In the academic environment, ranking systems evaluate not only the scientific productivity of individual researchers, but also universities and scientific organisations. One of the important indicators in this regard is the publication activity of researchers. However, in order for an article to be attributed to a specific institution, it is necessary to correctly indicate the author’s affiliation. In the case of an error, the publication may not be included in the university’s statistics, which will affect its ranking indicators. How exactly does this mechanism work? We will discuss this in more detail in today’s article.
What is author affiliation?
Affiliation – is an important element of the metadata of a scientific article that allows the institution with which the author is associated to be identified. It helps readers, editors, research funding bodies, and bibliographic databases determine the institutional affiliation of a researcher and track the scientific activity of individual organisations.
If we talk about the structure of affiliation, it may vary depending on the requirements of a scientific journal or publisher. For example, the scientific journal Nature states that authors should provide information according to the following principle:
- Name of department.
- Institution
- City.
- Country.
This option is one of the most common among scientific publications. However, there are cases when a journal may additionally require a postal code (zip code) of the institution along with this information.
A postal code – is a numeric or alphanumeric code used for sorting mail and precisely identifying a geographical area. It can be found on the official website of your institution – it is usually indicated in the contact information or official details, or by using online postal code search services by address (for example, Google Maps often displays the postal code when searching for an address).
In addition to the above-mentioned affiliation structure, the following formats are also quite common:
- organisation, building and street, city and postal code, country
- faculty or other structural unit, organisation, city, country
- faculty or other structural unit, organisation, city and postal code, country
- faculty or other structural unit, organisation, building and street, city and postal code, country
That is why it is extremely important to carefully check the requirements for affiliation formatting, which are usually indicated by journals on their official website in the “For Authors” section.
What is affiliation used for?
It should be noted that affiliation is one of the key elements of article metadata, which performs a number of important functions. Its correct formatting is extremely important both for individual researchers and for universities and other institutions.
Affiliation is needed in order to:
- Identify the institution with which the author’s research activity is associated and confirm where the work was carried out.
- Ensure correct indexing of the publication in bibliometric databases (Scopus, Web of Science) and attribution of results to a specific institution.
- Allow the institution to report research results to funding organisations and accreditation bodies.
- Analyse interaction between universities and research groups (including international cooperation).
- Create a personal scientific profile of the researcher (for example, in Scopus, Web of Science or ORCID), correctly distinguish authors with identical names, and combine all their publications into a single account.
What role does affiliation play in forming a university’s ranking?
Practically every university strives to achieve the highest possible position in rankings, as this is an indicator of its prestige and authority. This, in turn, can encourage applicants to enrol in a particular university, attract qualified specialists to work there, and directly influence the likelihood of receiving grants and additional funding.
How does it work?
In the academic environment, there are a number of international rankings that evaluate the performance of universities, including the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, National H-index Ranking, and U.S. News Best Global Universities. When determining the positions of higher education institutions, these systems take into account various indicators, among which the publication activity of staff plays an important role. The more actively researchers conduct studies and publish their results, the higher the competitiveness of the university they represent.
Here, affiliation plays a key role. If an author incorrectly indicates their workplace when submitting a manuscript, the publication may not be properly attributed to the relevant university. As a result, the researcher’s scientific achievements are not taken into account when forming the institution’s publication indicators, which may negatively affect its ranking position.
Typical mistakes in affiliation formatting
Even minor inaccuracies in affiliation formatting can lead to problems with publication indexing, incorrect display of data in bibliometric databases, or loss of connection between the article and the relevant institution. Below we consider the most common mistakes made by authors at this stage.
- Use of an unofficial institution name. The official name of the university or organisation should be indicated in the affiliation in accordance with its founding documents or information on the official website.
- Errors in writing the institution’s name in English. Different transliteration or translation variants may lead bibliometric databases to treat one institution as several different organisations.
- Incomplete indication of the structural unit. If the journal requires the faculty, department, laboratory, or other unit to be specified, this information should not be omitted.
- Ignoring the requirements of a specific journal. Each publication may have its own rules for affiliation formatting, so before submitting a manuscript it is necessary to carefully review the author guidelines.
- Outdated workplace information. If the author has changed institutions, it is necessary to check which affiliation should be indicated in accordance with the journal’s policy and the place where the research was conducted.
- Missing or incorrect postal code or address. In cases where the journal requires these details, omitting them may result in the manuscript needing revision.
- Inconsistency between affiliation and the author’s profiles. It is advisable for institutional information to match the data in the researcher’s profiles in Scopus, Web of Science, and ORCID, as this facilitates correct indexing of scientific works.
As can be seen, affiliation has a significant impact on the reputation and ranking of a university. Its correct formatting is not a formality, but a necessity for successfully publishing an article and ensuring its correct indexing in databases.
In case you experience difficulties with publishing in Scopus or Web of Science, contact the Scientific Publications company. Our specialists with many years of experience will conduct an audit of your article, select an appropriate journal, help correctly format the affiliation, and provide support at all stages of the workflow. Would you like to learn more about our service? Then leave your contact details in the form below, and our manager will provide you with a free consultation. Together towards new scientific achievements!
