Altmetric - Detailed Review
Research Tools
Altmetric - Detailed Review Contents
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Altmetric - Product Overview
Introduction to Altmetric
Altmetric is a tool within the research tools category that focuses on measuring and monitoring the impact and reach of scholarly research through online interactions. Here’s a breakdown of its primary function, target audience, and key features:
Primary Function
Altmetric, short for “alternative metrics,” serves as a supplement to traditional bibliometric measures. It tracks the online engagement and impact of research articles, software packages, and other scholarly outputs across various platforms. This includes monitoring mentions, shares, likes, views, downloads, and other forms of online interaction to provide a holistic view of how research is being utilized and discussed beyond the academic sphere.
Target Audience
Altmetric is designed for a diverse range of users, including:
- Researchers: To track and demonstrate the reach and influence of their work.
- Institutions: To understand and interpret the attention surrounding their research and identify areas of strength or improvement.
- Publishers: To see how published research is being used and shared globally.
- Corporate R&D: To monitor the online impact of their research and development efforts.
- Medical Affairs: To track how research influences clinical practices and policy.
- Government & Nonprofits: To assess the societal impact of research on policy and public discourse.
Key Features
- Broad Data Collection: Altmetric gathers data from a wide range of sources, including social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), news websites, blogs, policy documents, clinical guidelines, and reference management tools like Mendeley and Zotero.
- Real-Time Feedback: Unlike traditional metrics that can take months or years to accumulate, Altmetric provides immediate feedback on how research is being received and utilized online. This allows researchers to adjust their communication strategies in real-time.
- Societal Impact: Altmetric helps researchers understand the broader societal impact of their work, including its influence on healthcare, public policy, education, and environmental practices. It captures how research is discussed and applied in real-world contexts.
- Engagement Metrics: It tracks various forms of engagement such as mentions, shares, likes, views, downloads, and bookmarks, providing insights into how research resonates with both academic and public audiences.
- Customizable Dashboards: Altmetric offers interactive dashboards that can be customized to provide the most relevant information to different teams and stakeholders, helping them to identify areas of strength and improvement.
By using Altmetric, researchers and institutions can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of their research, beyond traditional citation counts, and make informed decisions to maximize their reach and influence.
Altmetric - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Altmetric is crafted to be intuitive and user-friendly, particularly for those in the research community who need to track and analyze the online engagement of their work.Visualizations and Dashboards
Altmetric provides clear and visually appealing dashboards that make it easy to track and benchmark research projects. These dashboards are customizable, allowing users to focus on the data most relevant to their needs. The visualizations, such as the Altmetric Badges, offer a quick glance at the dissemination of research, compiling and consolidating online attention into an easily interpretable format.Customizable Dashboards
Users can tailor the dashboards to highlight specific data points that matter most to them.Data Accessibility
The platform allows users to export individual mentions in an easy-to-use CSV format, making the underlying data highly accessible. This feature enables users to analyze the data in detail, should they need to.Broad Sources of Attention
Altmetric gathers data from a wide range of sources, including social media, news outlets, policy documents, and institutional syllabi. This comprehensive approach gives users a more complete picture of how their research is being engaged with online.Ease of Use
The interface is designed to be easy to use, with an intuitive layout that helps users surface data quickly. The platform avoids metrics that are easily gamed, such as Facebook likes or YouTube views, and employs anti-gaming measures to ensure the data’s integrity.Customization and Support
Altmetric offers various tools and services that cater to different communities involved in research production. The Altmetric Explorer, for example, allows users to access and compare online attention to research across multiple platforms. Additionally, the Altmetric API enables more complex searches and custom visualizations, while the Altmetric Consultancy provides support from data analysts to create customized dashboards based on specific needs.User Experience
The overall user experience is enhanced by the platform’s ability to track online engagement in real-time, providing immediate insights into how research is making an impact. Users can quickly monitor, report, and showcase the attention surrounding their research, which is particularly useful for demonstrating the broader influence of their work beyond traditional citations.Conclusion
In summary, Altmetric’s user interface is designed to be user-friendly, with a focus on clear visualizations, accessible data, and a broad range of sources. This makes it easier for researchers and institutions to track and analyze the online engagement of their research, enhancing their ability to measure and showcase its impact. Altmetric - Key Features and Functionality
Altmetric Overview
Altmetric, a tool within the research tools category, offers several key features and functionalities that help track and analyze the online engagement of research outputs. Here’s a breakdown of these features and how they work:Tracking and Collating Attention
Altmetric tracks online mentions of research outputs, including journal articles, datasets, images, white papers, and more. To do this, it requires three elements:- Research Output: The specific piece of research, such as a journal article or dataset.
