Pioneering research impact reporting platform joins leading academic information system to enable scholars, universities, research centers, and research funders to demonstrate the reach and global impact of research
WASHINGTON, D.C. – AUGUST 12, 2019 – Interfolio, Washington D.C.-based developer of the popular faculty information system used by hundreds of higher education institutions worldwide, today announced the acquisition of Research Fish, a Cambridge, UK-based firm that enables academics, funders, research centers, and higher education institutions to track and demonstrate the impact and value of research to their governing bodies and stakeholders, as well as to those ultimately benefiting from the difference that the research makes.
The combination of the two researcher-centric technologies will enable institutions to explain and share the impact of academic research with a diverse cross section of stakeholders, including policymakers, private foundations, university boards, and grantmakers. Both companies are leaders in academic technology, who have supported the research, scholarship, and teaching impact of nearly one million individual scholars worldwide.
“Institutional academic research has profound benefits not just to students and institutions, but to the communities their institutions serve—locally, and around the world. While the benefits of scholarship are well understood within the academy, demonstrating the often far-reaching impact of faculty can present a complex, multifaceted challenge,” said Andrew Rosen, CEO of Interfolio. “This is about providing scholars and institutions with tools that enable them to seamlessly capture outcomes data that matters to institutional leaders and public and private donors.”
Founded in 2012, Research Fish integrates data from more than 17,000 unique sources to provide individual researchers, institutions, and grantmakers with a holistic view of research outputs and activity. Interfolio’s Faculty Information System enables institutions of higher education to track and curate faculty research, teaching, and service activities. More than 700,000 scholars worldwide already use Interfolio’s Dossier to track and manage academic materials. More than 100,000 researchers have found jobs, and 80,000 have completed a review or gained a promotion using Interfolio in the last 20 years.
“In an era of scarce public resources and competing research priorities, understanding research and being able to demonstrate the impact that arises from it is a priority for funders, charities, researchers, and institutional leaders alike,” said Sean Newell, CEO of Research Fish. “We believe joining Interfolio will help us deliver more robust services to our existing client base, as well as new global products that combine the best of both company’s offerings. Together we share a vision to cultivate a global standard for excellence in higher education information technology and research impact assessment, which makes us incredibly excited about the potential of this partnership.”
The entire Research Fish team—headquartered in Cambridge, England—will join Interfolio, and all current Research Fish clients will continue to receive the same level of service and support, while benefiting from new capabilities from Interfolio’s suite of academic and scholarly technology systems.
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About Interfolio:
Founded in 1999, Interfolio is an education technology company based in Washington, DC, and offers the first holistic faculty information system to support the full lifecycle of faculty work—encompassing job seeking, professional accomplishment (in teaching, research, and service), evaluation success (in reviews, tenure, promotion, sabbatical), and beyond. All Interfolio software applications focus on faculty, with workflow tools to support shared governance processes; activity reporting solutions that support accreditation, decision making, and data analytics; and consumer offerings that provide portable, private dossier collection and curation for sharing with academics and others. Working with over 250 clients, Interfolio leads with vision and innovation, always focused on advancing faculty and their institutions. For more information about Interfolio, please contact team@interfolio.com or visit www.interfolio.com
About Research Fish:
Based in Cambridge in the UK and founded in 2012, Research Fish is a technology company that helps research funders and universities track and measure research impact (publications, citations, patents, media mentions, jobs created, policies influenced, products launched, communities impacted, etc.). Research Fish makes it easy for people to gather, present, explain, and evaluate the academic, societal, and economic impact of research funded around the world. For more information, please visit www.researchfish.net.