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Research Analytics: Policy Impact Dashboard

How to use publishing and citation data to evidence your strengths, develop your publishing strategy and make connections

What is the Policy Impact Dashboard?

The Policy Impact Dashboard was developed by the University of Bath Library and Overton in collaboration with the HSS Faculty Research Office and the RIS Impact team, and was funded by the Research England Policy Support Fund (Ref. RE-P-2024-01). It shows how University of Bath research is cited in policy documents worldwide, helping you explore the global reach and policy relevance of scholarly work.

The dashboard combines data from the University’s Pure system and the Overton Index. Together, these sources provide a powerful tool for analysing patterns of policy influence across domains, organisations, and countries.

The Policy Impact Dashboard is available through the University's Power BI service. You will need your University of Bath user account to log in. Access the dashboard here:

University of Bath Policy Impact Dashboard

How to search in the dashboard?

You can explore the data using filters and search options:

  • Filters:

    • Faculty/School

    • Department

    • Division/Research Centre

    • Publication year of the cited output

    • Project ID

  • Search options:

    • Author name

    • Policy source

    • Policy document type

    • Publication year of the policy document

⚠️ Note: When searching by author name or project ID, reset the faculty panels to ensure the search covers the whole institution.

Acknowledgements and Intellectual Property

This dashboard was jointly developed by the University of Bath and Overton, with contributions from:

  • University of Bath: Junjie Shen, Sarah Ormes, Caron Staley, Chevaughn Higgins
  • Overton: Katherine Hart, Katie Shamas

We also gratefully acknowledge the support and input of: Dace Rozenberga, Peter Harding, Alex Ball, Catherine Borwick, and Shahnaz Kausar.

All intellectual property rights in the dashboard are owned by the University of Bath. The dashboard and its contents are provided solely for use within the University. Redistribution, reproduction, or sharing of any part of the dashboard, including screenshots, data, or other materials, with individuals or organizations outside the University is not permitted without prior written consent from the University of Bath.

How to interpret the data?

The Policy Impact Dashboard brings together metadata from Pure and the Overton Index, including publication and funding details for University of Bath research cited in policy documents. To make the most of the data, it is important to understand the definitions and indexing methods used by Overton. Key areas to familiarise yourself with include:

Context matters

Policy citations provide valuable evidence of research uptake, but they are only one indicator of policy influence. Many other forms of engagement, such as meetings, roundtables, co-produced research, or providing expert advice, are not captured in citation data.

Citation counts can also be influenced by:

  • The age of a publication (older works often accumulate more references)
  • Shifts in policy agendas or emerging issues
  • Differences in policy publishing practices, such as uneven publication rates, variations in citation styles, or rapid changes in certain policy areas
  • The absence of standard methods for crediting research in policy documents

Using the data responsibly

When interpreting results, always consider the wider policy and academic context. Citations should be seen as evidence of one type of impact, not a complete picture of policy engagement. Understanding the strengths and limitations of the dataset will help you make more accurate and robust conclusions about the policy influence of research.

Contact Us

E-mail us: research-analytics@bath.ac.uk