Dimensions database gives insight into UNC-Chapel Hill research
A new subscription to a powerful database will help provide insight into Carolina's massive research enterprise. It will also allow individuals to track the impact of their work, seek collaborative opportunities and understand funding trends.
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) and the University Libraries have teamed up to provide the first year of a license for Dimensions. OVCR will then continue the subscription on behalf of the University. Use of Dimensions is free for UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, students, clinical researchers and staff.
Dimensions offers one place to search across 1.7 billion citations from 133 million research publications. The database also includes grants, datasets, clinical trials, patents and policy documents. Results can be filtered by researcher, institution, funding agency and more. Analysis tools built into the database offer options to track and visualize citations, activity history and researcher networks.
A companion subscription to Altmetric is embedded in Dimensions search results. Altmetric tracks where research is being mentioned in online articles, documents and social media.
"Dimensions is a powerful tool for all researchers at Carolina – both faculty and students," said Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Andy Johns. "Not only will it help them track publications and grants, but it will also be a great resource for research administration as we use it to identify future areas of growth and collaboration opportunities."
"Advancing the research enterprise is a core part of the University Libraries' mission, and that starts with helping our community understand more about the research that happens at Carolina," said Nerea Llamas, associate University librarian for collections strategy and services.
UNC-Chapel Hill researchers who would like to explore additional ways to demonstrate and communicate the impact of their work can partner with the Impact Measurement & Visualization Service at the Health Sciences Library. The service is available to all Carolina affiliates.
Accessing Dimensions
UNC-Chapel Hill affiliates can use Dimensions by visiting https://app.dimensions.ai or searching for Dimensions from the Library website.
To use the full range of Dimensions' analysis tools, register for an account using your University email. Doing so will take you to UNC-Chapel Hill's single sign-on page. Follow the instructions to create your account.
For assistance using Dimensions, contact the University Libraries. Researchers in health affairs should contact the Health Sciences Library.
