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Scholarly Communication

OU Libraries guides scholars in matters relating to scholarly communication, which we define as the formal and informal ways research and scholarly works are created, evaluated, disseminated, preserved, used, and transformed.

Alternative Metrics - Beyond citations

What do we value when measuring research impact? Why do we favor the use and citations only from other scholars? 

Altmetrics or alternative metrics attempt to measure the reach and impact of scholarship and research beyond the traditional citation counts used to determine the Journal Impact Factor or an author's H-index. Both of these measures are flawed and do not represent the whole picture of a work or scholarly impact.  

When using altmetrics, we can provide a more complete picture of a scholarly work's impact, capturing how and where it is used, for what purpose, and by whom. 

Additionally, alternative metrics may be the only way to evaluate the impact of non-traditional scholarly outputs, such as data, software, websites, blogs, and videos.

*View the Metrics Toolkit to learn more about the various data points and uses

Benefits of using altmetrics

  • Provide a wider range of sources than traditional metrics.
  • Demonstrates societal impact. For example, researchers can show how the public, news organizations, government, policymakers, and practitioners interact with their research.
  • Data accumulates at a faster speed compared to traditional metrics. 

Types of measurements

Altmetrics can demonstrate:

  • How many times your work was downloaded
  • Who is reading it
  • Which, if any, news agencies have covered your work
  • What are other researchers saying about your work
  • How many times has your work been shared on social media (Facebook, X, Academia, etc.)
  • Which countries are looking at your work

See a complete list of data points on the Metrics Toolkit 

Credits

This page was adapted and modified from the ASU Introduction to Alternative Metrics and the University of Pittsburgh "Altmetrics", which was licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 License.