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5-Day Impact Challenge

A guide on how to increase your scholarly impact in just 5 days!

Alternative Metrics


Altmetrics.com

  1. First, install the Altmetric.com browser bookmarklet (visit this page and input name, email, title, affiliation, and email preferences before selecting "Get the Bookmarklet").
  2. Click and drag the "Altmetric It! button to your bookmarks tab.

  3. Graphic of the process of using the Altmetric bookmarklet. Text reads "1. Add bookmarklet to your bookmarks toolbar 2. Visit any paper 3. Get article level metrics with a single click"
  4. Then, find your article on the publisher’s website and click the “Altmetric it!” button. The altmetrics for your article will appear in the upper right-hand side of your browser window, in a pop-up box similar to the one below.

  5. Note: the article must have a DOI, PubMed ID, ArXiv ID, or Twitter handle (post-2011) in order for the bookmarklet to work. If the article does have one of these, but you're still having trouble, try refreshing the page, highlighting the DOI/PubMed ID/etc. and then clicking the bookmarklet.
  6.  
  8. Next, follow the “Click for more details” link in the Altmetric pop-up. You’ll be taken to a detailed report of your metrics and the underlying qualitative data breaking down distribution geographically and demographically.

Altmetrics.com Report

This report (seen below) shows you not only the numbers, but also lets you read the individual blogs, policy documents, newspapers, and other online outlets that mention your article. The donut visualization at the top-left of the report includes a single, weighted score that attempts to sum up the attention that your work has received. Below the visualization is contextual information that shows you how the article’s metrics compare to those of articles published in the same year, journal, and so on.

At the top right-hand corner of the page, you can sign up to receive notifications whenever someone mentions your article online. The only drawback of Altmetric.com’s notification emails is that you have to sign up for a new notification for each article. This can cause inbox mayhem if you are tracking many publications.