This document discusses metrics and outreach for academic reputation and impact. It describes traditional scholarly metrics like publications, citations and journal impact factors. It also discusses newer alternative metrics from social media like Twitter followers, Facebook likes and blog comments/views. The document recommends acknowledging contributions to communication and dissemination through altmetrics. It provides examples of using social media like Twitter to publicize research and discusses how outreach is becoming more important and compelled by governments while facing limited funding. The document outlines various ways researchers can communicate their work through personal engagement, group efforts or institutional channels using different media.

1. Metrics and Outreach
ISciCo – Module 4
ISCICO Course, 14-18 Jan 2013,
Universitat de Girona
Miquel Duran, UdG
@miquelduran
miquel.duran@udg.edu
http://miquelduran.net
License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

2. Scholarly reputation
• Articles published
• Impact factor of journals where papers
published
• Actual impact (cites received)
• Pondering between knowledge fields
(SciMago ranking)
• H Index and other indexes / highly-cited
papers, hot papers

3. Reputation and Metrics in web 2.0
• Twitter followers, mentions, etc.
• Facebook likes
• Visits to blog / Page views
• Comments In blog
• Comments and following in flickr, youtube, etc.
• Interaction in academic social networks
• Provide a value. Rather opaque but people may
believe them. Related especially to
twitter+fbk+gplus
– Klout klout.com
– Kred kred.com
– Peerindex peerindex.com

4. Altmetrics
• Our contribution to other communicaton and
dissemination efforts should be ackowledged.
This is becoming more and more important,
relevant and recognised by funding agencies
and evaluation bodies.
• Altmetrics.info: The Altmetrics manifesto
– http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/
• Use of API to provide actual, comprehensible
impact (opportunities for startups)

5. Altmetrics manifesto
• Altmetrics expand our view of what impact looks
like, but also of what’s making the impact. This
matters because expressions of scholarship are
becoming more diverse. Articles are increasingly
joined by:
– The sharing of “raw science” like datasets, code, and
experimental designs
– Semantic publishing or “nanopublication,” where the
citeable unit is an argument or passage rather than entire
article.
– Widespread self-publishing via blogging, microblogging,
and comments or annotations on existing work.
• http://altmetrics.org

6. Altmetrics

7. A final recommendation on social
networking
• Take a look at @lseimpact
• London School of Economics’ blog
• Twitter guide:
– A guide to using Twitter in university research,
teaching, and impact activities
– http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter-guide/

8. And now researchers’ frontier:
Outreach
• The guardian: Going viral: Using social media
to publicise academic research
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-
network/blog/2011/apr/11/communications-marketing-management-
admin-and-services

9. Outreach: compulsory?
• Outreach is more and more relevant
• It’s a duty of (senior) researchers
• It’s interesting (and perhaps fun) for junior researchers
and PhD students
• Pushed by governments… but no much money
• Loved by people out there
• Universities, learned societies, associations, museums,
… a network of disseminators
• Social communication of research, science,knowledge
• Leads to a well-informed society
• Provides publications beyond scholarly papers - +cv

10. How we (scientists) can communicate
• By origin
– Personal
– Groupal
– Corporate
• By destination
– Indexed Journals / Scholar Publications
– Science journals for scientists (eg Scientific American)
– Science General for the Public (eg Quo, La Recherche)
– Communicacion of Science Culture
– Citizens Outreach
– Children's, Youth Outreach

11. How we (scientists) can communicate
• Personal
– Shows
– Theater
– Performances
• By message
– Own personal: PhD / researcher blog
– News curation on a particular field of science
– News curation on policy, funding, etc.
– Contributing to shared blog
– Contributing to research group

12. Reports
– FECyT report on social perception of Science
– BBVA Foundation: report on attitudes vs Science
– COSCE
– And many others!

13. Outreach possibilities
• What?
– Our work
– Someone else's work
– Sound knowledge
– Citizen Science
– Public awareness
• On the spot
– Demonstrative
– Pedagogic/teaching Spectacular
• Internet
– Blogging/website
– Science Blogs @ Newspapers Contests
– Etc

14. Relevant article
• More than a blog: Should science bloggers stick
to popularizing science and fighting
creationism, or does blogging have a wider role
to play in the scientific discoursehan a blog:?
• http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v12/n11/full/
embor2011201a.html?WT.ec_id=EMBOR-201111

15. The Guardian
• How should researchers talk about science to
the public?
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-
network/blog/2012/feb/20/making-science-accessible

16. Outreach in an actual group
• PPT "Is digital communication an actual, clever
way to disseminate science?”
• PPT "Imagine! - some trends in recreational
science and the pursue of science careers"

17. And finally…
• Take a look at my blog Edunomia, category
“comciencia”
– http://edunomia.net
• And also my mesoblog, tal iscico
– http://edunoming.wordpress.com
• Entries may be in Catalan, but many
references are to English information on
Outreach