(New York / Heidelberg, 29 January 2014) Springer announced that it has added altmetrics information to every article available on SpringerLink (link.springer.com), the publishing company’s online platform. The data is provided by Altmetric, a London-based start-up which tracks and analyzes the online activity around scholarly literature. The addition of this feature makes the alternative metrics that measure the impact of research (or, “altmetrics”) more readily available to users by adding it to the abstract page for every article. This information is also visible to anyone visiting SpringerLink, not just those with access to full text articles.
Altmetrics are fast becoming an important measure to researchers as they look to get a more dynamic understanding of how their research is being used and referenced. Rather than using only the traditional measures of an article’s citations, altmetrics allow scientists to see where their work is being discussed and shared in the social web. Providing these alternative measures of an article’s impact is another way Springer is looking to add more value not only for users, but also for authors.
Read the press release.
