Altmetrics and Emerging Measures of Impact

Abstract

The internet has transformed the way we seek and use information, enabling scholars to communicate research findings more rapidly, broadly and effectively than ever before. This evolution has placed scholarly communication at the centre of the research endeavor, raising challenging questions around how to optimally assess the impact of scholarship. This is particularly relevant as expressions of scholarship become more diverse. Traditionally published research articles are today increasingly accompanied by: The sharing of ‘raw science' like datasets, code, methodology and tools. Semantic publishing (or ‘nanopublication') where the citable unit is an argument or passage rather than an entire article. Widespread self-publishing via blogging, comments and annotation. This seminar will provide an introduction to the Altmetrics movement, which aims to expand our current view of what ‘impact' means and better understand what kinds of scholarship are making an impact. Exploring implications for both traditional and non-traditional outputs, it will introduce participants to new tools and approaches for impact analysis, and examine implications for traditional peer review and citation.