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"How do I know thee? Let me count the cites...". Mike Taylor Elsevier Labs http://labs.elsevier.com | @herrison2000 2012-06-28. Abstract. As scholarly communication explodes and fragments, who will be the arbiter of good science?
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"How do I know thee? Let me count the cites..." Mike Taylor Elsevier Labs http://labs.elsevier.com | @herrison2000 2012-06-28
Abstract • As scholarly communication explodes and fragments, who will be the arbiter of good science? • Will our hitherto internal metrics find a new life in the brave new world? • Will there be a new currency of tweetation, linkage and nanoclaims? • Or will indecision result in a defacto and proprietory ranking agency determining the common view of the scholarly universe?
Is there a problem? • Growth of research • Fracturing of output • Increasing diversity of channels • Canonical Article / Journal under attack
Criticism of journal-level metrics • Proprietary • Simplistic and over-generalizing • From a time when paper ruled • Can’t be accurately re-calculated from ‘outside’
What makes altmetrics interesting? • Is it the “open alternative” to proprietary interests? • Does it predict citation count? • Does it measure “real world” impact? • Will it eliminate peer review?
What is altmetrics anyway? • Web links • Mass media mentions • Tweets • Usage counts • Recommendations in reference managers
Anything else? • Data publishing and re-use • Workflow sharing • Authoring network analysis • Down-stream influence • Team development
Will it kill peer review? • No • Wrong type of data • Communities are too small
Is it open? • It can be, but it’s not essential • Total-impact – open • Altmetric.com – openish / commercialish • Plum Analytics – commercial • Google / Microsoft Academic – who can say
Can altmetricspredict impact? • Possibly – research looks hopeful
Does altmetrics measure “whole world” impact? • Yes • But does it mean anything?
Is altmetrics a specific form of web analytics? • Some of the terms are similar • But the rationale is different • There is no level playing field • Far more complicated • It’s not a popularity contest
How much more complicated? • Measure of success for a grad student is different from a senior industrial researcher • Different fields have different cultures and different usage • Different institutions want different things
We know altmetrics means something • But we don’t know what • And it keeps changing • We will use science to work it out
An anarchy of data • …Is the current state • …But we need more data • Research will let us make sense of the anarchy • Out of the wilderness will come products
Polemic! • One number does not fit all • One product will not work for all • There must be diversity • Common understanding of what the data means • Commonwealth of data and research