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Assessing Research Impact

Assess the Impact of Research

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What are Altmetrics?

For decades the impact of research has been measured primarily through counting and analyzing the number of citations to a given author, research paper, or journal referenced in other researchers' peer-reviewed publications, often referred to as bibliometrics. Altmetrics (short for alternative metrics) is a collection of diverse tools and methods that attempts to analyze broader impact through leveraging data from social media, news, online research communities, and other informal publications not subject to peer review.  

On this page you will find tools and websites that will help you to gain a broader understanding of altmetrics.  These tools may assist you in understanding the impact of your own or others' peer-reviewed research. 

Resources for Gathering Altmetrics

The following tools and websites are provided as a way to better understand how altmetrics can be used to assess the impact of research.

Resources to Learn more about Altmetrics

The following research guides and articles will help you to understand altmetrics and to critique its use in assessing research.