Research Preprint: How Many Scientific Papers Are Mentioned In Policy-Related Documents? An Empirical Investigation Using Web of Science and Altmetric Data
The following preprint was recently shared on arXiv.
Title
How Many Scientific Papers Are Mentioned In Policy-Related Documents? An Empirical Investigation Using Web Of Science and Altmetric Data
Authors
Robin Haunschild
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
Lutz Bornmann
Division for Science and Innovation Studies, Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society
Source
via arXiv
Abstract
In this short communication, we provide an overview of a relatively newly provided source of altmetrics data which could possibly be used for societal impact measurements in scientometrics. Recently, Altmetric – a start-up providing publication level metrics – started to make data for publications available which have been mentioned in policy-related documents. Using data from Altmetric, we study how many papers indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) are mentioned in policy-related documents. We find that less than 0.5% of the papers published in different subject categories are mentioned at least once in policy-related documents. Based on our results, we recommend that the analysis of (WoS) publications with at least one policy-related mention is repeated regularly (annually). Mentions in policy-related documents should not be used for impact measurement until new policy-related sites are tracked.
Direct to Full Text Article (14 pages; PDF)
Filed under: Data Files, Journal Articles, News

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.