RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Measuring Research Capacity: Development of the PACER Tool
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP jabfm.2024.240085R1
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2024.240085R1
A1 Stacey, Stephen K.
A1 Steiner-Sherwood, Melanie
A1 Crawford, Paul
A1 LeMaster, Joseph W.
A1 McCarty, Catherine
A1 Chowdhury, Tanvir Turin
A1 Weidner, Amanda
A1 Seidenberg, Peter H.
YR 2024
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/early/2024/11/15/jabfm.2024.240085R1.abstract
AB Evaluating research activity in research departments and education programs is conventionally accomplished through measurement of research funding or bibliometrics. This limited perspective of research activity restricts a more comprehensive evaluation of a program’s actual research capacity, ultimately hindering efforts to enhance and expand it. The objective of this study was to conduct a scoping review of the existing literature pertaining to the measurement of research productivity in research institutions. Using these findings, the study aimed to create a standardized research measurement tool, the Productivity And Capacity Evaluation in Research (PACER) Tool. The evidence review identified 726 relevant articles in a literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL, and Google Scholar with the keywords “research capacity” and “research productivity.” Thirty-nine English-language studies applicable to research measurement were assessed in full and 20 were included in the data extraction. Capacity/productivity metrics were identified, and the relevance of each metric was data-charted according to 3 criteria: the metric was objective, organizational in scale, and applicable to varied research domains. This produced 42 research capacity/productivity metrics that fell into 7 relevant categories: bibliometrics, impact, ongoing research, collaboration activities, funding, personnel, and education/academics. With the expertise of a Delphi panel of researchers, research leaders, and organizational leadership, 31 of these 42 metrics were included in the final PACER Tool. This multifaceted tool enables research departments to benchmark research capacity and research productivity against other programs, monitor capacity development over time, and provide valuable strategic insights for decisions such as resource allocation.