What are Altmetrics?

altmetrics = alternative metrics

Altmetrics are alternative metrics used to measure the impact of research.

The term altmetrics was first proposed in a tweet by Jason Priem in 2010, and further detailed in a manifesto.

The term is not clearly defined, but can be characterised by a number of related descriptions:

i) Measures of impact based on online activity, which are mined or gathered from online tools and social media. For example:

ii) Metrics for alternative research outputs, for example citations to datasets.

iii) Other alternative ways of measuring research impact.

Altmetrics can be used as an alternative, or in addition, to traditional metrics such as citation counts and impact factors.

Image: Altmetric bookmarklet result for the article: Piwowar, H. (2013). Altmetrics: value all research products. Nature, 493(7431), 159-159. Screenshot taken Nov 4 2014.

Speed	Altmetrics can accumulate more quickly than traditional metrics such as citations.
Range	Altmetrics can be gathered for many types of research output, not just scholarly articles.
Granularity	Altmetrics can provide metrics at the article level, rather than journal level such as journal impact factors.
Detail	Altmetrics can give a fuller picture of research impact using many indicators, not just citations.
Non-academic	Altmetrics can measure impact outside the academic word, where people may use but not cite research.
Sharing	If researchers get credit for a wider range of research outputs, such as data, it could motivate further sharing.

Standards	There is a lack of standards for altmetrics.
Unregulated	Altmetrics could be manipulated or gamed.
Reliability	Altmetrics may indicate popularity with the general public rather than quality research.
Time	There is no single widely used rating or score, and altmetrics can be time consuming to gather.
Difficulty	Altmetrics can be difficult to collect, for example bloggers or tweeters may not use unique identifiers for articles.
Overload	There are many different metrics and providers to choose from, and it can be hard to determine which are relevant.
Acceptance	Many funders and institutions use traditional metrics to measure research impact.
Context	Use of online tools may differ by discipline, geographic region, and over time, making altmetrics difficult to interpret.