Societal impact in research information management systems’ activity data

The presentation draws from a master's thesis that conducted a case study analyzing the activities reported in the research information management systems of two universities: the University of Aberdeen (UK) and Aalto University (Finland). Alongside publications, activities are considered among the most significant academic merits of researchers. The focus of the study was on understanding how these activities demonstrate societal impact and the whether the data could be used for research evaluation. The study found that both universities offered a variety of activity types describing societal impact, but relatively few activities were reported within these categories. Disciplinary differences in reporting were also found. As a result, it can be said that in order to use activity data from research information management systems for research evaluation, it is necessary for the data to be reported more systematically, and decisions need to be made, for example, at the national level, regarding the types of activities that are valued and therefore should be collected.