Abstract
A number of new metrics based on social media platforms—grouped under the term “altmetrics”—have recently been introduced as potential indicators of research impact. Despite their current popularity, there is a lack of information regarding the determinants of these metrics. Using publication and citation data from 1.3 million papers published in 2012 and covered in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science as well as social media counts from Altmetric.com, this paper analyses the main patterns of five social media metrics as a function of document characteristics (i.e., discipline, document type, title length, number of pages and references) and collaborative practices and compares them to patterns known for citations. Results show that the presence of papers on social media is low, with 21.5% of papers receiving at least one tweet, 4.7% being shared on Facebook, 1.9% mentioned on blogs, 0.8% found on Google+ and 0.7% discussed in mainstream media. By contrast, 66.8% of papers have received at least one citation. Our findings show that both citations and social media metrics increase with the extent of collaboration and the length of the references list. On the other hand, while editorials and news items are seldom cited, it is these types of document that are the most popular on Twitter. Similarly, while longer papers typically attract more citations, an opposite trend is seen on social media platforms. Finally, contrary to what is observed for citations, it is papers in the Social Sciences and humanities that are the most often found on social media platforms. On the whole, these findings suggest that factors driving social media and citations are different. Therefore, social media metrics cannot actually be seen as alternatives to citations; at most, they may function as complements to other type of indicators.
Highlights
The measurement of scientific publications and citations has a long tradition
Two-thirds of all 2012 papers had received at least one citation by the end of 2013, this being a sign of the stronger prevalence of citations over social media metrics across scientific publications, quite contrary to the belief that social media metrics can overcome citation delay
Grouped under the umbrella term of “altmetrics”, a number of metrics based on social media platforms have recently been introduced as potential indicators of research impact, which could be “alternatives” to citations or could perhaps indicate the broader impact of research on society [22]
Summary
The measurement of scientific publications and citations has a long tradition. Theories have been suggested to explain the citation process, which provided a framework for the use of citations in research evaluation and information retrieval [10,11,12,13,14,15]. In the natural and medical sciences, bibliometric indicators are generally recognized as indicators of scientific activity and impact, despite continuous debates on their validity and usefulness in a research evaluation context [16,17,18,19]. The knowledge drawn from these studies has helped to understand publication and citation behavior and has informed the construction of appropriate bibliometric indicators
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
