Paper Info
Title
Multi-criteria altmetric scores are likely to be redundant with respect to a subset of the underlying information.
Abstract
Alternative metrics are primarily composed of raw data such as the counts of views, downloads, mentions, and so forth. Yet, they also feature several composite indicators that variously combine the above information. Topical examples are the Research Interest score provided by ResearchGate and the Altmetric Attention Score by Altmetric.com. As far as the latter is concerned, it is argued here that, as many weighted sums do, it merely tends to reproduce the information already conveyed by one or a few criteria to which excessive importance is given. In a weighted sum, when a term takes on much more weight than the others, the result tends to become redundant, and the Altmetric Attention Score is no exception. Bottom line: there remains an open question. Provided the alternative metrics point to different—perhaps irreconcilable—aspects of the broad societal impacts of scholarly research, does an additional indicator built on a weighted sum really matter?
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1007/s11192-020-03491-9
Scientometrics
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Altmetrics, Alternative metrics, Social web metrics, Multicriteria weighting schemes, Altmetric Attention Score
Journal
124
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
1
0138-9130
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
1
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Sergio Copiello163.44