Setting your sustainability research strategy: Using InCites to analyze SDGs
As the 2030 target date for the UN Sustainable Development Goals approaches, research institutions can rely on InCites Benchmarking & Analytics to help them evaluate their research contribution and adjust their strategy.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to create a more equitable, sustainable and resilient world for current and future generations. Research institutions play a critical role in advancing SDGs by generating evidence-based insights, innovative technologies and policy recommendations that inform and guide sustainable development efforts. Assessing sustainability research contributions helps ensure that an institution’s work stays relevant, future-oriented and focused on the most pressing challenges.
In a 2023 survey, research office leaders and staff reported that measuring research contribution toward SDGs was among their top three performance indicators and noted that its importance will grow over the next five years. This signals alignment between research institutions and the UN’s goals. However, recent reports show that broad alignment with SDGs doesn’t seem to be moving the needle.
Refocusing research efforts to accelerate progress
Despite a shared commitment to the SDGs across the globe, progress is variable. The 2024 SDG Progress Report reveals “that only seventeen per cent of SDGs targets are on track to be achieved, nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over a third has stalled or even regressed.”
The STRINGS (Steering Research and Innovation for Global Goals) group used Web of Science data, patent data, surveys and case studies to study whether current science, technology and innovation (STI) priorities align with the priorities established in the SDGs. They uncovered a glaring mismatch between STI priorities and SDGs, concluding that the research community needs to change direction to make meaningful progress.
The 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report outlines the type of science required for progress: “multidisciplinary, equitably and inclusively produced, openly shared, widely trusted and embraced, and ‘socially robust’ – relevant to society.” According to the report, universities should consider not only what topics their researchers are pursuing, but also how they are going about that research. For example, multidisciplinary research teams are likely in a better position to consider the interplay between goals. A technology that is positive for one goal may hinder progress on another. In-depth research evaluation can help leaders chart a course for greater impact in the coming years.
Shaping research strategies with InCites Benchmarking & Analytics
Universities already face challenges in presenting a cohesive picture of their SDG impact, and now they must consider how to pivot their research programs. They need reliable, repeatable indicators to systematically measure and monitor their research. InCites Benchmarking & Analytics is a flexible research evaluation tool that helps leaders easily analyze Web of Science data to make confident decisions about their research programs.
To enable analyses of SDGs, Clarivate combines automated approaches with expert review to map publications to the goals. The Sustainable Development Goal schema in InCites Benchmarking & Analytics captures sets of documents for each SDG and analyzes those document sets for the presence of Citation Topics, document-level article clusters developed through a partnership with the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University (CWTS) and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Domain experts at Clarivate then conduct a full manual review of mapped and unmapped Citation Topics to ensure a comprehensive mapping.
Figure 1: Treemap of SDG goals by number of papers indexed in Web of Science
The SDG schema can be used to explore research output at the global, national, institutional and individual levels and offers a wide range of indicators for flexible assessment. In a recent webinar, Bárbara Lancho Barrantes, Bibliometrician at University of Brighton, presented her research comparing various bibliometric tools for SDG analyses. She found that, “Comparing diversity and number of bibliometric indicators, InCites is the tool that provides the largest number of indicators to apply to SDGs.” Through multi-variable analyses, university leaders can determine how to increase the impact of their SDG-related research.
Locating collaborations that support sustainability research goals
When building capacity in a research area, universities often consider strategic collaborations. By identifying institutions with similar focus areas, leaders can form partnerships that enhance already strong programs. In areas where research impact is currently limited, new collaborations may provide the momentum needed to elevate the program’s visibility and effectiveness.
Figure 2: University of Lille’s top collaborators in the last 5 years on SDG 13: Climate Action
Patrick Devos, Senior Bibliometrician at Université de Lille, shared his use of InCites Benchmarking & Analytics to assess portfolio strengths and weaknesses and identify collaborators. He compared his university’s SDG research to France and the world overall, putting institutional performance in local and global contexts. He also did an analysis of other universities in France to identify institutions with shared and complementary specializations. He was able to drill down to granular topic areas to figure out what technology solutions can lead to greater SDG progress and explore ways to develop sustainability research and establish useful collaborations.
Exploring more facets of your SDG research
To meet sustainability research goals, university leaders may want to consider factors outside of volume and citation impact. Openness is a key consideration when assessing how research contributes to the achievement of SDGs. In her analysis of SDG research using InCites Benchmarking & Analytics, Dr. Lancho Barrantes was able to assess not only the overall level of OA publishing by goal but also view the percentage of publications that are openly available by OA model, for example, Gold or Green. Many institutions support OA publishing with internal funding, and this kind of analysis can inform a holistic publishing strategy for SDG research across the university.
The timeline for achieving the SDGs by their target date is shrinking, and research institutions must consider how they can maximize their contribution in these next few years. Evaluating the current state of research and setting a strategic course for future progress requires in-depth, multi-variable analyses. Clarivate provides the trusted intelligence that research leaders need to make data-driven decisions that will advance their SDG research and ultimately build a more sustainable future.
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