Advancing Research Communication & Scholarship

Assessment of scholarship is a critical component of the research process, impacting most elements of the process from which projects get funded to who gains promotion and tenure, and which publications gain prominence in fields of inquiry. However, traditional metrics which have been primarily based on print processes are failing to keep pace with expanded scope of forms and usage that are becoming available with scholarly communication that is increasingly purely electronic. Online reader behavior, network interactions with content, social media references, among other activities, are not reflected in these measures. In addition, newer forms of network and researcher behavior analysis can provide a means to assess non-traditional scholarly outputs such as data publication, software creation and performances. The growing movement around alternative metrics, sometimes called “altmetrics,” is trying to address these concerns, among others.

The panel will be organized inviting several participants in the NISO Alternative Assessment Metrics Project, which was begun in 2013 to address this area. The project is now in its Phase II, where input distilled from relevant stakeholder groups was used to determine areas that standards Working Groups should address. The panel will be composed of an array of stakeholders representing different community areas (including libraries, scholarly publishers, systems providers and providers of alternative metrics data), who will describe their perspectives and requirements, and how they are working together to provide structure for future acceptance and innovation in an area which provides much promise for scholarly recognition and communication.