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Research Impact

What Are Alternative Metrics?

In recent years, alternatives to the JIF and citation counts have emerged that offer a fuller picture of research impact. These alternatives offer more timely indications of impact across a broader scope. They include:

  • Access. Many journals provide counts of how many times an article has been accessed or downloaded. These download counts give an idea of how many people might be reading the article and can help predict citation counts, which take longer to emerge.
  • Social media: Consideration of how often a study is referenced on twitter or other social media platform is another way to assess how successful a researcher is at reaching a desired audience. Preliminary studies have suggested that high numbers of tweetations predict high citation counts

Tracking Social Media