metrics.” 4. This platform will retrieve data in real time through the SciVal API on the backend. You can reorder, add, or remove metrics as needed. 5. Once finished, export your results as a PDF or Excel file for reporting or further analysis.
Finding the balance between quantity and quality, and between academic progress and societal influence, lies at the heart of responsible evaluation. When used metrics wisely, they help us tell a more complete story — one that values not only what can be measured but also what truly makes research meaningful. The Research Impact Dashboard empowers our researchers to explore this bigger picture. By visualizing outputs, citations, and collaborations, it helps you interpret data in context — not as a scorecard, but as a tool for reflection and discovery. To learn more about responsible evaluation and practical ways to enhance your research visibility, consult the Measuring Research Impact Guide. It offers practical tips on interpreting metrics and selecting the effective strategies to boost your research visibility. In the end, metrics alone do not define excellence — they help us understand it. Behind every number lies human creativity, teamwork, and a question brave enough to change the world.   - By Gary Lee, Library

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