PLOS was thrilled to host the ALM Workshop 2012 (#alm12) on November 1-3, 2012 in San Francisco. It was generously supported by a grant from the Sloan Foundation.
The digital environment of today’s research enables the collection and analysis of many more data sources and types than ever before, which trace the dissemination and reach of the article itself. Article-level metrics (ALMs) measure these activities at the level of the article and provide a valuable service lacking in traditional metrics: a real-time indicator of impact for research. In addition to the conventional measure of citations, ALMs incorporate altmetrics, newer measures of scholarly interaction based on the social web. Overall, they can provide much-needed new checks and balances, greater speed of feedback, and superior relationship mapping and influence tracking, none of which can be replicated by the traditional impact factor. They can form the basis of recommendation and collaborative filtering systems able to power navigation and discovery of articles synchronized to the needs of the researcher, publisher, institutional decision-maker, or funder.
As a bourgeoning technology, the current scope of ALM utility is limited by the awareness of the insight they bring to the research article, and likewise, adoption. The potential for ALMs to impact scholarly research will extend further as the research community continues to advance the agenda across multiple fronts: outreach & advocacy, governance, and technology. At this juncture, we need a shared strategic and operational framework aligning concepts, methodologies, and practices; the establishment of article-level measures across all scholarly publications; and supporting technologies that make use of the data. To this end, PLOS hosted the 2012 ALM Workshop on November 1-3, 2012 in San Francisco. We convened a cross-section of groups across the research ecosystem – researchers, institutions, and publishers, funders, as well as technology providers – for 3 days of collaborative breakout sessions amongst and between these groups to address the needs above and gather the input, support, and participation of leaders across the research landscape.
Please refer to the technical workshop report for an executive overview and detailed account of the participants, workshop activities, outputs, and future steps for the ALM community.