Product Overview of Academic Analytics
Academic Analytics is a comprehensive platform designed to support research institutions in making informed, data-driven decisions to enhance their research enterprise. Here’s a detailed look at what the product does and its key features and functionality.
Purpose and Mission
Academic Analytics aims to help university leaders, including presidents, provosts, and department heads, in strategic decision-making. The platform is dedicated to advancing higher education by providing objective data and business intelligence tools, enabling institutions to sustain and grow their research activities aligning with their mission.
Key Features and Functionality
Data Collection and Analysis
- Academic Analytics compiles multi-faceted data on individual scholar research productivity across nine areas: book publications, journal article publications, journal article citations, published conference proceedings, federal research grants, professional honorific awards, U.S. patents, clinical trials, and book chapters. This data is aggregated and matched to individual faculty members, departments, and programs.
Benchmarking and Comparison
- The platform allows institutions to benchmark their academic units against peer units across the country. This comparative data is housed in the Academic Analytics Database (AAD), which contains information on over 400,000 faculty members associated with more than 10,000 Ph.D. programs and 12,000 departments at 470 universities.
Custom Grouping and Filtering
- Academic Analytics enables the creation of custom groups such as centers, programs, and departments, with robust filtering options to facilitate peer group comparisons and time-window benchmarking.
Modules and Tools
- Faculty Insight: A search tool that helps scholars find experts at their institution and nationally. Scholar profiles are pre-populated with recent activity data, and key research terms are generated based on the frequency of terms in the scholar’s activity data.
- Research Insight: Helps locate funding opportunities, potential honorific awards, and subject matter experts. Department heads and deans can use this module to run reports and analyze data.
- Analysis on Demand: Allows users to run specific reports, such as honorific award reports, to support strategic decision-making.
- Alumni Insight, Medical Insight, and Industry Insight: Additional modules that explore alumni careers, physician-researcher activity, and industry partnerships, respectively.
Notifications and Alerts
- The platform offers a notifications feature that sends email alerts on targeted funding opportunities, search activity related to the scholar’s research interests, and potential collaboration opportunities.
Data Quality and Assurance
- Data is compiled from direct university submissions and online directories, followed by a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure accuracy. Users can report errors to the dedicated Academic Analytics Liaison or the Help Desk.
User Training and Support
- Access to the platform requires completing a confidentiality obligations form and attending training sessions to understand the functionality, limitations, and proper use of the database. Users are also connected with personal specialists to address their specific needs.
Benefits
- Informed Decision-Making: Provides institutional leaders with a comprehensive view of research accomplishments, helping them make better and more efficient decisions.
- Strategic Growth: Identifies strengths and areas for improvement, guiding strategic growth in line with the university’s mission.
- Benchmarking: Enables comparisons with peer institutions to gauge progress and competitiveness.
- Resource Allocation: Helps in the optimal allocation of resources by providing insights into research productivity and opportunities.
In summary, Academic Analytics is a powerful tool for research institutions, offering a suite of features that enhance decision-making, benchmarking, and strategic growth in the academic research environment.