Bibliometric performance parameter for 2025
This page describes how the bibliometric performance parameter in Chalmers' allocation model for departmental funds is calculated. The aim of the performance-based allocation of funding is to create an incentive to raise the quality of research and to reward research that has international visibility. The bibliometric parameter constitutes 40 per cent of the total performance-based funds allocation system.
About the calculations
The bibliometric parameter is publication-based and composed of five different indicators, divided into three categories:
• volume
• dissemination
• impact
The indicators for dissemination evaluate the publication channels in which the research findings are published. Impact is measured using indicators showing the effect the publications have had in the subject area in the form of citations. The indicators for dissemination and impact are subject-normalized, i.e. they correct for different publication and citation patterns in different subject areas. The calculation is made on a rolling four-year period. To allow the necessary time for publications to collect citations, the most recent year is not included, except for the volume of publications. The importance of the five indicators within the parameter is weighted as a percentage.
The parameter has been calculated using the SciVal analysis tool, which uses publication and citation data from the Scopus database. The following publication types are included: Article, Review, Data paper, Conference paper, Book and Book chapter. Organizational affiliation is retrieved from Chalmers' publication database, research.chalmers.se.
Scopus assigns the journals included in the database to one or more subject areas according to a classification system called ASJC (All Science Journal Classification) and includes approximately 335 subject areas. The articles published in a particular journal are given the same subject area/s as the journal. It is this subject affiliation that is used for subject normalisation when calculating the indicators for impact, FWCI (Field-Weighted Citation Impact) and Top 10%.
The indicators for dissemination are calculated using the SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper) indicator. SNIP is similar to the better-known Web of Science’s Journal Impact Factor (JIF) from Clarivate. The crucial difference between the indicators is that SNIP corrects for subject-specific differences in citation practices. In this case, rather than using a predefined subject classification (such as ASJC), the normalisation process involves a method based on the list of references of the citing publication. The longer the list of references, the less a citation from the publication in question is worth. More information about SNIP at CWTS Journal Indicators - Methodology.
The indicators are calculated at departmental level; in the case of shared departments, they are calculated for the Chalmers section only. It is the department’s share of Chalmers’ overall performance that is the basis of the allocation.
Indicators
Volume
P – Publication volume
Measurement of publishing by the department through international, peer-reviewed publication channels. Calculated on the basis of publications published between 2020 and 2023. Weight: 4%.
Dissemination
SNIPmean × PSNIP – Average subject-normalised citation rate of the publication channels that the department has published in, multiplied by the number of publications whose publication channel has a SNIP value.
SNIP measures how well-cited journals the researchers appear in compared with the subject area as a whole. SNIP > 1.0 means that the journal’s citation rate is above the average. Calculated on the basis of publications published between 2019 and 2022. Weight: 11%.
Q1 (formerly Top 25% (J)) – Number of publications in the 25% most often cited journals, based on SNIP, within the subject area.
Calculated on the basis of publications published between 2019 and 2022. Weight: 7%.
Impact
FWCI × P – Average subject-normalised citation rate for the department’s publications multiplied by the number of publications.
FWCI measures how well cited the publications are compared with the subject area as a whole. FWCI > 1.0 means an above average citation rate. Citations are counted up to four years from the date of publication. Self-citations are included. Calculated on the basis of publications published between 2019 and 2022. Weight: 11%.
Top 10% – Number of publications amongst the 10% per cent most often cited publications in the subject area.
Citations are included up to the date the data is retrieved from Scopus. Self-citations are included. Calculated on the basis of publications published between 2019 and 2022. Weight: 7%.
See calculation of bibliometric performance parameter for 2025 at Chalmers intranet, Bibliometric performance parameter.
