Library Help: Office For Open Research

What are policy citation metrics?

Policy citation metrics measure the influence of academic research on public policy. They do this by tracking references to scholarly work in documents such as:

• Government reports

• White papers

• Publications from NGOs, think tanks, or international bodies

These metrics can help to reveal how research contributes to real-world decisions, from shaping legislation to informing health, education, or environmental policy.

Why should I use policy citation metrics?

Policy citations offer insights into the broader societal relevance of your research. They can be used to:

• Showcase societal impact
  Demonstrate how your work contributes to solving real-world challenges or informing public debate.

• Support funding bids or impact case studies
  Highlight practical applications of your research for REF submissions, grant proposals, or institutional reporting.

• Understand research reach
  Track how and where your work is referenced in policy literature.

• Identify engagement opportunities
  Discover which organisations are citing your research—potential leads for collaboration, consultancy, or engagement.

As with all research metrics, these indicators should be interpreted carefully. They vary in coverage across disciplines and geographies, and citation may occur with significant time lags after publication.

How can I access policy citation metrics?

Overton

The best source for exploring policy citations is Overton.io, the world’s largest database of policy documents that cite academic research. Overton indexes documents from over 1,000 organisations across 180+ countries, including:

• National and local governments

• Think tanks and NGOs

• Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs)

Using Overton, you can:

• Search for policy documents citing your work by DOI, author name, or institutional affiliation

• Explore citations by region, sector, or source

• Identify the policy documents where your research has made an impact.
   

Please see our Overton guidance for help getting started.

Scival

Overton's policy citation data is also available on Scival as part of the Impact module. This allows you to analyse the policy citation rates of existing groups created on Scival. Policy data on Scival differs slightly from that on the Overton platform as follows -

• Overton allows full text search of policy documents
• Second order citations e.g. where research is referenced via a thinktank or NGO, are tracked

If you are conducting policy specific analysis we recommend you do this directly on Overton.

If you require further assistance please contact the Office for Open Research