Do altmetrics assess societal impact in a comparable way to case studies? An empirical test of the convergent validity of altmetrics based on data from the UK research excellence framework (REF)

作者:

Highlights:

• We investigate the convergent validity of altmetrics by using UK REF datasets.

• Publications included are submitted as research output (PRO) to the REF and publications referenced in case studies (PCS).

• The MHq’ indicator is used for assessing impact – an indicator which has been introduced for count data with many zeros.

• Altmetrics are negatively or close to zero correlated with REF reviewers’ average scores on PCS.

• We suggest that altmetrics may capture a different aspect of societal impact to that seen by reviewers.

摘要

•We investigate the convergent validity of altmetrics by using UK REF datasets.•Publications included are submitted as research output (PRO) to the REF and publications referenced in case studies (PCS).•The MHq’ indicator is used for assessing impact – an indicator which has been introduced for count data with many zeros.•Altmetrics are negatively or close to zero correlated with REF reviewers’ average scores on PCS.•We suggest that altmetrics may capture a different aspect of societal impact to that seen by reviewers.

论文关键词:Bibliometrics,Altmetrics,MHq,Societal impact,Case studies,Research excellence framework,REF2014

论文评审过程:Received 11 July 2018, Revised 17 January 2019, Accepted 18 January 2019, Available online 29 January 2019, Version of Record 29 January 2019.

论文官网地址:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2019.01.008