Universal Research Index

Scientific research is a vast and diverse field that encompasses a wide range of subjects, methodologies, and approaches. As a result, evaluating and comparing the research output of individual scientists or institutions can be difficult. Traditional metrics, such as publication counts and citation counts, have limitations and may not be appropriate for all disciplines or types of research. The Universal Research Index (UR-Index) is a new metric that seeks to address some of these shortcomings by providing a more comprehensive measure of research output. Until now a number of indices have been developed to evaluate a scholar's or institution's research output. The majority of these indices attempt to balance scholarly output and scholarly impact. The Hirsch index (H-index), which is calculated by Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, is the most well-known among others. These indices, however, are not comprehensive because they focus on a single additional component variable, while a more comprehensive index based on more factors is needed to present researcher’s scientific profile. As the Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) the goal was to provide a comprehensive index that uses relevant and actionable component characteristics to assess the breadth and depth of scientific inquiry.

Since the USERN's establishment in 2016, there have been over 70 active research interest groups that have been evaluated on a yearly basis. We employed various indices and formulas to evaluate the research output of these interest groups, including productivity, citation count, h-index, and other metrics typically used for judging scientific award nominees. However, we noted the absence of a thorough and universal cross-evaluation measure. As a result, with the cooperation of the USERN Advisory Board, which includes the top 1% scientists from 22 scientific fields, we developed the Universal Research Index (UR-Index). One of USERN's long-term aims is to take the lead in the scientific world by enacting universal science policies. To accomplish this purpose, members of USERN's Advisory Board were chosen from a list of the top 1% of researchers who are experts in various fields of science. We created the UR-Index to overcome the shortcomings of previously existing research metrics. The UR-Index integrates publication and citation counts and can be used as a single indicator instead of these two measures being used concurrently. The UR-Index is derived by combining five component variables: publication type, author byline position, co-author count, citation count, and source metric of each article. The inclusion of these characteristics for quantifying research output is critical. It has certain advantages over existing research metrics in that it is not merely a citation impact indicator, but it is more comprehensive and takes into account aspects that many indices ignore. The UR-Index offers the mean Universal Score for Publication (USP) measure, allowing junior and senior academics to be compared regardless of overall publication quantity, which is an added value. Further research can explicate the UR-Index and the mean USP's prediction power on scientific promotions and giving scientific prizes. In general, UR-Index is a promising new metric with the potential to give a more comprehensive and inclusive measure of research output. The UR-Index provides a more sophisticated and flexible measure of research output that is adapted to the individual needs of each discipline by taking a holistic perspective of research effect and includes indicators of societal influence. The UR-Index may become an increasingly useful instrument for evaluating and comparing research output as the area of scientific research evolves and diversifies.

You may find more details about the UR-Index in the “Universal Research Index: An Inclusive Metric to Quantify Scientific Research Output” article, which is recently published in Journal of Academic Librarianship (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102714).

You can download the article via the following link till June 7^th, 2023. Link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gxVMMYb6WBhQ