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Societal impact tools: Societal Impact Tools

Tools to measure societal impact

Societal impact is 'the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research' (Australian Research Council, 2022). There are 6 main types of societal impact: Cultural, Economic, Environmental, Health, Knowledge, and Social impact. The interactive table below contains links to resources and guides that can be used to capture the impact of your research beyond academia.

Cultural impact is the impact of cultural works on the surrounding society and culture.

Cultural impact is when research contributes to the understanding of ideas, reality, values and beliefs. It is changes in the prevailing values, attitudes, beliefs, discourse and patterns of behaviour, whether explicit (e.g. codified in rules or law) or implicit (e.g. rules of thumb or accepted practices) in organisations, social groups or society that deliver benefits to the members of those groups or those they interact with.

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions
Media mentions in newspaper

Factiva 

Proquest Newsstream 

Google News -mainstream media such as CNN & The Guardian

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

How to search Factiva 

Finding News Articles Guide 

Get started with Google News

 

PlumX search tips (Find news mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find news mentions, both author and article level)

Library holdings (number of libraries holding a work) 

Libraries Australia 

WorldCat 

Search Libraries Australia to view how many and which libraries in Australia and New Zealand hold your published books. Holdings, translations into other languages and reprints are all measures of engagement. 

Tick the WorldCat box on the homepage to search and include international library holdings. 

Also consider sales figures which can be provided by your publisher as a measure of economic activity. 

How to search Libraries Australia  

Book reviews 

Australian Book Review  

Selected full text is also available online from APA-FT Australian public affairs full text via Informit (1978-present) 

TLS: Times Literary Supplement  

New York Review of Books 

London Review of Books (Print only) 

Factiva provides access to book reviews published in Australian newspapers 

Gale Literature provides access to international book reviews 

Search by keywords, title and author for book reviews of your publication. 

Evidence for specific creative outputs and NTROs 

Refer to the Strategic publishing toolkit's Conferences and NTROs (Non-traditional research outputs) for tips and tools.  

 

University of Melbourne’s checklists for research impact of creative and practice-based outputs.

The library recommends that researchers keep a record. you can use the Impact tracker or similar tool to document all your evidence. 
Australian Policy document mentions 

APO  

(Analysis & Policy Observatory) 

Search open access policy and practice research for mentions by name or publication. 

Search Specialist collections or by Subject 

International policy mentions

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

PlumX search tips (Find policy mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find policy mentions, both author and article level)

 

Economic impact is 'improvements in the nation's economic performance through creation of new industries, jobs or valuable products, or reducing health care costs; improving efficiency in resource use, or improving the welfare/well-being of the population within current health system resources. An economic impact may also contribute to social or health impacts, including human capital gains and the value of life and health.' (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2022)

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions
News media 

Factiva 

Proquest Newsstream 

Google News -mainstream media such as CNN & The Guardian

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

How to search Factiva 

Finding News Articles Guide 

Get started with Google News

 

PlumX search tips (Find news mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find news mentions, both author and article level)

Global economic policy mentions

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)  

OECD iLibrary User Guide 
 

World Trade Organisation (WTO) 

WTO iLibrary User Guide 
   International Monetary Fund (IMF)  IMF eLibrary Start Up Guide 
 

United Nations iLibrary 

United Nations iLibrary User Guide 
 

The World Bank 

The World Bank Getting Started Guide 
 

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

PlumX search tips (Find policy mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find policy mentions, both author and article level)

Australian Government Policy mentions

Australian Government 

The Treasury 

Use google search tips to find mentions of your name or publication 
Patents  The Lens  The Lens Feature Tour 

 

Environmental impact is how your research makes a "contribution to the management of the environment, such as natural resources, environmental pollution, climate and meteorology. The key beneficiaries are the natural and built environment with its ecosystem services, together with societies, individuals or groups of individual" (CQ University Library

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions
News media 

Factiva 

Proquest Newsstream 

Google News -mainstream media such as CNN & The Guardian

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

How to search Factiva 

Finding News Articles Guide 

Get started with Google News

 

PlumX search tips (Find news mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find news mentions, both author and article level)

International Policy mentions

UNESCO Digital Library 

How to do a simple or advanced search in UNESCO 
 

UN Digital Library 

UN Digital Library Search guide
 

World Health Organisation 

Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS)  

How to search IRIS (video) 

Find mentions by searching name or publication. 

 

OECD iLibrary 

OECD iLibrary User Guide 
 

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

PlumX search tips (Find policy mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find policy mentions, both author and article level)

Australian policy mentions

Australian Government 

Dept of Agriculture, Water and the Environment 

Use google search tips to find mentions of your name or publication 
 

State Government

NSW Environment, Energy and Science 

 

Use google search tips to find mentions of your name or publication 

Legislation and regulations  Ecolex  Search tips
  Capital Monitor  

Advanced search (video) 

Find author mentions in Australian Federal and State parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news transcripts. 

