Bifrost® - a tool for analysing research publications

Bifrost® is a tool for analysing research publications. It collects, analyses and presents information about research output, and can be used by higher education institutions and individual researchers to get a clearer picture of research activities and collaborations. More than 150 reports are currently publicly available at bifrost.kau.se, where data sources, methodology, target audiences and further analysis examples are also described.

What does Bifrost® do?

  • Collects information:
    • SwePub: Swedish research publications with subject classification according to UKÄ and information on open access status.
    • DiVA: institution-specific publications, including doctoral and licentiate theses as well as information on individual researchers.
    • OpenAlex: international publication data with broad coverage.
  • Enriches data:
  • Analyses and compiles data:
    • Publication trends over time, including growth rate and detection of subject bursts.
    • Co-authorship networks: who collaborates with whom, internally and externally.
    • Subject and keyword analysis with visualisation of co-occurrences.
    • Journal profiles based on NPI level and SJR quartile.
    • Open access status per publication type.
    • Citation data and FWCI (Field-Weighted Citation Impact, a field-normalised citation measure; read more here).
  • Presents the results:
    • Generates interactive HTML reports with tables, charts and networks that can be shared and used directly in the browser, with no requirement for specialist software.
    • Whole reports can also be exported as PDF for archiving or printing.
    • Publication lists can be downloaded in RIS and BibTeX format for import into reference managers (e.g. Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley).
    • Tables and publication lists can be downloaded as Excel files for further processing.
    • Reports can be used as a basis for research overviews, strategic decisions and evaluations.

Why use Bifrost®?

  • Overview: Get a clear picture of research activities.
  • Insight: Identify trends and successful research areas.
  • Efficiency: Saves time through automated processes.

Bifrost® makes bibliometric information easier to understand and use. The tool is used by researchers, librarians, administrators and management at higher education institutions. See examples by audience on bifrost.kau.se.

Analysis examples

Bifrost® produces reports for different types of searches. The data source depends on the purpose of the analysis: SwePub provides broad national coverage, DiVA is used for institution-specific analyses (theses, student papers, person or organisation IDs), and OpenAlex for international coverage and citation analysis. See bifrost.kau.se/datakallor/ for a full comparison, or bifrost.kau.se/analysexempel/ for further examples and descriptions.

Further examples and descriptions are available at bifrost.kau.se/analysexempel/.

About Bifrost®

The tool Bifrost®: bibliometrics for rapid and visible interpretation has been developed by Kristian Niemi, senior lecturer at Karlstad University. See bifrost.kau.se/om/ for background, technical description and licensing terms, or bifrost.kau.se/datakallor/ and bifrost.kau.se/metod/ for data sources and methodology respectively.

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