Comparison of impact factor, H-index and Altmetric
| Impact factor | H-index | Altmetric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level of metric | Journal level | Author level | Article level |
| Calculation transparency | Methodology published | Methodology published | Approximate methodology published |
| Responsiveness | Published yearly based on 2 years’ data | Effectively live—for example, will grow during an evening of social media exposure | |
| Benefits to authors in selecting journal of submission | Helpful, recognised by universities and grant allocating bodies | Not helpful | Not helpful |
| Benefits to authors in describing attention generated | Very limited, very delayed | Helpful | Highly responsive |
| Manipulation by editors and publishers | Of course. You ‘just’ have to make sure that your denominator—citations—is high, and numerator—the papers that are citable—is low. There is a lot of guidance about citability—but if you think about the BMJ, the four or five major science articles are citable, the other content is not | Of limited interest to editors and publishers | Of course. You just have to create a media buzz about the paper. You craft a good press release, run multiple twitter accounts and other social media presence. You can add ‘value added’ content—for example, a twitter journal club |
| Manipulation by authors | Limited, but theoretically possible | Theoretically manipulable, but would take a lot of effort | Of course. The author could create exactly the same media buzz described above |
| Scientific credibility | Middling. Reproducible methodology, but time limited—so a slow burning, important paper will not contribute much to IF | Middling | Low. The algorithm is not published, but theoretically could be reverse engineered. Little link between Altmetric and scientific importance |
| Academic credibility | High. Forms an important part of the Research Excellence Framework in the UK, which is the way academia makes its strategic funding decisions | Medium to high. Becoming used in some academic areas to inform career progression decisions and so on | Low but rising. Many would not be surprised to discover it included in future funding decisions |