Research intelligence platforms
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What are research intelligence platforms?
Research intelligence platforms are tools that analyse data about academic research to provide insight into trends, performance, influence, and collaboration. These platforms gather data from publications, citations, patents, policy documents, and online mentions.
They are typically used by researchers, institutions, and funders to:
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Evaluate research performance;
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Benchmark against peers;
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Identify potential collaborators;
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Track developments across disciplines;
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Support strategic planning and impact reporting.
Platforms are provided by both commercial companies (e.g. Elsevier, Clarivate) and open-source initiatives (e.g. OpenAlex).
Why should I use research intelligence platforms?
When used responsibly, these tools can help you:
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Understand research performance at the individual, group, or institutional level.
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Discover collaboration opportunities by identifying authors and institutions working in related areas.
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Explore emerging trends and topics to inform strategic decisions or future projects.
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Benchmark your work against national or international peers.
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Showcase broader impact through citations, policy uptake, or online engagement.
These insights can support REF preparations, grant applications, narrative CVs, impact case studies, and internal reviews.
Research intelligence platforms available via the University of Manchester
The Library provides access to a number of leading tools:
Altmetric Explorer (Digital Science)
Tracks where and how research is shared online, including:
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Social media (e.g. Twitter/X, Bluesky);
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News outlets;
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Wikipedia;
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Blogs.
Altmetric Explorer is useful for understanding public engagement and broader societal impact.
OpenAlex (Our Research)
A free, open-source platform indexing over 250 million research outputs.
Strengths include:
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Detailed topic classification;
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Citation data;
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SDG alignment;
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Good coverage of humanities and Global South research.
InCites (Clarivate)
An analytics platform built on Web of Science data.
Use it for:
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Citation-based benchmarking;
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Subject-normalised metrics (e.g. CNCI);
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Collaboration analysis (e.g. Collab-CNCI);
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Evaluating Highly Cited Researchers.
Incites is helpful in understanding institutional or field-level performance.
Overton.io (Overton)
A searchable database of global policy documents, including:
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Government reports;
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Think tank publications;
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Guidelines from 1,000+ sources in 180+ countries.
Use Overton to identify how research is used in policy and public discourse.
SciVal (Elsevier)
A comprehensive analytics platform based on Scopus data.
Enables:
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Output and citation analysis;
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Collaboration mapping;
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SDG contribution tracking;
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Topic and topic cluster visualisation.
SciVal supports custom reporting and trend analysis.
Scopus (Elsevier)
A large abstract and citation database. Includes peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, and patents.
Use it for:
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Author and institutional profiles;
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Citation tracking;
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Literature searches.
Web of Science (Clarivate)
Multidisciplinary research database with strong coverage in:
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Sciences;
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Social sciences;
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Arts and humanities.
Web of Science is used as the data source for InCites and for Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list.
Responsible use of research intelligence
These tools provide valuable insight, but metrics should always be interpreted in context. We recommend using them alongside qualitative evidence—such as peer review or narrative CVs—and being mindful of field differences, data limitations, and potential biases.
Need help navigating these tools?
The Research Indicators team can help you:
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Choose the most appropriate tool;
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Understand metrics and classification systems;
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Generate custom reports and visualisations;
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Interpret results responsibly.
Contact us for tailored support.