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Online presence

Altmetrics

Alternative metrics or altmetrics are a way of measuring article impact outside of academia, for example, how often research is shared on social media, blogged about, or bookmarked. Altmetrics are not a replacement for traditional citation counts or the h-index, but complement traditional metrics with additional data.

The 3 primary services compiling and providing altmetrics currently are Altmetric, ImpactStory and PlumX

Altmetrics and PlumX analytics are displayed for Open Access works in Pure. If a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is listed with a publication you will see available altmetrics listed as well.  Look for and click on these symbols for further details about the impact of an article :

Altmetric badge: coloured circle with a number in the middle Altmetric badge

Plum anallytics badge, different coloured circles linked together, with an expanded menu of text and numbers.

 

Plum Analytics badge

 

 

 

Altmetrics are increasingly being used in academic databases, eg. Scopus, Sciencedirect, Wiley, Taylor and Francis, Springer and others. Find your publication listed in an online database, and check to see if there are any available altmetrics provided.


Almetrics provides a free bookmarklet for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Install the Altmetric bookmarklet, then when you find your publication online click the bookmarklet to see available altmetrics (this only works on webpages which list a DOI, or PubMed or arXiv).

Contact your Faculty Librarian for assistance with finding altmetrics for your publication.

Social networks

We have all heard of Facebook, X (formerly)Twitter and Instagram, but social networks designed specifically for researchers are becoming more prominent. The three most popular are ResearchGate, Academia.edu and LinkedIn: 

 All are free and offer opportunities to connect with other researchers in your field, locally and internationally.

Research impact and engagement