User login
Moving beyond the impact factor to alternative metrics
Over the past decade, those of us who practice in the medical field have had to adjust to a new system of health-care metrics which give us insights into our performance. The field of medical publishing is no different. For years, scientists have relied upon the impact factor (IF) to gauge the amount of discussion around a certain article. While the IF tracks journal citations, it doesn’t track who is talking about a particular article. This is an especially important distinction in a world increasingly turning to social media platforms for information.
CHEST now offers a tool to measure the social impact of journal articles. Altmetric is a new tool that allows authors and readers to see what articles are being discussed and gaining traction in the larger and increasingly important realm beyond traditional media. Altmetric tracks sharing across social media channels such as blogs, Twitter mentions, and Facebook posts. Using this tracking, it assigns a score to measure the social influence of articles. On the CHEST website (journal.publications.chestnet.org), the Altmetric tool can be found on the right side of the article view on a single article page.
When clicking on the Altmetric button, a screen showing the score will appear. The Altmetric score measures the quantity and quality of attention that an article receives online. Articles that score higher than 20 are being talked about more frequently. Recent conversations about that particular article will also be visible. Demographics are also available that show the world region where those conversations are taking place. If interested, users can sign up for e-mail alerts to receive updates when new conversations occur around a particular article.
Using this tool provides direct insight into the importance of a scientific article within the broader context of the Internet. Authors and readers can immediately understand the value and reach of content, while also discovering new content.
Over the past few years, CHEST has focused on expanding its social reach, first by sharing content on social media platforms, second by engaging us to curate that content, and now by tracking the impact of the content. We look forward to forging new conversations around the science of chest medicine and taking these discussions "beyond our walls" to the broader social environment.
Over the past decade, those of us who practice in the medical field have had to adjust to a new system of health-care metrics which give us insights into our performance. The field of medical publishing is no different. For years, scientists have relied upon the impact factor (IF) to gauge the amount of discussion around a certain article. While the IF tracks journal citations, it doesn’t track who is talking about a particular article. This is an especially important distinction in a world increasingly turning to social media platforms for information.
CHEST now offers a tool to measure the social impact of journal articles. Altmetric is a new tool that allows authors and readers to see what articles are being discussed and gaining traction in the larger and increasingly important realm beyond traditional media. Altmetric tracks sharing across social media channels such as blogs, Twitter mentions, and Facebook posts. Using this tracking, it assigns a score to measure the social influence of articles. On the CHEST website (journal.publications.chestnet.org), the Altmetric tool can be found on the right side of the article view on a single article page.
When clicking on the Altmetric button, a screen showing the score will appear. The Altmetric score measures the quantity and quality of attention that an article receives online. Articles that score higher than 20 are being talked about more frequently. Recent conversations about that particular article will also be visible. Demographics are also available that show the world region where those conversations are taking place. If interested, users can sign up for e-mail alerts to receive updates when new conversations occur around a particular article.
Using this tool provides direct insight into the importance of a scientific article within the broader context of the Internet. Authors and readers can immediately understand the value and reach of content, while also discovering new content.
Over the past few years, CHEST has focused on expanding its social reach, first by sharing content on social media platforms, second by engaging us to curate that content, and now by tracking the impact of the content. We look forward to forging new conversations around the science of chest medicine and taking these discussions "beyond our walls" to the broader social environment.
Over the past decade, those of us who practice in the medical field have had to adjust to a new system of health-care metrics which give us insights into our performance. The field of medical publishing is no different. For years, scientists have relied upon the impact factor (IF) to gauge the amount of discussion around a certain article. While the IF tracks journal citations, it doesn’t track who is talking about a particular article. This is an especially important distinction in a world increasingly turning to social media platforms for information.
CHEST now offers a tool to measure the social impact of journal articles. Altmetric is a new tool that allows authors and readers to see what articles are being discussed and gaining traction in the larger and increasingly important realm beyond traditional media. Altmetric tracks sharing across social media channels such as blogs, Twitter mentions, and Facebook posts. Using this tracking, it assigns a score to measure the social influence of articles. On the CHEST website (journal.publications.chestnet.org), the Altmetric tool can be found on the right side of the article view on a single article page.
When clicking on the Altmetric button, a screen showing the score will appear. The Altmetric score measures the quantity and quality of attention that an article receives online. Articles that score higher than 20 are being talked about more frequently. Recent conversations about that particular article will also be visible. Demographics are also available that show the world region where those conversations are taking place. If interested, users can sign up for e-mail alerts to receive updates when new conversations occur around a particular article.
Using this tool provides direct insight into the importance of a scientific article within the broader context of the Internet. Authors and readers can immediately understand the value and reach of content, while also discovering new content.
Over the past few years, CHEST has focused on expanding its social reach, first by sharing content on social media platforms, second by engaging us to curate that content, and now by tracking the impact of the content. We look forward to forging new conversations around the science of chest medicine and taking these discussions "beyond our walls" to the broader social environment.