Scientometric Researcher Access to Data (SRAD)

Our Scientometric Researcher Access to Data program is available at no charge for non-commercial scientometric research projects

Apply for SRAD access

Find out if you’re eligible

What is the SRAD programme?

The Scientometric Researcher Access to Data (SRAD) programme provides no-cost access to Digital Science’s research data products — Altmetric and Dimensions — for researchers conducting non-commercial scientometric studies.

We offer SRAD because we believe open research requires open infrastructure for studying research itself. Scientometrics — the quantitative study of science and its outputs — plays a vital role in shaping research policy, funding decisions, and institutional strategy. Researchers who study research deserve access to the data that makes that work possible, and we are proud to make these data available for the study of science, to support innovative research that investigates patterns and trends in research and its influence on science, policy, innovation and communication.

SRAD is our practical response to the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information: not just words, but access.

What you get

Altmetric Data

Access to data about research output (publications, clinical trials, and datasets), including Altmetric attention scores and details about online attention to research outputs across news, blogs, social media, policy documents and patent applications. This also includes inferred sentiment for an expanding set of social media posts. Access is provided through Altmetric Explorer (user interface), Explorer API and Details Page API (for programmatic access), and Altmetric on Google BigQuery (for big data projects).

Dimensions Data

Full access to Dimensions — the world’s largest linked research information dataset — through Dimensions Analytics (user interface), the Dimensions Analytics API (including powerful full-text search), and Dimensions on Google BigQuery (for big data projects). These data include disambiguated researcher profiles and enriched organizations datasets, as well as metadata about and links between publications, grants, datasets, clinical trials, and policy documents.

SRAD Resources

In addition to documentation, technical guidance, and a dedicated point of contact, regular meetings provide a collaborative space in which to ask technical questions, troubleshoot queries, and receive expert feedback directly from Digital Science. Each meeting also features one recently completed or ongoing research project from within the community, providing a fantastic opportunity to discover new methodologies, share insights, and connect with fellow scientometric researchers.

Who can apply?

SRAD is open to:

Independent (postdoctoral/faculty) or under supervision (Masters/PhD students); student or supervisor should have a Dimensions researcher profile
Affiliated with a recognised institution
Working on non-commercial scientometric projects with the intention to publish results

Eligibility:

Your project must be non-commercial in nature
You must have created a free account at Dimensions.ai
Your work should focus on scientometrics, bibliometrics, or related (science of science) fields
Ideally the project should be innovative in nature (contributing something novel to the field)
Applications meet the approval of the Digital Science team

How to apply

Review the eligibility criteria above
Complete the SRAD application form
- Apply with your institutional address
- You must have created a free Dimensions account (with your affiliation)
- If a student, prepare your supervisor for our request for confirmation
The Digital Science team reviews your application (typically within 10 working days)
If approved, you’ll receive access credentials and onboarding materials

Apply now

Admins using computer in data center office, running scripts

SRAD for…

The SRAD program is designed for delivering data at no cost for the purpose of scientometric research, but that can mean some different things, depending on where you are in your research career.

We make access to the data available not only to well-established researchers with permanent positions, but also to teachers interested in training their students on Digital Science data and products; independent researchers concerned with research integrity; and science communicators who need big data to support powerful stories.

Teachers

SRAD for Teachers

Teachers can apply for access to any of the datasets and access methods we offer through SRAD, for the purposes of teaching their students how to perform scientometric research, and we are happy to provide access in advance of the course, to aid in familiarization.

The students themselves must also apply for access, using their institutional email accounts and agreeing to our noncommercial terms of use/privacy statement. They need simply mention that they are requesting access for the purpose of the course you are teaching.

We are happy to provide a training session for these courses, at any point in the term, in order to assist both teacher and students in understanding the data!

Sleuths

SRAD for Sleuths

Digital Science has supported research integrity sleuths long before the advent of the SRAD program, through our Dimensions No Cost agreements.

We are proud to continue that support by offering access through the SRAD program to sleuths looking systematically for anomalies, risks, and concerns in the scientific ecosystem.

Science Communicators

SRAD for Science Communicators

Dimensions and Altmetric data have been used by some of the leading news outlets in the world. We are pleased to support the responsible communication of information about science and scientific output by offering access to journalists whose beat is science as a whole.