Alternative Citation Metrics

Tools

SFX Collection Tools

This tool is more useful for analysis of aggregator databases than for individual titles. 

Usage Statistics

E-resource usage statistics can be used to measure the importance of individual journals as well as serials packages.

JISC Academic Database Assessment Tool (ADAT)

Compare database coverage and platforms. This is a good resource from which to obtain up-to-date data. You can get statistics on overlap between databases and also get the titles in the overlap.

How to Use ADAT

• Compare Journal Title Coverage

  Detailed charts for each database.
• Find Out which Databases Cover a Journal

  Search per journal title.
• Compare Database Platforms

  Compare features and view detailed descriptions of platforms.

See more on ALMs from the Public Library of Science:

• Article-Level Metrics (ALMs) at PLoS are not just about citations and usage. The concept refers to a whole range of measures which might provide insight into ‘impact’ or ‘reach’

• ALMs are not simply about ‘impact’, they are also used for discovery and filtering

Although Article-level metrics are not completely new and ALMs are not strictly article-level, here is another recent definition of ALMs from SPARC:

"Article-Level Metrics (ALMs) are a new approach to quantifying the reach and impact of published research. Historically, impact has been measured at the journal level. A journal’s average number of citations to recent articles (i.e., its impact factor) has for years served as a proxy for that publication’s importance. Articles published in highly-cited journals were viewed as impactful by association. As electronic dissemination of scholarly content surpassed print, it became easier to disaggregate an individual article’s impact from the publication in which it appeared. It also became possible to track different markers of an article’s reach, beyond just citations. ALMs seek to incorporate new data sources (sometimes referred to as “altmetrics”) along with traditional measures to present a richer picture of how an individual article is being discussed, shared, and used."  — Greg Tannenbaum,  "Article-Level Metrics: A SPARC Primer" (2013).

Visit our guide on Citation Analysis and Journal Rankings