Article level metrics: Painting a fuller picture

AltmetricsArticle level metrics (ALMs) have become an important tool to establish a more complete picture of the impact of individual papers, distinct from the publication in which they appear.  While more traditional measurements – such as citations and usage – assess the scholarly visibility of a paper, alternative metrics are emerging to measure social visibility by tracking online conversations around scientific articles. [1]

As part of our continued commitment to providing content based services to users and authors, Wiley has launched a trial of ALMs on a number of journals. Partnering with Altmetric, we will be running a six month trial on both subscription and open access journals including Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie, BJUI, Brain and Behavior, Methods in Ecology and Evolution and EMBO Molecular Medicine.

 Altmetric tracks social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and blogs, newspapers, magazines and online reference managers like Mendeley and CiteULike for mentions of the scholarly articles published in the journals.

Altmetric creates and displays a score for each article measuring the quality and quantity of attention that the particular article has received. The Altmetric score is based on three main factors: the number of individuals mentioning a paper, where the mentions occurred (e.g. a newspaper, a tweet) and how often the author of each mention talks about the article.

 Alternative metrics, such as the ALMs provided by Altmetric, help calculate the immediate and specific impact of an individual article rather than just relying on traditional benchmarks such as the journal’s impact factor.  Wiley will be undertaking further pilots before rolling out enhanced metrics across more journals.

For authors, alternative metrics enables them to better understand the social impact of their individual paper in real time and for journal editors, alternative metrics can help to quantify the full extent of their publications’ visibility and reach.

Our journal publishes articles that are among the most highly accessed and cited in scientific research,” Dr. Peter Gregory, Editor in Chief, Advanced Materials explains. “We want to provide readers with access to our research through all channels, with authors enjoying a prominent social media presence and excellent coverage in the global news and science media. It will be interesting to review the Altmetric data as it becomes available to better quantify journal article impact.”

 1: Article-Level Metrics a SPARC Primer by Greg Tananbaum

Wiley signs Open Access Agreements with Helmholtz Association and University of Manitoba

Ten institutes of the Helmholtz Association and the University of Manitoba have signed up for Wiley Open Access Accounts.   These agreements provide active financial support and a streamlined process for authors to ensure open access to their published research in Wiley-Blackwell journals.  Authors affiliated with the Univesity of Manitoba and the institutes of the Helmholtz Association listed below can now benefit from these arrangements when publishing articles in Wiley Open Access journals.

Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung – UFZ
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

The University of Manitoba and the Helmholtz Association insitutions join a number of funders who have opened a Wiley Open Access Account since this was launched. Browse our listing to see the institutions / funders who have an account or partnership with Wiley Open Access.

More information about our open access options for funders and institutions can be found here.

Wiley Open Access journals now indexed by DOAJ

DOAJWe are pleased to annouce that a number of Wiley Open Access titles have recently be added to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). This directory currently lists 8092 open access journals, with more titles being regularly added. The recently added Wiley Open Access journals are: MicrobiologyOpen, Evolutionary Applications, Cancer Medicine, EMBO Molecular Medicine and ChemistryOpen. All of these journals are freely available to read on Wiley Online Library.  These are in addition to the earlier launched journals Brain and Behavior and Ecology and Evolution which have been indexed since February 2012.

Inclusion in DOAJ  increases visibility by enabling potential authors and readers to navigate to them directly within the directory. Many librarians have commented that they see inclusion in DOAJ as a sign of a quality open access journal. Wiley Open Access will continue to work with DOAJ to have all new journals in our program included.

Wiley Moves towards Broader Open Access Licence

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced revised licensing arrangements for proprietary journals published under the Wiley Open Access program. The journals will adopt the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license which allows commercial use of published articles.

The Wiley Open Access portfolio also includes journals published with society partners, many of which will similarly transfer to the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Wiley is responding to recent developments in funder and government policies and supports the sustainable evolution of scientific publishing. The change will be implemented immediately.

Rachel Burley Vice President and Director, Open Access commented “Wiley is committed to meeting the evolving needs of the authors who wish to provide open access to the published articles that convey the results of their research.”  

Burley continued “Our announcement today concerns Wiley’s fully open access journals. We are also reviewing the licensing arrangements for our hybrid program OnlineOpen, our open access option for individual articles published in subscription journals. In consultation with our publishing partners, we aim to continue to develop and deliver sustainable open access products providing author choice and high levels of service.”

In the first instance, the journals moving to the CC-BY license are Brain and Behavior, Ecology and Evolution, MicrobiologyOpen, Cancer Medicine, Food Science & Nutrition, Evolutionary Applications, Geoscience Data Journal and EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The CC-BY license allows (with the correct attribution of the original creator) for the copying, distribution and transmission of the work. Adaption and commercial use is also permitted.   

More information about Wiley’s open access initiatives is available online.