Analysis tools offer more extensive and advanced methods for reviewing publication and citation-based metrics than citation databases. They allow for review of research outputs from different perspectives and for different needs. Analysis tools make it possible to compare and characterise research and analyse research collaboration at the user’s desired level, such as at the level of an individual researcher, a field of science, a research unit or a country. The two best known analysis tools on the market are InCites Benchmarking & Analytics based on Web of Science publication data from Clarivate Analytics and SciVal based on Elsevier’s Scopus data.
Naturally, other citation data sources with their own separate analysis tools are also available in addition to the analysis tools linked to these large and well-known citation databases. In recent years, the Dimensions database by Digital Science Ltd. has emerged as the most noteworthy of these smaller operators, and their Dimensions Analytics tool is partly free to use. The citation data of Google Scholar, which is widely used especially by researchers, can also be analysed in more detail with the free Publish or Perish programme.