In July 2014, without any fan fare, we embedded the donut-shaped Altmetric Badge as a new feature on Synapse (MSK Publication database). What this new feature provides to the viewer, when available, is a way to measure the online attention received by a particular work, with the option to be alerted whenever the work receives any new mentions. The Altmetric score is “derived from an automated algorithm, and represents a weighted count of the amount of attention ….. picked up for a research output.” Readers and authors can click on the donut score to be taken to the details page for that specific work where they can further explore all the original mentions and sources. The Altmetric Donut Badge is not unique to Synapse; it can also be found on a variety of publishers’ platforms including Elsevier, Springer Nature, and PLoS.

Altmetrics, or alternative metrics, introduced a new approach to determine the value, impact, or popularity of research within the digital scholarly ecosystem. These web-based metrics come in the form of tallied views, downloads, cites, saves, bookmarks, tweets, shares, likes, recommends, posts, comments, and tags.  Tweets, for example are displayed in the context of a map showing the global Twitter reach of the work. You can also review the News tab to see which news outlets picked up the published research to share beyond the scientific community.  Available information is delivered in real time and can change daily.  Continue reading →