Modern metrics along with traditional citations are needed to measure the impact of published research papers in the field of cardiovascular imaging and understand the evolving interests of readership, according to research presented at ACC.20/WCC and simultaneously published in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.

Historically, dissemination trends in medical journals have been assessed through numbers of citations. Accurate numbers for citations can emerge several years after research is published, thus do not assess the early impact on readership. Social media, Altmetrics and other modern metrics provide a more detailed picture of the interests of clinical readership.

Andrew D. Choi, MD, FACC, et al., sought to measure the impact value of Altmetrics, citations and downloads by examining the most impactful studies across the spectrum of cardiovascular imaging over a three-year period (2017-2019) and determine the long-term scientific merit of articles with high Almetrics. The researchers provide a framework for how to incorporate these metrics for a modern approach to dissemination.

"SoMe [social media] influencers may guide Altmetric trends by discussing publications influenced by an individual's own practice environment, visual appeal, or even simply attention for its own sake. Additionally, negative attention to an article may be weighted similarly to positive attention by Altmetrics, making the appropriate scientific merit of the paper confounded," the authors write.

The authors found that "[the] highest impact articles are those that are both shared broadly and cited, while articles shared broadly also demonstrate readership impact."

"What is trending on SoMe may not always become scientifically impactful by citation (and not absent its own inherent risks and challenges; "moth to the flame?"). Yet, assessing trends while keeping aim on lasting impact are not mutually exclusive but complementary goals," the authors conclude.

Keywords: ACC Annual Scientific Session, acc20, Social Media, Benchmarking, Publications

< Back to Listings