 

Health impact is “improvements in health through new therapeutics, diagnostics, disease prevention or changes in behaviour; or improvements in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, management of health problems, health policy, health systems, and quality of life” (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2022)

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions

News media 

 

Factiva 

Proquest Newsstream 

Informit

Google News -mainstream media such as CNN & The Guardian

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

The Conversation

How to search Factiva 

Finding News Articles Guide 

Searching Informit (News Media database)

Get started with Google News

 

PlumX search tips (Find news mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find news mentions, both author and article level)

Policy influence and impact (International) 

World Health Organisation 

Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS)  

How to search IRIS (video) 

Find mentions by searching surname or publication title. 

 

PAIS International

(Public Affairs Information Service) 

Search tips (Proquest) 

Search books, and government publications on issues of public policy, politics, government, economy and law

 

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

PlumX search tips (Find policy mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find policy mentions, both author and article level)

Policy influence and impact (Australia) 

APO  

(Analysis & Policy Observatory) 

Explore Specialist collections or by Subject 

APO Blog

 

APAIS - Health 

(Australian Public Affairs Information Service) 

Advanced search guide (Informit) 

Search across articles and government publications on health and medicine in Australia, in particular the legal, social, economic and ethical aspects of health. 

Legislation, Regulations & Government 

(Parliamentary attention)

Capital Monitor 

Advanced search (video) 

Find author mentions in Australian Federal and State parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news transcripts. 

Clinical practice guidelines 

Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines 

National Guideline Clearinghouse (US) 

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

ACPG FAQs

 

 

 

PlumX search tips (Find guidelines mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find guidelines mentions, both author and article level)

Clinical Trial registers

ClinicalTrials.gov 

EU Clinical Trials 

International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO)

Dimensions

How to use advanced search

How to search EU Clinical Trials  

ICTRP Search tips 

Dimensions Guide to Metrics (PDF 219.4 KB)

Dimensions Blog

Patents 

The Lens 

Dimensions

The Lens Feature Tour 

 

 

Knowledge impact is 'new knowledge demonstrating the benefits emerging from adoption, adaption or use of new knowledge to inform further research, and/or understanding of what is effective.' (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2022)

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions
Data Sharing and data citation

Google Dataset Search 

DataCite Commons 

Research Data Finder 

Sydney escholarship Repository

Google Dataset Search FAQs 

DataCite Commons Search Help 

Registries or Biobanks  NSW health statewide biobank  

Proactive Collection of:

  • Awards and Prizes
  • Conference presentations and keynotes
  • Editorships (journals, books, and other publications)
  • Memberships
  • Partnerships with other organizations and institutions
  • Fellowships and Affiliations
  • Other non-traditional research outputs
  The library recommends that researchers keep a record. you can use Impact tracker or similar tool to document all your evidence. 

 

Social impact is 'improvements in the health of society, including the well-being of the end user and the community. This may include improved ability to access health care services; to participate socially (including empowerment and participation in decision making) and to quantify improvements in the health of society.' (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2022)

Example of Evidence Resources and Tools Instructions
News media 

Factiva 

Proquest Newsstream 

Google News -mainstream (such as CNN & The Guardian)

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

How to search Factiva 

Finding News Articles Guide 

Get started with Google News

 

PlumX search tips (Find news mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find news mentions, both author and article level)

Legislation, Regulations & Government 

(Parliamentary attention) 

Parliament of Australia (Commonwealth) 

How to search tips 

Search Hansard for mentions by name, includes records of invited speeches in Parliament.  

 

State Parliaments  

New South Wales (NSW) 

Victoria 

Queensland 

Western Australia 

South Australia 

Tasmania 

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) 

Northern Territory

 

Tips for NSW 

Tips for VIC 

Tips for QLD 

Tips for WA 

Tips for SA 

Tips for Tasmanian

Tips for ACT

Tips for NT (pdf) 

 

Capital Monitor  

Advanced search (video) 

Find author mentions in Australian Federal and State parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news transcripts. 

Australian Policy mentions  

APO  

(Analysis & Policy Observatory) 

Explore Specialist collections or by Subject 
  APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) 

Advanced search guide (Informit) 

Search across articles and government publications on human rights, social justice, policy, economics, humanities and social sciences

International policy mentions

PAIS International 

(Public Affairs Information Service) 

Search tips (Proquest) 

Search books, and government publications on issues of public policy, politics, government, economy and law

 

PlumX metrics via Scopus 

Altmetric Explorer  (create an account)

PlumX search tips (Find policy mentions for an article)

Altmetric Explorer advanced search tips (Find policy mentions, both author and article level)

  United Nations iLibrary

United Nations iLibrary User Guide 

Search for mentions by name or publication

 

OECD iLibrary

OECD iLibrary User Guide 

Search for mentions by name or publication. 

Government publications Search federal, state and local government websites Use google search tips to find mentions of your name or publication 

 

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