Alternative Metrics for Assessing Research Impact Beyond Citations

A researcher discovers that a study on public health policy was mentioned on Twitter 500 times, covered by major news outlets, and cited in government health agency guidelines—yet it has been cited by only 10 peer-reviewed articles so far. Using citation metrics alone, this high-impact work would be invisible compared to a narrowly-cited methodological paper with 50 citations. Altmetrics fill this gap by capturing societal impact: media coverage, policy influence, and public engagement. For applied research, policy work, and interdisciplinary topics, altmetrics may be more informative than citation metrics alone. Funders increasingly use altmetrics to communicate research value to taxpayers: 'Your NIH grant produced an article that was covered by 50 news outlets.' This tangible impact is difficult to convey through citation counts alone.