The impact of scientific research on society has many dimensions. These cannot be captured by a single measure. Moreover, research is a collective effort and depends on the collaboration of many actors. Therefore, measuring or monitoring the societal impact on the level of the actor (a university, department or individual researcher) is flawed.
Recently, a new way of looking at the societal impact was launched and published (Noyons, 2018, 2019) under the name of Area-based Connectedness (ABC) to society. The core idea of this approach is that actors should be assessed on societal impact through their contribution to societally connected research areas. To quantify the relation between societal issues and research, we should look at existing signals between these two: signals of connectedness. A research area is more connected to society than another if these signals are stronger or denser. Connectedness to society then describes the extent to which research has found its way into society or the extent to which research is mobilized as societally relevant.
The way research develops depends on the collective effort and collaboration of many actors. The impact research has on (or is connected to) society should therefore be measured at the level of this collective effort. In order to define this effort, we identify coherent research areas. Such an area is not necessarily represented by a community of people. After all, researchers may be involved in a variety of areas, for instance because of their position (e.g., a group leader or professor) or expertise. An area in this context would rather be represented by a set of publications on a specific topic.
