Bibliometrics is a method for measuring the impact of published research, usually by citation anaysis. This means that research, researchers and research institutions can be ranked according to the impact of their research based on how many times research papers are cited by other researchers. While this way of measuring research impact is most highly developed in the sciences and in medicine, it is becoming increasingly important in the social sciences and humanities as well.

Scientometrics is the term used to describe the measurement of the impact of various scientific papers and research programs. While it is not exactly the same thing as bibliometrics, for the purposes of this guide the two words will be used interchangeably.