Table 4 Selected indicators

Number of clinical trial

Number of clinical trials active in a cancer centre in a year

Process

Those indicators measures how research and care are integrated into a hospital

Percentage of patients included in a clinical trial

Ratio of the number of patients included in a clinical trial to the total number of patients

Process

Number of peer-reviewed publications

Number of peer-reviewed publications authored by the institution

Output

Peer-reviewed publications play a fundamental role in the circulation and exploitation of knowledge

Number of citations

Number of citations of the published articles of an institution received within a time span

Output

It measures how an article has influenced other scientists and its impact on the advancement of knowledge

Impact factor

The ratio of the number of citations to the number of citable items of a journal

Output

This indicator measures the visibility of the production of a research institute

Institutional h-index

Indicator that combines the number of articles produced by research units and their number of citations

Output

As this indicator combines metrics of quantity and visibility, it measures the possible influence of the entire production of a research institute

Number of public-private partnerships

Number of partnerships between an academic research centre and the industry

Process

Public-private partnerships facilitate the translation of research finding into clinical applications

Mean number of citations per article

A ratio of the number of citations received by an institution to their number of publications

Output

This indicator allows a comparison of the potential influence of an institution adjusted for their age

Number of highly cited publications

Number of published articles with a citation count above a certain threshold

Output

This indicator potentially measures the number of articles that had a high impact in the research community

Number of publications in top-ranked journals

Number of publications in journals with the highest impact factor in the discipline

Output

This indicator allows adjustment for differences in citation practices between disciplines

z-index

An indicator combining the number of publications of an institution and the impact factor of those publications

Output

As this indicator combines metrics of quantity and visibility, it measures the possible influence of the entire production of a research institute

Number of publications co-authored with another organisation

Number of publications co-authored by researchers affiliated to another research institution

Output

Cooperation benefits research by bringing new ideas and methods and helping to reach comprehensive expertise. In cancer research, collaboration between institutions is particularly crucial for research on rare cancers where it can be challenging to include enough patients. Those indicators measure the proportion of research performed during a collaboration

Number of publications with international collaboration

Number of publications co-authored by researchers affiliated to a research institution in another country

Output

Number of biomarkers identified

Number of valid biomarkers identified by the research institution and published in a peer-review journal.

Outcome

Biomarkers play a fundamental role in developing personalised treatments and possibly improving patient outcomes

Generation of clinical guidelines

Number of clinical guidelines authored by the institution

Outcome

Clinical guidelines facilitate the adoption of research findings into practices and aim to improve care quality Those indicators measure the possible influence of research on the improvement of clinical practices

Citation of research in clinical guidelines

Number of articles cited in clinical guidelines

Outcome

Citation of research in public health guidelines

Number of articles cited in public health guidelines

Outcome

This indicator measures the possible influence of research findings on public policies (e.g. cancer screening)