Dear Faculty,
I write today with a simple but important request that can elevate Case Western Reserve’s reputation on a global scale: that you make every effort in publications to identify your CWRU institutional affiliation correctly and consistently.
Recently, CWRU's international rankings have dropped in both the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education (THE). These agencies use Scopus and Web of Science data for evaluating citations from published work.
Importantly, citations are linked only to the primary affiliation listed in published works. Variation in the way the primary affiliation is listed can lead these agencies to misalign a publication with its proper primary affiliation. As a result, some of our faculty's accomplishments may not be counted or may get lost when counting toward our university’s impact (in fact, faculty express their affiliation with Case Western Reserve University in over 750 ways, which hinders our ability to receive credit).
One way to strengthen our standing and reputation is by ensuring your published work is appropriately tied to your primary affiliation. Accurately tying your primary affiliation to CWRU aligns with our Faculty Handbook, which encourages faculty to support the university’s goals and reputation. Specifically, the Handbook (Section IV. Professional Responsibilities, Section C) states that faculty shall:
“Devote professional energies to activities that further the goals and the reputation of the University and share in the responsibilities of the faculty to the University, the local community, and society at large.”
How You Can Help
- In your publications, please use the appropriate primary affiliation exactly as it appears below:
- Case Western Reserve University
- Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine
- Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- The MetroHealth System, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- Please keep your ORCID profile updated: Faculty should complete and maintain an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID iD) and list one of the above as their primary affiliation to best capture our collective work as a university.
Please note that the inclusion of other identifiers such as department, center, and institute are allowed and encouraged (e.g., Cardiovascular Research Institute, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine or Department of English, Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, Case Western Reserve University), as long as Case Western Reserve University is designated as your primary affiliation as listed above.
We have also become aware that some journals have drop-down menus that may not use the appropriate affiliations listed above. Please let us know if you encounter this issue, and we will work with journals to correct it. We will also submit our affiliations to the Research Organization Registry, which is a trusted resource used by many, including ORCID and some publishers.
A special thanks to Kelvin Smith Library for their support in this effort. KSL has been instrumental in managing and maintaining accurate publication records. Our librarians are ready to assist you with any guidance or questions about updating affiliations or creating and maintaining your ORCID profile.
As you may know, the Faculty Senate has approved an Open Access policy. This policy promotes increased citations due to increased access to your publications. You may want to consider adding your research to the CWRU Scholarly Commons, if you have not done so already. This will likely increase the visibility of your work, along with your citations. KSL can assist you with any submissions or questions you may have in this process.
Thank you for everything you do for our university. As Case Western Reserve is elevated as an institution, we all rise together and gain recognition for our full and true impact.
Sincerely,
Joy K. Ward
Provost and Executive Vice President