Find Alternative Metrics (Altmetrics)

Alternative Metrics or Altmetrics take into consideration measures of impact other than citations in scholarly journals.

• Social media mentions
• Mentions on blogs or news 
• Views or downloads on citation managers like Mendeley

• Captures impact on the general public as well as the scholarly community
• Can track impact of less formal forms of scholarship, such as datasets and presentations
• Provides context for how the work is used
• Much quicker indication of impact of an article than by only using citations counts, which can take years to accumulate

• Data may be susceptible to manipulation
• Need an understanding of the source of the data (ex. social media literacy)
• Reliant on external sources for data