Here are some steps you can take to advance equity in citation and evaluation:

• Think about whom you cite and why.
   
• Run your bibliography through the Gender Balance Assessment Tool, which “automat[es] the process of evaluating the (probabilistic) gender of each name and then provid[es] an estimate of what percentage of the authors . . . are women.”
   
• Look for opportunities to raise awareness of bias in citations and metrics, and to advance citational justice. Encourage your colleagues to learn about efforts to move away from citation-based metrics, such as:
   
  • Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which recognizes the need “to eliminate the use of journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, in funding, appointment, and promotion considerations” and “to assess research on its own merits rather than on the basis of the journal in which the research is published.”
     
  • HuMetricsHSS: Humane Metrics Initiative, which “takes the approach that if our metrics are not shaped by our core values, our values will be distorted by our metrics.”
     
• Adhere to emerging best practices for precise and respectful citation of Indigenous Elders and other voices historically marginalized in academia. 
   

Attitudes about research metrics — and reliance on them in the evaluation of research and researchers — vary by person, department, institution, discipline, grant-funding organization, etc. Talk to your colleagues to get a sense of how much metrics do (or don’t) matter on your campus and in your field.

Also, think about ways to go beyond traditional metrics when communicating the importance and impact of your work. For example, was something you wrote cited in the news or recommended on social media? Was it assigned on someone else’s course syllabus or applied to a real-world problem? Did it benefit a community or factor into a change in policy? These are all important indicators of impact, and you can share them in your job applications, grant applications, tenure and promotion narratives, etc.