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Speed |
Altmetrics can accumulate more quickly than traditional metrics such as citations. |
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Range |
Altmetrics can be gathered for many types of research output, not just scholarly articles. |
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Granularity |
Altmetrics can provide metrics at the article, rather than journal level, such as journal impact factors. |
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Detail |
Altmetrics can give a fuller picture of research impact using many indicators, not just citations. |
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Non-academic |
Altmetrics can measure impact outside the academic word, where people may use but not cite research. |
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Sharing |
If researchers get credit for a wider range of research outputs, such as data, it could motivate further sharing. |
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Standards |
There are a lack of standards for altmetrics. |
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Unregulated |
Altmetrics could be manipulated or gamed. |
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Reliability |
Altmetrics may indicate popularity with the general public rather than quality research. |
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Time |
There is no single widely used rating or score and altmetrics can be time consuming to gather. |
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Difficulty |
Altmetrics can be difficult to collect, for example bloggers or tweeters may not use unique identifiers for articles. |
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Overload |
There are many different metrics and providers to choose from and it can be hard to determine which are relevant. |
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Acceptance |
Many funders and institutions use traditional metrics to measure research impact. |
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Context |
Use of online tools may differ by discipline, geographic region, and over time, making altmetrics difficult to interpret. |