altmetrics-guide

Altmetrics Guide

Understand and use alternative metrics (altmetrics) to measure the broader impact and reach of research outputs beyond traditional citation counts.

What Are Altmetrics?

Altmetrics capture the online attention and engagement that research receives across diverse platforms. Unlike citation-based metrics (which can take years to accumulate), altmetrics provide near-real-time signals of how research is being discussed, shared, and used.

Key Altmetric Providers and Scores

Altmetric.com Attention Score

The Altmetric Attention Score is a weighted composite of online mentions:

PlumX Metrics (Elsevier)

PlumX organizes metrics into five categories:

1. Usage: Downloads, views, library holdings
2. Captures: Bookmarks, readers, watchers
3. Mentions: Blog posts, news articles, reviews, Wikipedia
4. Social Media: Tweets, Facebook likes, Reddit activity
5. Citations: Scopus, CrossRef, patent citations

Dimensions Badge

Dimensions provides citation counts alongside altmetric-style attention data, integrating grants, patents, clinical trials, and policy documents.

Querying the Altmetric.com API

import requests

# Look up altmetrics by DOI
doi = "10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2"
response = requests.get(f"https://api.altmetric.com/v1/doi/{doi}")

if response.status_code == 200:
    data = response.json()
    print(f"Title: {data.get('title')}")
    print(f"Altmetric Score: {data.get('score')}")
    print(f"Twitter mentions: {data.get('cited_by_tweeters_count', 0)}")
    print(f"News mentions: {data.get('cited_by_msm_count', 0)}")
    print(f"Blog mentions: {data.get('cited_by_feeds_count', 0)}")
    print(f"Wikipedia mentions: {data.get('cited_by_wikipedia_count', 0)}")
    print(f"Mendeley readers: {data.get('readers', {}).get('mendeley', 0)}")
    print(f"Detail URL: {data.get('details_url')}")
else:
    print("No altmetric data found for this DOI")

Batch Queries

# Query multiple DOIs using the Altmetric Explorer API (requires subscription)
# Free API supports individual lookups by DOI, PubMed ID, or arXiv ID

# Look up by PubMed ID
pmid = "34234348"
response = requests.get(f"https://api.altmetric.com/v1/pmid/{pmid}")

# Look up by arXiv ID
arxiv_id = "2103.14030"
response = requests.get(f"https://api.altmetric.com/v1/arxiv/{arxiv_id}")

Interpreting Altmetrics Responsibly

What Altmetrics Tell You

• Speed of dissemination: How quickly research is being noticed
• Audience breadth: Whether attention comes from academics, media, public, or policymakers
• Geographic reach: Where in the world the work is being discussed
• Interdisciplinary interest: Engagement from unexpected fields

What Altmetrics Do NOT Tell You

• Quality: High attention does not equal high quality (controversial or flawed papers can go viral)
• Field-normalized comparison: Raw scores are not comparable across disciplines
• Gaming resistance: Social media metrics can be artificially inflated
• Comprehensive coverage: Not all platforms and languages are tracked equally

Best Practices for Using Altmetrics

1. Combine with traditional metrics: Use altmetrics alongside citation counts, h-index, and peer review to build a complete picture of impact.
2. Context matters: A score of 50 might be exceptional in pure mathematics but ordinary in public health. Check the "Compared to outputs of the same age" percentile.
3. Report responsibly: When including altmetrics in CVs or grant applications, explain what the numbers mean (e.g., "Top 5% of all research outputs tracked by Altmetric.com").
4. Track over time: Set up alerts for your publications to monitor engagement trends.
5. Explore the sources: Click through to see who is discussing your work and in what context. A single policy document mention may be more meaningful than 100 tweets.

Tools for Tracking Your Research Impact