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The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More

Research Impact and Academic Profile Management

This guide supplements the Research Impact Assessment services provided as part of Research Services and Digital Strategies unit.

What are Altmetrics?

Alternative or 'Alt'metrics are based on counts generated by the use of and interaction with digital information, such as number of downloads and pageviews from a publisher, repository, or online reference manager, or  mentions in online venues such as Reddit or blogs.

Alternative metrics can be used to complement traditional metrics, to measure engagement with broader public, news media or social scholarly forums. The types of metrics include:

  • Citations in government reports, whitepapers, policies
  • Social media mentions
  • Mainstream media coverage
  • Blog discussion response "likes" or vote counts

The following video from Altmetric.com provides an introduction to altmetrics:

Why use Altmetrics?

Altmetric data can show:

  • Online attention to scholarly work
  • Public engagement with works
  • Mentions of work in public policy 
  • Possible research collaborators
  • Who else may be doing similar research
  • Data that complements traditional bibliometric measures