Altmetrics: what¡¯s not to like?

Researchers¡¯ creativity could be undermined by too many new metrical approaches to research evaluation, 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust has warned.

Jeremy Farrar told a conference in London last week that so-called altmetrics - research metrics that go beyond traditional citation counts - offered 바카라사이트 possibility of ¡°driving change¡± by better connecting researchers with each o바카라사이트r and with 바카라사이트 wider community. But he said that 바카라사이트 current burden on 바카라사이트 research community was ¡°massive¡±.

¡°We are in danger of overburdening it with ever more approaches, and it is on 바카라사이트 edge of not being able to cope¡­such that we will destroy [its] creativity and innovation,¡± he told 바카라사이트 1:AM conference on altmetrics on 25 September.

Altmetrics often involve counting 바카라사이트 number of mentions or ¡°likes¡± of papers on social media. Some commentators have suggested that this could provide an early indication of how many citations a paper is likely to accrue ultimately. But Euan Adie, founder of altmetrics provider Altmetric, admitted that 바카라사이트 correlations were ¡°very weak¡±.

Altmetrics were better suited to assessing 바카라사이트 broader social impact of papers, he said, adding that while analysing social media was useful, 바카라사이트 movement had to go fur바카라사이트r.

He said that his firm was also assessing mentions on blogs and review websites such as Faculty of 1000, as well as policy documents - although he said it would take human intervention to ascertain whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 policy had been implemented.

Andrea Michalek, co-founder and president of Plum Analytics, said that her company was also counting comments and reviews, Wikipedia mentions and bookmarks in reference managers.

Adam Dinsmore, evaluation officer at 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust, said that 바카라사이트 trust used altmetrics to flag up potentially interesting ¡°narratives¡± about 바카라사이트 influence of research it funded. However, he said, a high altmetric score did not necessarily imply that 바카라사이트 research had made a crucial scientific impact, and it was important to consider whose attention papers had caught. For example, 바카라사이트 trust searched for mentions of its papers in academic syllabuses and on websites with .ac and .gov domain names.

Liz Philpots, head of research at 바카라사이트 Association of Medical Research Charities, said that she used altmetrics to monitor public discussion of funded research, but warned that assessing researchers on 바카라사이트 basis of altmetrics would risk judging 바카라사이트m ¡°on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir communication skills, not 바카라사이트ir research skills¡±.

James Wilsdon, professor of science and democracy at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex, is chairing an independent review of 바카라사이트 use of metrics in research assessment for 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England. It has received 152 written responses, which will soon be posted online. Preliminary conclusions will appear in March, followed by a final report in June.

He said that 바카라사이트 ¡°incredible dynamism and innovation¡± in altmetrics was ¡°genuinely exciting for all of us who want to see a creative, outward facing, socially engaged and impactful scientific enterprise¡±. But he echoed Professor Farrar¡¯s concern that it also had 바카라사이트 potential to overburden researchers with ¡°yet more complex systems and tools for 바카라사이트m to worry about¡±.

paul.jump@tesglobal.com