- Identifier: A unique identifier like DOI, PubMedID, arXiv ID, or others, which helps match the attention to the correct research output.
- Mentions in Tracked Sources: Altmetric monitors various online sources where research might be mentioned, such as social media, news outlets, blogs, and more.
Types of Identifiers
Altmetric recognizes a wide range of identifiers to ensure accurate tracking across different types of research outputs. These include:- DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers)
- PubMedIDs
- arXiv IDs
- ADS IDs
- SSRN IDs
- RePEc IDs
- Handle.net identifiers
- URNs (Uniform Resource Names)
- ISBNs (for books)
Disambiguation of Research Outputs
Altmetric’s system cross-checks different identifiers to match various versions of the same research output. For example, a journal article might have a DOI from the publisher and another identifier if it is hosted on PubMed or an institutional repository. This ensures that all attention data is aggregated correctly on the details page.Integration with Other Tools
Altmetric integrates with other research tools like Dimensions. This integration allows users to run search queries in Dimensions and then view the corresponding attention data in Altmetric Explorer. This feature enables detailed analysis of online attention for search queries, facilitating benchmarking and mapping the competitive landscape. Users can analyze attention data over time, drill down into individual mentions, and more.Altmetric Attention Score
The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the online attention a research output receives. This score is automatically calculated based on the volume and type of mentions the research receives. It provides a quick way to gauge the relative impact of a piece of research compared to others of the same age.Benefits and Applications
Altmetrics offer several benefits:- Capture Societal Impact: Altmetrics data can inform researchers about how their work is interacting with the public, policymakers, and other stakeholders, providing insights into societal impact.
- Complement Traditional Metrics: Altmetrics provide a broader range of data from various sources, offering a more nuanced view of research impact beyond traditional citation metrics.
- Speed and Discoverability: Altmetrics data accumulates quickly, which is particularly useful in fields where citations grow slowly or for new researchers.
AI Integration
While the specific details of AI integration are not extensively outlined, Altmetric’s ability to automatically collate and analyze large volumes of data from diverse sources suggests the use of AI-driven algorithms. These algorithms help in:- Automated Data Collection: AI likely plays a role in continuously monitoring and collecting data from various online sources.
- Data Analysis: AI is used to calculate the Altmetric Attention Score and to categorize and analyze the sentiment and types of mentions.
- Disambiguation: AI aids in cross-checking and matching different identifiers to ensure accurate attribution of mentions to the correct research outputs.
