Dimensions is a large database that indexes peer reviewed journal literature, conference proceedings, books, book chapters, preprints, awarded grants, policy documents, datasets, patents, clinical trials, and more. Because of the breadth of content indexed in the database, and the robust reporting and analysis tools included within, Dimensions will be an important tool for understanding and reporting on the research and scholarship produced at Syracuse University. Additionally, it will be helpful as a benchmarking tool for comparison with other institutions.
Dimensions includes built-in analysis features that auto-generate visualizations of things like research outputs and collaboration networks using a freely available tool called VOSViewer.
Case Studies from Other Institutions
Here are a few examples of case studies from Dimensions, from institutions who are using Dimensions for activities like understanding their research activities and identifying their top funders; understanding how their research aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals; or evaluating the post-graduate success of PhD students who graduated from their institution.
Dimensions Analytics Quick Start
The below video from Dimensions provides an excellent overview of the database search interface, the metrics included within Dimensions, and the different reporting and analytics features, including the types of data you can analyze and the visualizations you can export.
Dimensions is a database including publications, awarded grants, patents, clinical trials, and policy documents. It has embedded visualizations to use with the data, including VOSviewer.
Steps for generating a VOSviewer report within Dimensions:
1. Create a set of data that you would like to develop into a visualization, for example, data from a group of researchers.
2. The results of the data will be featured in the main part of the page.
3. On the right, there is a window, Analytical Views. Click on the arrow to the left of Analytical Views to bring it over to the main part of the page.
4. Click Researchers, and then Network. You could also click other categories showing different visualizations: Source Titles, Funders, Research Organizations, and Places.
5. The default network is a co-authorship analysis, but then can be changed by clicking the drop-down to citation analysis.
6. The researcher name can be clicked for an individual count of co-authorship links, total co-authorships, publications, and their color-coded cluster.
7. The interface of the VOSviewer visualization can be changed to dark from the default light interface.
8. To save, click the Save icon, or click Screenshot to then save.