Research Square partners with Dimensions on preprint citation data
Digital Science and Research Square have announced a partnership that will see Dimensions Badges display on all Research Square preprints. The US-based company will use Dimensions to provide early citation data on preprints and will provide four different types of data: total citations, most recent citations, the Field Citation Ratio (FCR), and Relative Citation Ratio (RCR). Dimensions is a research
information platform designed to give researchers a broader view of the research process. The Dimensions Badge is a data visualisation tool that allows authors to demonstrate the impact of their preprint via detailed citation metrics directly from an author’s public preprint page. Readers can gain a better
understanding of a preprint’s influence within a specific research field as well as across disciplines. Traditionally, impact is measured by the number of times an article is cited in the literature. Given the rise in preprints over the past few years and the role of preprints in disseminating COVID-19- related findings, preprints are increasingly being considered citation-worthy parts of the overall body of literature. Research Square also
provides other usage data for preprints, such as the number of times a preprint has been viewed, downloaded, and commented on. In addition to the Dimensions
Badge, an Altmetric Badge is displayed on Research
Square preprints and provides detailed information on the overall attention a preprint has received across a range of websites including news pages, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit.
Christian Herzog, CEO of Dimensions, said: ‘Pre-prints are getting more important by the day – the COVID-19 pandemic is changing how research is and needs to be communicated at a breathtaking pace — finally. Speed is of the essence obviously, openness as well – and that is exactly why we include pre-prints in Dimensions which is updated daily. ‘The Altmetric and Dimensions Badges are now adding much-needed context
to the pre-prints and we are excited that they are provided to the reader in context, on the Research Square platform.’ Amye Kenall, VP of publishing
and product at Research Square, said: ‘Accurate and comprehensive metrics are critical for establishing preprints as legitimate objects within the research ecosystem. As more and more papers are stopping at the preprint stage (never proceeding to formal publication), it is important that these papers are also included in the linked scholarly information dataset. ‘Including Dimensions Badges on the Research Square platform helps to accomplish this, and we’re excited to announce such an impactful partnership.’
Springer Nature enticed by DORA aura
Springer Nature has formally signed up to the principles outlined in the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, commonly known as DORA. In doing so, Springer Nature becomes the first large research publisher to sign the declaration and commit its entire owned journal portfolio to providing a number of metrics so that research can be assessed fairly. Springer Nature says it has long advocated for a balanced approach to research evaluation and responsible authorship practices and this announcement follows Springer Nature’s imprints Nature Research, Springer Open and BMC, which all became signatories in 2017. Alison Mitchell, chief journals officer at Springer Nature, said: ‘Research assessment is a challenge for the academic community, and one which requires action from all stakeholders, including publishers. Springer Nature has long recognised, and
@researchinfo |
www.researchinformation.info
advocated for, the need to judge individual research on the merits of that research alone. Requiring all of our journals to abide by the DORA principles is a strong demonstration of our commitment to supporting a balanced and fair approach towards assessing the impact and quality of research. ‘Going forward, not only will
an array of metrics be publicly available at an article and journal level, but we will work towards upholding all five of the main recommendations DORA outlines for publishers. We already encourage responsible authorship practices and will now seek to include author contribution statements in the remaining journals that do not already have them. ‘Springer Nature is also a
participant in the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC) and publicly releases reference list metadata. Additionally, and in line with the recommendations, we have removed or reduced the constraints on the number of references in research
August/September 2020 Research Information 33
articles and seek to encourage the citation of primary literature in favour of reviews.’ Introduced in 2012 during the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco, DORA recognises a ‘need to improve the ways in which the output of scientific research is evaluated by funding agencies, academic institutions and other parties’. Anna Hatch, program
director at DORA, added: ‘We
welcome Springer Nature’s decision to sign DORA and the company’s commitment to support real change in research assessment practices. This is an important step in helping to tackle a difficult and complex problem. Meaningful reform of how the outputs of research are assessed for hiring, promotion, and funding decisions will only happen with the support and action of the entire academic community.’
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38
