Presentation given to departmental liaison librarians at Florida State University.

1. altmetrics
Micah Vandegrift + Scholarly Communication Librarian
mvandegrift@fsu.edu

2. Citations vs. Impact
Σ Impact > Σ Citations
The sum of “impact” is greater than the sum of citations.

3. Bibliometrics
techniques for measuring scholarship by citation
Citation analysis – determining scholarly value based on number of citations
Applies to journals (impact factor)
individuals (h-index)
and articles (citation impact).

4. Citations vs. Impact
Impact Factor
Reuters Journal Citation Report (JCR)
− the average number of times articles from
✕ the journal published in the past two years
have been cited in the JCR year.
calculated by dividing the number of citations in
÷ the JCR year by the total number of articles
published in the two previous years.
Ex. $1980.00
Journal of Human Evolution (Academic Press/Elsevier Science)
Impact factor = 3.638

5. Citations vs. Impact
H-index
aka “Hirsch Number”
Attempts to measure both the
+ productivity and the impact of the
published work of a scholar.
Compensating for disadvantages in other citation
− analyses. Shows quantity and quality of scholarly
output relative to the scholars own work.
Ex. h-index tools
Dean Falk, Anthropology – Research area(s): Paleoneurology
Web of Science
h-index = 28
Google Scholar
h-index = 30
Scopus
h-index = 12

6. Citations vs. Impact
Citation Impact
The number of times an article is cited.
[Related, but different from] Article Level Metrics (ALM)
Ex. Tools for calculating Citation Impact
A Genetically Encoded Tag for Correlated Light…
Multiple authors + Ericka Ramko, Michael Davidson (FSU MagLab)
PLoS Biol 9(4): e1001041, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001041
Web of Science
Scholarometer
Google Scholar
CiteSeer
Microsoft Academic Search

7. Citations vs.altmetrics
bibliometrics vs.
Impact
In an evolving, digitally connected research environment
citations ≠impact
The sum of citations is not necessarily the entirety of impact.
Spotting emerging
Heart of scholarly “… there are
research fronts will
communication is undoubtedly highly
require tracking
“visits, personal useful journals that are
“formal and informal
contacts, and letters.” not cited frequently.”
communication.”
- Bernal, 1944 - Garfield, 1972
- Kuhn, 1977

8. Nature Materials 12, 89 (2013) doi:10.1038/nmat3566
Published online 23 January 2013
“Impact factors should have no place in grant-giving, tenure
or appointment committees.”

9. Bibliometrics measures citation
audience
Scholarly Public
Recommended
engagement type
Cited Traditional Citation
Discussed
Saved
Scholarly

10. altmetrics measures impact
audience
Scholarly Public
Recommended F1000, listservs Popular press
engagement type
Cited Traditional Citation Wikipedia
Discussed Scholarly Blogs Blogs, Twitter
Mendeley,
Saved Delicious
CiteULike
Scholarly PDF views HTML views

11. Altmetrics
techniques for measuring scholarship by impact
Definition: “altmetrics is the creation and study of new metrics based on the
social web for analyzing, and informing scholarship.”
Impact analysis – determining scholarly value based on engagement or
impressions
altmetrics proposes that citations are not the only, or even the best, technique
for measuring impact, relative to the new ways scholarly works move, grow and
are shared.

12. “These new forms reflect and transmit
scholarly impact: that dog-eared (but
uncited) article that used to live on a
shelf now lives in Mendeley, CiteULike,
or Zotero–where we can see and count
it. That hallway conversation about a
recent finding has moved to blogs and
social networks–now, we can listen in.
The local genomics dataset has moved
to an online repository–now, we can
track it. This diverse group of activities
forms a composite trace of impact far
richer than any available before. We
call the elements of this trace
altmetrics.”
Image from ‘Altmetrics: An App Review’ – Stacy Konkiel
altmetrics: A Manifesto
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/14714

13. Why?
Today’s journals are the best scholarly communication system possible
utilizing 17th century technology.
Citation metrics are slow, neglect impact outside of academia, and neglect
influential but uncited work.
Journal Impact Factors are easily manipulatable, a trade secret and
controlled by commercial interests.
Research outputs are no longer just articles.
data
grey literature
reports
software
web projects

14. How?

15. Citations vs. Impact
A Genetically Encoded Tag for Correlated Light…
Multiple authors + Ericka Ramko, Michael Davidson (FSU MagLab)
PLoS Biol 9(4): e1001041, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001041
Impact Factor = 11.452

16. Citations vs. Impact
A Genetically Encoded Tag for Correlated Light…
Multiple authors + Ericka Ramko, Michael Davidson (FSU MagLab)
PLoS Biol 9(4): e1001041, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001041
Citations = 45

17. Citations vs. Impact
A Genetically Encoded Tag for Correlated Light…
Multiple authors + Ericka Ramko, Michael Davidson (FSU MagLab)
PLoS Biol 9(4): e1001041, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001041
Article Level Metrics (ALM)

18. Citations vs. Impact

19. Citations vs. Impact

20. Citations vs. Impact
Dean Falk, Frederick E. Lepore, and Adrianne Noe
The cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein: a description and preliminary analysis of unpublished
photographs. First published online November 16, 2012
doi:10.1093/brain/aws295
Scholarometer – 0 Citations
Google Scholar – 0 Citations
CiteSeer – 0 Citations
Microsoft Academic Search – 0 Citations
Web of Science – 0 Citations
Citations = Ø

21. Citations vs. Impact
Dean Falk, Frederick E. Lepore, and Adrianne Noe
The cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein: a description and preliminary analysis of unpublished
photographs. First published online November 16, 2012
doi:10.1093/brain/aws295
Impact Factor = 9.457

22. Citations vs. Impact

23. Citations vs. Impact

24. Scholarship > articles
data
grey literature
reports
software
web projects

25. Σ Impact > Σ Citations
The sum of “impact” is greater than the sum of citations.

26. altmetrics
Micah Vandegrift + Scholarly Communication Librarian
mvandegrift@fsu.edu

27. References
Resources:
http://altmetrics.org/about/
http://altmetric.com/blog/
Jason Priem Altmetrics presentation -
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fV8iFINfjdy7FAOk1qenrGmblQ70hJ3tki09W14Wk4k/edit?pli=1#slide=id.i133
U of FL Citation Analysis LibGuide – http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/content.php?pid=320458&sid=2622481
http://www.slideshare.net/rcave/overview-of-the-altmetrics-landscape
http://www.mendeley.com/groups/586171/altmetrics/
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/14714
Articles:
http://crln.acrl.org/content/73/10/596.full
http://elife.elifesciences.org/content/2/e00452
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/12/12/gaming-google-scholar-citations-made-simple-and-easy/
http://openuct.uct.ac.za/article/academics-online-presence-guidelines
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/07/27/how-to-use-harzings-publish-or-perish-software-to-assess-citations-a-step-by-step-guide/
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v493/n7431/full/493159a.html
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0053374
* Significant portions of this presentation based on Jason Priem’s “altmetrics:
beyond the article, beyond the impact factor,” and Stacy Konkiel’s “altmetrics: An
App Overview.”