Altmetric - Performance and Accuracy
Performance
Altmetric performs well in tracking the online attention received by research outputs. Here are some strengths:Comprehensive Tracking
Altmetric tracks mentions of research across a wide range of sources, including social media, news outlets, blogs, Wikipedia, and more. This provides a broad view of how research is being engaged with online.Altmetric Attention Score
The platform uses a weighted count of mentions to calculate the Altmetric Attention Score, which helps in comparing the performance of an article against its peers. This score is contextualized by comparing it to other articles published in the same journal or subject area within a specific time frame.User-Friendly Interface
Altmetric Explorer offers a user-friendly interface with visualizations and filters that make it easy to interpret and analyze the data. This includes breakdowns by highlights, research outputs, timelines, demographics, and mentions.Accuracy
The accuracy of Altmetric is generally high due to several features:Unique Identifiers
Altmetric uses unique identifiers (such as DOIs and ISBNs) to precisely match online attention to the correct research items. This helps in ensuring that the metrics are accurately associated with the relevant research outputs.Cross-Checking
The platform cross-checks and matches multiple identifiers to collate them into a single record of attention for all versions of the research item, enhancing accuracy.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
Despite its strengths, there are some limitations and areas where Altmetric could improve:Manipulation Risk
Altmetrics, like other metrics, are open to manipulation. The increasing use of AI can exacerbate this issue, making it easier for individuals or organizations to artificially inflate their metrics. This could undermine the legitimacy of altmetrics.Lack of Standards
There is currently a lack of standardized practices for altmetrics, which can make it difficult to compare metrics across different platforms and research outputs.Interpretation Challenges
Altmetrics can be difficult to interpret, especially when comparing different types of research outputs or across different disciplines and geographic regions. Engagement norms vary significantly, and this needs to be considered when benchmarking.Noise and Misattribution
As AI-generated content increases, there is a growing risk of misattributed mentions and increased noise in the metrics. Ensuring that mentions are correctly associated with the scholarly documents becomes increasingly important.Engagement and Factual Accuracy
Altmetric is effective in measuring engagement through various online platforms. However, the factual accuracy of the metrics can be influenced by the aforementioned limitations, such as manipulation and misattribution. To maintain high engagement and factual accuracy, it is crucial to ensure that comparisons are made within similar contexts (e.g., comparing articles with articles, and not mixing different types of research outputs). Additionally, being aware of the potential for manipulation and taking steps to mitigate it is essential. In summary, Altmetric is a powerful tool for tracking research engagement, but it requires careful consideration of its limitations and the need for standardized practices to ensure accuracy and reliability. Altmetric - Pricing and Plans
Pricing
Altmetric’s pricing is not publicly disclosed in detail, but it is known to start at a significant cost. According to recent analyses, the pricing begins in the range of $1,000 or more per year.Plans and Tiers
While the exact tiers are not explicitly outlined, here are some general features and options available:Paid Plans
- These plans are geared towards institutions and organizations that need comprehensive analytics.
- Features include:
- Centralized dashboard to track online attention to published research.
- Altmetric Donut visualization to show the reach of a piece by attention source.
- Altmetric Attention Score to quantify the performance of a piece.
- Comparison insights to benchmark content against others.
- Search, summary, and visualization tools.
- Audience breakdown and trend identification.
Free Options
Altmetric offers several free tools and services, particularly beneficial for individual researchers and academic institutions:Altmetric Bookmarklet
- A free bookmarklet for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that allows researchers to view online shares and mentions of an article with a single click.
Institutional Repository Badges
- Free embeddable badges for academic institutions to display on their faculty’s published content. These badges provide a link to the full details page for each research output.
Badges for Individual Researchers
- Researchers can embed free badges on their personal websites or online CVs to showcase the reach of their work.
Explorer for Academic Librarians
- Free individual access to a basic version of the Altmetric Explorer for academic librarians, limited to two accounts per university. This version allows browsing and filtering of research outputs but does not include institutional views or reporting.
API for Research
- Free access to the Altmetric Details Page API for non-commercial, academic research purposes. This includes programmatic queries to retrieve counts and metadata for research outputs.
Researcher Data Access Program
- University-affiliated scientometrics researchers can apply for free access to Altmetric data for non-commercial research projects aiming for published results. This access is provided for one year and includes various data formats such as the Altmetric Explorer and Details Page API.
