Spotlight on: BMJ Impact Analytics

This year, the judges have selected a shortlist of four for the ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing 2023. We also invite ALPSP members to take part in the judging process before the closing date of 31 July. Vote online. 

The finalists will be showcased in a lightning presentation session at the ALPSP Conference on 13 September, with the winners announced at the ALPSP Conference Awards Dinner on 14 September in Manchester.

In this series, we learn more about each of the finalists.

Tell us about your organization

As a global healthcare knowledge provider with a vision for a healthier world, BMJ publishes one of the world’s top five most cited general medical journals, The BMJ, and over 65 specialty journals. BMJ also offers digital professional development courses and clinical decision support tools to help health professionals improve the quality of healthcare delivery. 

What is the project/product that you submitted for the Awards?

BMJ Impact Analytics is the first impact tool focused on health and social care. Developed in collaboration with Overton, BMJ Impact Analytics makes it easy to find, track, and share the real-world impact of health and medical research. It uniquely shows direct links to patient outcomes (decision support tools) and provides citations in context.

Tell us a little about how it works and the team behind it

Research that improves patients' lives matters deeply to the funders, institutions and researchers but is time-consuming and difficult to track. Traditional scholarly metrics were used to evaluate the impact of this research in the absence of more targeted analysis that specifically relates to health improvement. 

BMJ Impact Analytics was created after extensive engagement and research with medical departments, researchers and funders. It was developed in collaboration with pioneering technology start-up Overton, whose mission is to support evidence-based decision-making worldwide by tracking the reach and impact of research in policy. Our co-development combines BMJ's health expertise with Overton's data knowledge to address the challenge of finding evidence of their real-world impact of health and medical research. Funders, institutions, and researchers can now effectively find evidence of their influence; by tracking where their research is cited in clinical guidance and health policy worldwide.

In what ways do you think it demonstrates innovation?

• BMJ Impact Analytics is the only impact tool created in collaboration with medical departments, researchers and funders, specifically addressing the needs of the medical research community. 
• It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive tool available to track and share the real-world impact of medical and health research. 
• Strengthened by continuous feedback from medical departments, researchers and funders, this powerful tool encompasses the broadest range of the best available medical sources worldwide, including local guidelines and decision-support tools used by healthcare professionals at the point of care.
• BMJ Impact Analytics uses modern technology and machine learning to help discover evidence of impact,  provides context on how research was used and uniquely shows where research is making a difference closest to the patient. 

What are your plans for the future?

Since launching earlier this year, we have been delighted with how the health and medical research communities have received BMJ Impact Analytics. We will continue to work closely with these groups as part of our user-centred approach to developing and prioritising new features on the roadmap. 

About the author

Michelle Phillips is the Open Research Product Manager at BMJ. With over 15 years of publishing experience, she is passionate about real-world impact. She has been very fortunate to have collaborated with many inspiring researchers on bridging the gap between research, policy and, ultimately, real-world outcomes.

More information:

Website: https://impactanalytics.bmj.com/

Twitter: @bmj_company