Altmetrics (Alternative metrics) are metrics and qualitative data that are complementary to traditional, citation-based metrics. They can include (but are not limited to) peer reviews on Faculty of 1000, citations on Wikipedia and in public policy documents, discussions on research blogs, mainstream media coverage, bookmarks on reference managers like Mendeley, and mentions on social networks such as Twitter. More about altmetrics.
"Altmetrics expand our view of what impact looks like, but also of what’s making the impact. This matters because expressions of scholarship are becoming more diverse." from altmetrics: a manifesto
What is Altmetric Explorer for Institutions?
Altmetric Explorer for Institutions is an intuitive platform that enables one to monitor the global online attention surrounding academic research. To complement traditional bibliometrics (citation counts, journal prestige (impact factor), and author H-index), the Altmetric Explorer offers a near real-time picture of the attention that research is gaining online. The Explorer pulls in several sources, including (but not limited to) policy and patent citations and news & social media mentions. For each paper listed, the user can drill down to the composition of the Altmetric.com score, and see the activity for the individual paper. See Getting Started Altmetric Explorer for Institutions: Slides & Videos for more information.
How do I log in to Altmetric Explorer for Institutions?
York University community members, including students, staff and faculty can register for a free account using their York University email address and access Altmetric Explorer from this login page.
How can researchers use the Altmetric Explorer?
Altmetric Explorer aggregates mentions of research outputs in news and social media, including publications cited in policy documents and patent applications. In this way, altmetrics can help describe the reach of academic work in ways that traditional bibliometrics cannot capture. The tool can also help researchers understand how academic work is used not only within the academic community but also amongst practitioners, policymakers, and the general public through the tracking of sources such as Wikipedia citations, blog posts, and Twitter. Finally, the Altmetric Explorer platform can help support grant application and evaluation efforts by tracking the influence of research outputs in real time and allowing users to create customized charts on research outcomes and trends.
How can students use Altmetric Explorer?
Student researchers may wish to use Altmetric Explorer as part of a literature review or research piece, or to find relevant news & social media coverage of a particular topic. Altmetric Explorer can also be used to locate policy documents and patents to better understand the global economic impacts of published research.
How do I see if my research outputs have gained attention using Altmetric Explorer?
You can use this canned search query to see all York research outputs in Altmetric Explorer. To modify the query, click on EDIT SEARCH (besides the text: Exploring data for all research outputs affiliated with York University). Enter your last name in the KEYWORDS search box and run the search. If your research outputs have garnered attention in the different sources tracked by Altmetric, you will see a list with an Attention Score besides each of your research works. More on How-to: Look up a specific person’s publications or research outputs?
How I can ensure that my outputs are tracked and what can I do about missed mentions?
Always include a direct link to the outputs that you reference in social media or blog posts. You can include a link to the journal in a variety of different formats, which include but are not limited to:
- A link to the DOI URL. e.g. https://doi.org/10.7326/L21-0244
- A link to the journal article on its publisher website. e.g. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-158-11-201306040-00002
- A link to the PubMed version of the article. e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23732711
- A link to the article on arXiv. e.g. https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.10102
- A link to datasets or objects hosted on YorkSpace (using the URI, e.g. http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38129) or Scholars Portal Dataverse (using the Dataset Persistent ID, e.g. 10.5683/SP2/LIKL7J)
Read more about how Altmetric collects mentions to research outputs.
Missed mentions: Altmetric tries to capture mentions of research outputs across their tracked attention sources that match their tracking requirements. There could be rare instances when the outputs that should have been automatically picked up by the Altmetric system are missed. There could be a few reasons why mentions of research outputs are not always automatically picked up by Altmetric. For more information about this and what can be done to rectify this situation, please read the Altmetric post on missed mentions.
Which are the different sources of attention that are captured by Altmetric?
Altmetric tracks a unique range of online sources to capture the conversations relating to research outputs. Some of them include public policy documents, mainstream media, blogs, citations from the Dimensions database, Wikipedia, Open Syllabus Project, Twitter and Facebook (curated) among others. Read more about Altmetric's sources of attention.
How can I attract more attention to my work?
Altmetric tracks indicators of attention to your work from thousands of online sources, including mainstream news outlets, policy documents and social media. The many ways one can attract attention to their work include: writing a lay summary of your research and promoting it in relevant discussion lists, sharing links to your work via twitter & other social media outlets, depositing your work in YorkSpace, and working with YFile to announce the publication of your research. You can get more ideas on promoting your research from this Altmetric primer on tips & tricks for promoting your research online.
How is the Altmetric Attention Score calculated?
The company Altmetric assigns scores to research outputs, depending on the number and quality of mentions it finds for that output. The score is displayed as a donut, with the different colours representing different sources of mentions. It is important to note that the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) is not enough to understand the underlying data it aims to summarize. For example, reading through the actual mentions of a research output can help one understand the types of attention it has received or if the paper has gained traction in particular countries. More details about the Altmetric Attention Score including how it is calculated can be read from this FAQ page on the Altmetric Attention Score. Read more about Putting the Altmetric Attention Score in Context.
Do other companies provide Altmetric data?
Altmetric data is provided by different companies including Altmetric.com, PlumX (PlumAnalytics), and Impactstory. At York University, you can use Altmetric.com (via Altmetric Explorer). PlumX metrics are also available through the Scopus database. In cases where your article has accumulated mentions via Altmetric & PlumX, then both these badges would be displayed besides any record created for the article in YorkSpace. We strongly encourage you to deposit your article in YorkSpace for this reason.
What if I have more questions?
Altmetric maintains a vast bank of FAQ entries that you can use to seek answers about the Explorer and how it works. In addition, you can refer to the Tips & Tricks website from Altmetric to access relevant webinars, guides & videos that can help you get started with altmetrics. Researchers and staff needing additional support with Altmetric Explorer for Institutions can contact the libraries metrics team to book a consultation.