
The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview, importance, and limitations of altmetric, an understudied yet increasingly important arena of study for scholars, academics, and professional researchers. Widespread use of social media tools in the discovery, dissemination, and discussion of research output, altmetric measurements are fast gaining popularity, and they supplement the traditional research metrics by tracking the number of social mentions of research articles. Altmetrics focuses on the publication itself, not the journal or publisher. Citations take time to build, but altmetrics shows current discussion and societal and economic engagement.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 2 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