Altmetric - Integration and Compatibility
Integration and Compatibility Features of Altmetric
Altmetric, a tool for tracking online attention to research, offers several integration and compatibility features that make it versatile and accessible across various platforms and devices.Integration with Google Big Query (GBQ)
Altmetric on GBQ allows users to integrate Altmetric data with their internal and external datasets. This integration enables the running of complex, enriched queries using Google Big Query, combining Altmetric data with proprietary and public data to produce more meaningful analyses. This setup is particularly useful for organizations needing to analyze large volumes of data quickly and flexibly.API and Custom Integrations
Altmetric provides an API that allows organizations to leverage Altmetric data in a way that suits their specific needs. This API enables users to conduct complex searches, ask granular questions, build custom visualizations, and merge Altmetric data with their own datasets. This flexibility ensures that Altmetric data can be integrated seamlessly with existing Business Intelligence and data visualization tools.Compatibility with Existing Systems
Altmetric Explorer is interoperable with various systems via its API, supporting popular Single Sign-On (SSO) methods. This ensures ease of access for staff and students, allowing them to bring data directly from Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) and repositories into the Altmetric Explorer. This interoperability makes it easy to incorporate Altmetric data into existing workflows and reporting systems.User-Friendly Interface and Visualizations
The Altmetric Explorer features a user-friendly interface that makes millions of data outputs accessible and easy to understand. It includes visualizations, breakdowns, and filters that help users interpret and pinpoint specific data points. This interface is designed to be intuitive, allowing users to quickly visualize and report on the online attention surrounding their research.Cross-Platform Accessibility
While specific details on device compatibility are not provided, the web-based nature of Altmetric tools suggests that they can be accessed from any device with a web browser. This includes desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, ensuring that users can monitor and analyze research impact from anywhere.Additional Tools and Services
Altmetric also offers other tools like Altmetric Badges, which can be embedded in personal websites to showcase research engagement. These badges can be customized by size and details included, making them compatible with various web platforms. Additionally, services like Altmetric Consultancy provide customized solutions, helping users integrate Altmetric data into their specific workflows.Conclusion
In summary, Altmetric integrates well with various tools and systems, including Google Big Query, APIs, and existing Business Intelligence tools. Its compatibility across different platforms ensures that users can access and analyze research impact data efficiently and effectively. Altmetric - Customer Support and Resources
Altmetric Support Options
Altmetric offers a range of customer support options and additional resources to help users effectively track and analyze the online attention to their research.Altmetric Explorer and Other Tools
Altmetric provides several tools that facilitate the tracking of online engagement. The Altmetric Explorer, for instance, allows users to access and compare online attention to research across various platforms, including social media, mainstream media, policy, patents, and more. This tool helps in monitoring, reporting, and showcasing the attention surrounding the research.Altmetric Badges
Altmetric Badges offer a quick and visual way to understand the dissemination of research. These badges compile and consolidate online attention data, making it easy to visualize and interpret the impact of the research at a glance. Each badge includes a color-coded system that indicates where the research was mentioned, such as news outlets, social media, and blogs.Altmetric API
For more advanced users, the Altmetric API allows for conducting complex searches, asking granular questions, and building custom visualizations. Users can also merge their own data with Altmetric data to create more comprehensive analyses.Altmetric Consultancy
Altmetric’s consultancy services provide customized support through a team of data analysts. These analysts can create bespoke solutions based on the specific needs of the user. They help in interrogating the data, creating interactive dashboards, and providing shareable reports that enhance internal communications and strategic decision-making. The consultancy services include scientific share of voice and sentiment analysis, identifying key opinion leaders, market readiness reports, and benchmark reports.Integration with Other Platforms
Altmetric data is also integrated into other platforms, such as Meta, an AI-enabled discovery tool for biomedical researchers. This integration allows users to gain insights into how research is being shared and discussed online, including mentions in mainstream media and social networks.Customer Feedback and Support
Altmetric emphasizes a collaborative approach with their customers. Their team is available to answer questions, respond to feedback, and ensure that all objectives and priorities are taken into account. This personal touch helps in transforming research questions into actionable insights. By leveraging these resources, users can gain a comprehensive view of how their research is impacting both academic and broader societal communities. Altmetric - Pros and Cons
When considering the use of Altmetric tools in the research sector, there are several key advantages and disadvantages to be aware of.
Advantages
- Real-Time Engagement Metrics: Altmetrics provide a quick and effective way to track how research is being shared, mentioned, reviewed, and read online. This allows researchers to see the immediate impact and engagement with their work through various social media platforms, mainstream media, and other online channels.
- Broad Coverage: Altmetrics capture a wide range of interactions, including comments, posts, tweets, and other forms of online engagement. This helps in visualizing the extent to which research is being discussed and shared by different audiences.
