A Beginner’s Guide to Bibliometric Data Analysis with the TOBI Portfolio

TOBI portfolio cover page

TOBI portfolio cover page (ETH Zurich / Elisabeth Giryes)

In today’s research environment, bibliometric analysis has become an essential tool for understanding the reach and impact of scientific work. Yet, for many researchers, especially those without a technical background, getting started with bibliometric data can be overwhelming. Tools are often complex, and data access can feel out of reach. That’s where the TOBI Portfolio … Read more

SOAD 2025: Call for Contributions

KI generated image of mountains overlaid with a network of data points

Image generated using AI via ChatGPT with DALL·E

We are delighted and excited to announce the first Swiss Open Academic Data (SOAD) Day, taking place on Wednesday, 10 September 2025, at ETH Zurich. This event will bring together researchers and practitioners active in Switzerland to explore Open Academic Data – how to use it, share best practices, and build a strong community. The … Read more

Four articles on SYoS and TOBI published in Qualität in der Wissenschaft 4/2024

Cover page of the journal Qualität in der Wissenschaft, issue 4/2024

Cover page of the issue 4/2024 of the journal Qualität in der Wissenschaft dedicated to the topic “Bibliometrics in Focus”

We are pleased to announce that the latest issue of the journal Qualität in der Wissenschaft has just been published. Issue 4/2024 is dedicated to the topic “Bibliometrie im Fokus” (Bibliometrics in Focus) and features four articles published in English on SYoS and its sister project Towards Open Bibliometric Indicators (TOBI): Mutz, R., Johann, D. … Read more

Join the Swiss Open Academic Data (SOAD) community

KI generated image of mountains overlaid with a network of data points

Image generated using AI via ChatGPT with DALL·E

EPFL and ETH Zurich are pleased to introduce the emerging Swiss Open Academic Data (SOAD) community. Our goal is to bring together academic professionals from across Switzerland to explore the many ways open academic data can drive innovation—be it through sharing real-world use cases of how Swiss institutions leverage open data, improving overall data quality, … Read more

Exploring research quality: Insights from the 5th workshop of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics

Group photo of the attendants of the 5th SYoS workshop

The attendants of the 5th SYoS workshop at the University of Fribourg (ETH Zurich, Annette Guignard)

The 5th Workshop of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics was held on November 14 at the University of Fribourg. The workshop focused on assessing research quality using bibliometric indicators. It was co-moderated by Simon Willemin and David Johann from the ETH Library of ETH Zurich. This was the last event of the series of workshops … Read more

The 5th lecture of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics: Reflecting on the assessment of quality of research

Professor Bart Thijs lecturing (Photo: Tanja Matic)

Professor Bart Thijs lecturing (Photo: Tanja Matic)

On November, 13, 2024, the University of Fribourg hosted the 5th lecture of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics: Prof. Bart Thijs from the KU Leuven spoke on “Assessing quality of research: New approaches in response to changing expectations”. The video and slides of the talk are now available. The event took place in the lecture … Read more

Fifth lecture on 13 November 2024 – Assessing quality of research. New approaches in response to changing expectations

Portrait of Prof. Bart Thijs

Professor Bart Thijs

The fifth SYoS lecture on “Assessing quality of research. New approaches in response to changing expectations” is organised in collaboration with the University of Fribourg. It will take place on 13 November 2024 at the University of Fribourg (MIS 03 3113, Avenue de l’Europe 20, 1700 Fribourg). We are extremely pleased to welcome Professor Bart … Read more

Exploring Swiss Higher Education Institutions in Commercial and Open Bibliometric Databases

Map Swissuniversities Institutions

An initial investigation into the visibility of Swiss Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in commercial bibliometric databases was published here in April 2024. It highlighted the importance of (1) metadata quality, (2) institutional identifiers, and (3) language disambiguation. These findings revealed significant differences between the platforms Dimensions, Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). This blog post … Read more

4th SYoS Workshop: Envision the future of Scientometrics in Switzerland

Participants of the 4th SYoS workshop posing for a group photo

Participants of the 4th Workshop of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics (ETH Zurich / Annette Guignard)

The 4th Workshop of the Swiss Year of Scientometrics (SYoS) took place at ETH Zurich on 25 April 2024. The diverse audience included 25 participants from different European universities and Swiss institutions (Universities of Bern, Fribourg, St. Gallen and Zurich, ZHAW, Eawag-Empa, EPFL, ETH Zurich and ETH Board, Armasuisse, Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries, and … Read more