Relationship between altmetric and bibliometric indicators across academic social sites in article-level: the case of Iranian researchers' “Top Papers” in clinical medicine
ISSN: 0737-8831
Article publication date: 24 May 2021
Issue publication date: 30 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to measure scientific and social impacts of Iranian researchers' “Top Papers” in clinical medicine using citation and altmetric indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
In this applied descriptive-analytical study, it used scientometric analysis. A total of 166 “Top Papers” of Iranian researchers in clinical medicine category of Web of Science (WoS) database including “Highly Cited Papers” and “Hot Papers” published between 2009 and 2019 were used. Overall, 29 indicators and their data were extracted from WoS, Scopus, ResearchGate (RG) and PlumX in March 2020.
Findings
The results showed that there exists a positive correlation between the number of citations in WoS, Scopus, RG, PubMed and Crossref. In addition, it was found that there existed a positive correlation between the received citations by articles and altmetric indicators. According to the results, there is a strong correlation between RG Research Interest and citation impact. The correlation analysis on the Plum Analytics categories including “Usage”, “Capture”, “Mention”, “Social Media” and “Citation” showed the correlations between five dimensions of impact were positive and significant. The results have led the authors to think more about new metrics that can response to new developments in the new information areas.
Research limitations/implications
There are limitations to access altmetric.com in Iran and cannot be used easily. On the other hand, because of considering 24 indicators, authors had to investigate only a sample of 166 top papers from Iranian researchers to present the detailed results. About nature of altmetric indicators, although they reflect the nonacademic impact of articles alongside bibliographic indicators, they still cannot be a complete representative of the influence of their owners.
Practical implications
This study can indicate a practical application appropriate for the future study. It would be valuable to further examine how social academic platforms construct images of impact of research and how this impacts the social impact of the university as a mission. This study suggests that social media attention to academic research can be much greater than what is shown in traditional indicators such as citation.
Originality/value
This study examines 29 indicators from four platforms including RG, WoS, Scopus and PlumX, simultaneously and measures the relationship among them.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this work that was provided by Vice Chancellor of Research and Technology in Kashan University of Medical Sciences [grant number 9932]. The study was designed and conducted in accordance with the ethical principles in Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Therefore, the ethical approval was obtained from the Biomedical Ethics Research Committee (IR.KAUMS.NUHEPM.REC.1399.020).
Citation
Batooli, Z., Mohamadloo, A. and Nadi-Ravandi, S. (2021), "Relationship between altmetric and bibliometric indicators across academic social sites in article-level: the case of Iranian researchers' “Top Papers” in clinical medicine", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 1025-1042. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-2020-0319
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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