Guide to altmetrics and research impact beyond traditional citations
Understand and use alternative metrics (altmetrics) to measure the broader impact and reach of research outputs beyond traditional citation counts.
Altmetrics capture the online attention and engagement that research receives across diverse platforms. Unlike citation-based metrics (which can take years to accumulate), altmetrics provide near-real-time signals of how research is being discussed, shared, and used.
| Source Category | Examples | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Social media | Twitter/X, Facebook, Reddit, Weibo | Public discussion and sharing |
| News & blogs | Mainstream media, science blogs | Media coverage and science communication |
| Policy documents | Government reports, clinical guidelines | Policy relevance |
| Reference managers | Mendeley, Zotero readership | Academic readership and interest |
| Wikipedia | Article citations | Educational and encyclopedic use |
| Peer review |
| Publons, post-publication review |
| Formal and informal peer evaluation |
| Patents | Patent citations | Commercial and industrial relevance |
The Altmetric Attention Score is a weighted composite of online mentions:
| Source | Weight | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| News outlets | 8 | Editorial curation, wide audience |
| Blog posts | 5 | Expert commentary |
| Wikipedia | 3 | Encyclopedic significance |
| Policy documents | 3 | Real-world impact |
| Twitter/X posts | 1 | Broad sharing but low barrier |
| Facebook posts | 0.25 | General public engagement |
| Reddit posts | 0.25 | Community discussion |
| Mendeley readers | 0 (separate) | Tracked but not in score |
PlumX organizes metrics into five categories:
Dimensions provides citation counts alongside altmetric-style attention data, integrating grants, patents, clinical trials, and policy documents.
import requests
# Look up altmetrics by DOI
doi = "10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2"
response = requests.get(f"https://api.altmetric.com/v1/doi/{doi}")
if response.status_code == 200:
data = response.json()
print(f"Title: {data.get('title')}")
print(f"Altmetric Score: {data.get('score')}")
print(f"Twitter mentions: {data.get('cited_by_tweeters_count', 0)}")
print(f"News mentions: {data.get('cited_by_msm_count', 0)}")
print(f"Blog mentions: {data.get('cited_by_feeds_count', 0)}")
print(f"Wikipedia mentions: {data.get('cited_by_wikipedia_count', 0)}")
print(f"Mendeley readers: {data.get('readers', {}).get('mendeley', 0)}")
print(f"Detail URL: {data.get('details_url')}")