Speaker
Description
The ‘explosion’ of tracking tools that have accompanied the surge of web based information instruments has also open the possibility of measuring how new research publications are ‘read’, tweeted, shared, commented, discussed, rated, liked, etc. in an online, open and dynamic environment. All these online events leave ‘traces’ around the access, appraisal and use of scientific publications, thus allowing for the calculation of new metrics, which has given birth to the term ‘altmetrics’. These new metrics are expected to work as evidence of impact that can inform research evaluation and strategic decisions in science policy. However their actual meaning, validity and usefulness are still open questions. A review of the most important empirical research around altmetrics will be presented and hints on how these new metrics could be considered for practical purposes will be discussed with the audience.