LibGuides: Research Impact: Altmetrics

What are Altmetrics?

Altmetrics, or alternative metrics, are new measures considering online reader behavior, network interactions with content, and social media. Altmetrics are meant to complement, not completely replace, traditional impact measures and are measures of online attention and engagement.

Examples of Altmetrics include:

mentions on Facebook, Twitter, or online news sites
exports to citation management systems like Mendeley or Zotero
downloads (of full-text articles, software, etc.)
comments in blogs or other online forums

Strengths of Altmetrics

Currency
- Altmetrics can be gathered and calculated immediately, compared with traditional citations that accumulate slowly.
Diversity
- Altmetrics capture data from a variety of sources, not just the traditional academic publishing setting, and thus may reflect the broader impact of research beyond the scholarly community.

Where Can I Find Altmetrics?

ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window

Locate PlumX in ScienceDirect

Search within ScienceDirect for an article.
Click on the article you are interested in.
Look on the right-hand side for a box that says "Article Metrics."

Plumx Screenshot of Altmetrics

This box will show you the number of citations, readers, and mentions in social media. You can click "view details" to see additional details (i.e., the actual tweet that mentioned the article).

Scopus This link opens in a new window

Locate PlumX in Scopus

Search with Scopus for an Article
Click on the article you are interested in.
Look for the Metrics section on the article page.

Scopus AltMetrics

EBSCO Databases This link opens in a new window

Locate PlumX in Ebsco

Search within Ebsco for an article.
Click on an article you are interested in.
Look on the left-hand side for the PlumX Metrics logo.

Ebscohost screenshot of Altmetrics

You can install a free Chrome, Firefox, and Safari bookmarklet to view individual article metrics when reading journal articles online.

Bookmarklet screenshot

You can create your own embeddable badge to place on your website. Visit altemetric.com and it will walk you through the steps to create your own custom badge.

test

You can use Impactstory to track how your research is being discussed online, with a focus on Twitter, blogs, and news outlets. It's free to register and use. See an example profile below.

impactstory screenshot