Identification and Valuation of Research Impact Metrics in Iran

Research impact is one of the most recent and key approaches to evaluation that has become a paradigm in the field of science and research today. Research impact refers to the extent to which research influences societies and its ability to solve their problems. Measuring research impact requires a coherent framework that makes this process feasible. The key objective of this research is to identify and evaluate the most critical dimensions, indicators, and metrics of research impact, propose a systematic framework, and develop an online system for measuring this framework in the context of Iran.To achieve this goal, after systematically reviewing the literature and updating the proposed framework by Khosravi, Pournaghi, and Rasouli (2018), interviews were conducted with 20 subject matter experts and policymakers to identify the dimensions, indicators, and metrics of the research impact framework. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis methods, including coding and categorization. Subsequently, the research impact measurement framework was organized into a questionnaire and distributed to 18 policymakers and specialists for prioritization and weighting of the dimensions, indicators, and metrics. After weighting this framework, a research impact system was designed, which includes various dimensions, indicators, and metrics, allowing for the comparison of research trends and the trends of different dimensions, indicators, and metrics.Based on the findings from the systematic literature review, a total of 42 new metrics were added to the proposed framework by Khosravi, Pournaghi, and Rasouli (2018). Consequently, 143 metrics were obtained from the systematic literature review and academic works. In the next step, the analysis of the interviews revealed that in addition to the dimensions, indicators, and metrics identified in the literature, 12 other metrics are also important for measuring research impact. Thus, the number of research impact metrics reached 155, categorized into 20 indicators. Based on the collected data, the research impact measurement framework includes six key dimensions: (1) educational and research impact, (2) well-being and health impact, (3) economic, business, and service impact, (4) social and cultural impact, (5) political, policy-making, and legislative impact, and (6) environmental impact. According to the collected data, respondents evaluated the weight of the dimension "economic,