The value of Altmetrics®

If you edit a reputable journal for a reputable publisher then you will have noticed the, now common, multi-coloured ‘doughnut’ with a number in the middle on the landing pages of the published articles. This number is the Altmetrics score and it is a measure of the attention that articles have had on a range of online platforms including social media (Dardas et al., 2018). Like most ‘metrics’ the bigger the number, the better, as it indicates greater online attention. While traditional metrics – principally the Clarivate® journal impact factor – are still considered important, the value of Altmetrics is becoming increasingly recognised and, if ‘bigger is better’ then as editors we should be paying attention to how we can maximise the impact of the articles we publish online and, thereby, increase Altmetrics scores wherever possible. How do we do it?