- Facilitating Connections: The data gathered by altmetrics can help researchers connect with potential collaborators globally, both within academia and beyond. This can lead to new partnerships and opportunities for further research.
- Complementary to Traditional Metrics: Altmetrics can supplement traditional citation-based metrics by providing a more comprehensive picture of a research’s impact. They show how research is influencing and being used by the target audience or stakeholders in real-time.
Disadvantages
- Vulnerability to Gaming and Bias: Altmetric data can be subject to manipulation and artificial bias. Individuals may attempt to inflate the metrics by artificially increasing the number of times their research content is accessed or shared.
- Inconsistent Use Across Disciplines: The use of altmetrics varies significantly across different academic disciplines, with a stronger emphasis currently in the sciences and medicine. This inconsistency makes interdisciplinary comparisons challenging.
- Lack of Consensus: There is no clear consensus on using altmetrics for faculty tenure applications, grant applications, or overall scholarly research impact. More research is needed to establish their validity in these contexts.
- Predictive Limitations: Currently, there is no strong evidence that altmetrics can predict the long-term impact of research. Further studies are required to determine their predictive value.
Conclusion
By considering these pros and cons, researchers can make informed decisions about how to use altmetrics effectively in their work.
Altmetric - Comparison with Competitors
Altmetric
Altmetric is a tool that tracks the online engagement and impact of research by monitoring mentions, shares, and discussions across various online platforms. Here are its unique features:Unique Features
Alternatives and Comparisons
Elicit
Elicit is another AI-driven research tool, but it serves a different primary purpose. While Altmetric focuses on tracking the online impact of research, Elicit helps researchers optimize their database searches by suggesting related questions, subject headings, and keywords. Here’s how it differs:Consensus
Consensus is an AI-powered academic search engine that streamlines the literature review process. Here’s how it compares to Altmetric:Connected Papers
Connected Papers is a tool that helps researchers find related articles and generate visual literature maps. Here’s how it differs from Altmetric:Summary
Altmetric is unique in its focus on tracking the online impact and engagement of research. If you need to monitor how your research is being discussed and shared online, Altmetric is a strong choice. However, if you are looking for tools to assist in the literature review process, optimize database searches, or visualize academic networks, alternatives like Elicit, Consensus, and Connected Papers might be more suitable. Each tool serves distinct purposes within the research lifecycle, making them complementary rather than direct competitors. Altmetric - Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about Altmetric, along with detailed responses to each:
What is Altmetric and how does it work?
Altmetric is a tool that tracks and collates online attention surrounding published research. It monitors various sources such as news articles, social media posts, blogs, policy documents, and more to capture the broader impact of scholarly work. To track this attention, Altmetric needs three key elements: the research output (e.g., journal article, dataset), a unique identifier (e.g., DOI, PubMedID), and mentions in sources that Altmetric tracks.What types of identifiers does Altmetric track?
Altmetric tracks a variety of unique identifiers to match mentions to the correct research outputs. These include DOIs, PubMedIDs, arXiv IDs, ADS IDs, SSRN IDs, RePEc IDs, Handle.net identifiers, URNs, and ISBNs. These identifiers help in recognizing different versions of the same research output and aggregating the attention data accordingly.How does Altmetric handle different versions of the same research output?
Altmetric’s system cross-checks different identifiers to match them together, ensuring that all versions of a research item are linked and the attention data is collated correctly. For example, a journal article might have a DOI from the publisher and another identifier if it is hosted on an institutional repository or PubMed.What sources does Altmetric track for mentions of research?
Altmetric tracks mentions from a wide range of sources, including news articles, public media mentions, policy documents, government reports, social media posts, blogs, online communities, and Wikipedia entries. This comprehensive approach provides a broad picture of how research is being discussed and utilized beyond the academic sphere.What is the Altmetric Attention Score and how is it calculated?
The Altmetric Attention Score is a measure of the online attention a research output has received. It is calculated based on the volume and sources of mentions, with different sources weighted differently (e.g., a news outlet mention is weighted more than a tweet). The score is displayed in the form of an “Altmetric donut,” which visually represents the sources of the mentions.How can I access and use Altmetric Explorer?
