The research community and scholarly publication industry experimented for a number of years to discover how the ‘digital’ in the form of the internet and web2.0 could be incorporated into, and potentially transform scientific publishing and research. Stewart et al (2012) documents how two firms, NPG, and PLOS tackled the problems, and attempted to use the models and power of the internet to provide new services to users and to transform their business.

Short Video by Timo Hanney  (MD, Digital Science).

Altmetrics

One of the key developments in internet use that attracted the interest of those involved in measuring scientific impact has been the use of social media, including blogs and microblogs, social bookmarking.

Do these provide an alternative to more conventional metrics of impact (Priem and Hemminger, 2010; Fenner, M. 2013; Thelwall, et al, 2013)?

Reflective Discussion

The video of Hanney showed how a business attempted to use its new online publishing platforms to transform the exisiting use of metrics, proposing ‘alternative’ metrics.

What challenges were faced by the firms in the two cases of digital publishing innovation? What can we learn from the stories Nature and Digital Science, as well as PLOS, as they try to build a business based on digital science and altmetrics?

What alt metrics are being developed in your field of work?

Are there business selling services and products based on these altmetrics?