The main objective of the *metrics project is to develop a deeper understanding of *metrics (aka altmetrics / social media metrics), in terms of their general significance and their perception amongst stakeholders.
Key considerations include the quality of *metrics’ underlying data (in terms of validity and reliability), the historical context within which *metrics arose, as well as their ability to adequately assess scientific outputs against the background of disciplinary specificities.
The project’s findings will benefit *metrics users and will contribute to the greater openness and transparency of *metrics initiatives.
The social media services that are popular in academia, their users and the usage of these services will be evaluated by means of exploratory studies and recorded in cooperation with the scientific community in a social media registry. Based on the considered functional and subject-related specifications the project aims to give recommendations for standardisation.
Based on the data of the exploratory studies, the existing *metrics aggregation software will be evaluated in order to provide the most complete data base possible. After technical adjustments have been made, the *metrics will be gathered and the degree of coverage and the rating of the aggregators as well as the integration by content partners (proof-of-concept) will be tested.
This work package will oversee project management, and communicate the results of the project to the national and international library, repository and *metrics community via the bilingual (german/english) information platform metrics-project.net. At the beginning and end of the project, *metrics will be presented in workshops to interested members of libraries, research institutions and scientific communities to gather feedback.