Measuring Research Impact

As Arts and Humanities researchers are probably keenly aware, most impact metrics are heavily geared towards scientific research. There is no one way to track or demonstrate impact in the arts and humanities, and most often, a combination of methods is ideal to show the bigger picture of why your scholarly and/or creative works make an impact in your field, at the university, in the community, and in the world.

Scholarship in the arts and humanities looks different than in the sciences. Some scholars publish in journals, create conference proceedings, give presentations, or share a poster similar to many other disciplines. But many also publish in other ways, such as in magazines, blog posts, and monographs - which often do not have consistent ways of tracking or measuring impact. Creative works, particularly those in the visual and performing arts, are not published in the traditional academic sense but have several other ways of demonstrating the impact of that work.

Questions to Consider:

• Does your work have cultural [or societal, economic, public policy, etc.] impacts? What can you use to show these impacts?
• Why does your work matter to you? 
• Why should your work matter to others?
• Are there metrics available for your work? If yes, in what ways can you write about those metrics that provide context for their significance? Is there more information you can add from another resource or type of impact (see Impact in the Visual & Performing Arts above)?
• How do your mentors talk about their creative works?
• Do your colleagues have examples of their own narratives you could look at for inspiration?

Telling the broader picture of your creative work is what's most important when looking to demonstrate the impact of your work. You can use a combination of methods, including quantitative and qualitative, but providing the context surrounding why your work is essential, significant, or contributes something of value to your field will be the most helpful.

• Audience/Attendance: If your work is displayed in an exhibition, at an event, at a gallery, etc., then ask the venue or a coordinator to provide audience counts or attendee numbers. Use these numbers to show a broad interest in your work, especially if any demographic information is available (such as age ranges, etc.).

• Social Media:  If you, someone else, or an organization shared your work on social media platforms, then you can use engagement data to show the reach and interactions of the public with your work. Social media sites often have analytical data you can access just for this purpose.

• Venue: If a prestigious venue accepts your work to be displayed at an exhibition or other event, then this information itself can show the impact and significance of your work, as well as an indicator of your prominence in the field.

• Sales: If the work that you produce can be sold, such as by producing prints of an original art piece, then sales figures can provide a measurement of impact. Ticket sales to exhibitions or events can also be used as a measure of impact.

• Reviews: Professional and critic reviews of art pieces can be used as another method of showing that other experts in your particular area of specialty acknowledge and praise your work. This type of qualitative information can be used to help tell the story of how your visual art affects other professionals in the field, the field itself, or even the general public.

• Surveys and/or Interviews: Utilizing this form of feedback is another qualitative indicator that can help demonstrate why your work is significant.

This page was created utilizing material from UNLV University Libraries' "Tracking Scholarship in the Arts and Humanities" guide by Christina Miskey, with permission.