The Dimensions of Research Visibility: A Multidimensional Framework for Scholarly Discoverability and Reach

Résumé fourni par la source

Research visibility is an increasingly important feature of contemporary scholarly communication, yet it remains an under specified construct. Researchers may produce high quality scholarship without achieving substantial discoverability, accessibility, scholarly recognition, engagement or knowledge reach. At the same time, citation counts and other commonly used indicators capture only selected aspects of a much broader visibility process. Building on the conceptual definition established in ResearchTrics Research Bulletin No. 001 and the distinction between visibility and impact developed in Bulletin No. 002, this paper develops and substantially extends a multidimensional framework for understanding research visibility. The paper proposes eight dimensions of research visibility: discoverability, accessibility, scholarly recognition, engagement, connectivity, citation visibility, openness and knowledge reach. Each dimension represents a distinct but interconnected mechanism through which research can become observable and usable within scholarly and broader knowledge ecosystems. Drawing on established literature in bibliometrics, altmetrics, open science and responsible research assessment, including the Leiden Manifesto (Hicks et al., 2015), the FAIR Guiding Principles (Wilkinson et al., 2016), the altmetrics manifesto (Priem, Taraborelli, Groth, & Neylon, 2010), the ORCID identifier system (Haak, Fenner, Paglione, Pentz, & Ratner, 2012) and the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (2013), the paper argues that research visibility should be conceptualised as a multidimensional construct rather than a single indicator, and that its measurement requires careful consideration of disciplinary, geographical, institutional and temporal context. A conceptual Research Visibility Dimensions Framework is proposed, together with illustrative visualisations, to guide future empirical research and metric development. The framework provides a foundation for investigating whether the proposed dimensions constitute correlated dimensions of a higher order construct, distinct but related constructs, or different stages within a dynamic research visibility system. The paper concludes by identifying a research agenda involving construct validation, indicator development, measurement invariance, longitudinal analysis and responsible research assessment. Keywords: research visibility; discoverability; accessibility; scholarly recognition; engagement; connectivity; citation visibility; openness; knowledge reach.

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