Altmetrics help capture engagement with your research beyond journal citations, and they can be used for all kinds of research outputs, including articles, data, software, presentations, posters, slides, and videos. Altmetrics can include:
- Social media mentions
- Mentions in blog posts, along with comments
- Mentions in news outlets
- Views and downloads from publisher websites or repositories
- Bookmarks in reference managers
- Citations on Wikipedia
- Citations in policy documents and patents.
Appropriate Uses
- Tracking engagement with your work in real time
- Tracking early engagement with articles before they begin to receive traditional citations
- Complementing traditional citation metrics to tell a more complete story of your impact
- Understanding your work's reach outside of academia
Limitations
- Counting instances of mentions to your work does not in itself demonstrate impact. However, altmetrics provide you with leads to investigate the context of mentions.
- Just like citations, mentions to your work may be positive or negative, so it is important to dig into the details: who is discussing your work, and what are they saying?
- Interest in your research does not necessarily translate to impact. Articles that have catchy titles or that deal with controversial or hot topics might naturally receive more online attention.
How to Use Altmetrics in Your Assessment
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