Library Out Loud

Using Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) keywords in your publications can increase your visibility and contribute to the university’s ranking. 

Why SDG keywords matter 

• Visibility: Keywords are crucial when anyone is searching for research in databases and search engines. SDG keywords can help other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, funders, potential collaborators and a global audience to discover your research. This may also increase the citation rate, particularly if used in conjunction with open access. 

• Ranking: Times Higher Education (THE) ranks universities based on their contributions to SDGs, released as the University Impact Rankings. Using SDG keywords highlights research that can contribute to the rankings data.  

• Massey’s commitment: Massey University is committed to the achievement of the goals, integrating them into research, teaching, learning and sustainability strategies. SDG keywords can showcase our progress with this. See Massey University mapping to SDGs on Scopus (requires staff login). 

How to use SDG keywords 

• Choose wisely: Select keywords that align your research themes with the relevant SDGs.  

• Be strategic: Use the keywords in your titles, abstracts, author keywords, metadata and content to highlight your research’s connection to SDGs. 

• Find suggested keywords: Look at the SDGs themselves for ideas. Some publishers may have suggested SDG keyword lists. Three comprehensive sources of SDG keywords are: 
  • SDGs in SciVal (requires staff login). Provides word clouds and further analysis. 
  • Elsevier 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Mapping. Data used for THE ranking. 
  • The University of Auckland SDG Keywords Mapping. Builds on the UN and THE processes. 

SDG keywords are powerful tools that can help you make a difference and support the university’s goals. 

If you have any questions, please contact your subject librarian.