Altmetric Explorer is a platform that provides detailed metrics on the online attention surrounding research. It is available on a site license basis, allowing all members of an organization to access it. Users can create accounts to set up reporting and alerts. Access can be obtained through institutional libraries or by contacting Altmetric directly.Can I filter and download data from Altmetric Explorer?
Yes, Altmetric Explorer allows you to refine your search by source, date, mention type, and other parameters. You can also export data for further analysis and reporting. Additionally, you can set up customizable alerts to notify you when your research is mentioned in new sources.Do I need to pay for access to Altmetric data?
Access to Altmetric data typically requires a subscription or site license, especially for comprehensive tools like Altmetric Explorer. However, some institutions may provide access through their library services. It is best to check with your institution or contact Altmetric directly for pricing and implementation details.How real-time is the data provided by Altmetric?
Altmetric provides real-time tracking of online mentions. The data is updated continuously as new mentions are detected, allowing users to monitor the impact of their research as it happens.How can I acknowledge Altmetric when using their data?
When using Altmetric data, it is important to acknowledge the source. You should describe Altmetric’s role in tracking and providing the data on online attention and engagement. Specific guidelines on how to acknowledge Altmetric can be found in their support FAQs.Can I search Altmetric for specific keywords or topics?
While Altmetric primarily tracks mentions of specific research outputs, it does not support searching for news articles or other content based on keywords or topics that are not directly linked to a tracked research output. However, you can analyze the broader impact of research by looking at the sources and types of mentions it receives. Altmetric - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Altmetric
Altmetric is a powerful tool in the research tools AI-driven product category, offering a comprehensive and user-friendly platform to track the online attention and impact of published research. Here’s a detailed assessment of its benefits and who would most benefit from using it.
Key Benefits
- Comprehensive Tracking: Altmetric collects and collates discussions from various online sources, including policy documents, mainstream news outlets, social media, blogs, Wikipedia, and online reference managers. This provides a holistic view of the influence of research beyond traditional citation analysis.
- Accurate and Real-Time Data: The platform uses unique identifiers to precisely match online attention to research, ensuring accurate results. It also provides real-time feedback, allowing users to monitor the impact of their research as soon as it is published.
- User-Friendly Interface: Altmetric features an intuitive interface with visualizations and filters that make it easy to interpret and analyze the data. Users can view data in various formats such as Highlights, Research Outputs, Timeline, Demographics, Mentions, and Journals.
- Shareable Reports and Interoperability: The tool allows users to create and export shareable reports, which can be useful for grant applications or internal audits. It is also interoperable with other systems via API, supporting popular Single Sign-On (SSO) methods for ease of access.
Who Would Benefit Most
- Researchers and Academics: Altmetric is invaluable for researchers who need to demonstrate the impact of their work quickly, even for recently published research. It provides early evidence of potential future impact and helps in identifying key opinion leaders and digital opinion leaders in their field.
- Institutional and Library Support Staff: These individuals can use Altmetric to identify areas where research is receiving significant attention, highlighting opportunities for improvement and support. It helps in monitoring the performance of different departments and subjects within an institution.
- Publishers and Editorial Teams: Publishers can use Altmetric to identify their most popular content, monitor how their publications are being received, and adjust their strategies accordingly. This helps in evaluating journal performance and demonstrating the reach and influence of publications to stakeholders.
- Pharmaceutical and Medical Affairs Teams: Altmetric is particularly useful for pharmaceutical companies to understand the competition, identify key opinion leaders, and measure the share of voice in their therapeutic area. It helps in refining publication planning strategies and managing reputation.
Overall Recommendation
Altmetric is a highly recommended tool for anyone looking to measure and maximize the impact of their research. Its ability to track online attention in real-time, provide accurate and comprehensive data, and offer a user-friendly interface makes it an essential resource. Whether you are a researcher, academic institution, publisher, or pharmaceutical company, Altmetric can help you make informed decisions, strengthen grant applications, and demonstrate the influence of your work effectively. Its interoperability and shareable reports features add to its utility, making it a valuable addition to any research or publication strategy.