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Comment on Article-Level Metrics: An Ill-Conceived and Meretricious Idea by jbrittholbrook

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I don’t think the charge that altmetrics can be gamed is a good argument against their use, much less evidence that the idea of altmetrics is meretricious. Let’s not kid ourselves — all metrics can be gamed. But that alone is not a good reason not to use metrics.

Although altmetrics can be gamed, it would be obvious. Typically, one can see not merely the number of tweets (for instance) that an article generates, but also WHO the tweeters are. I’d imagine that it wouldn’t be too difficult for you, Jeffrey, to identify the bogus tweets that were bought and paid for. The same holds true for blog posts — one doesn’t simply see THAT someone blogged about an article (as when one receives an email from Academia.edu that says “someone found your profile”, but one is left to guess from the key words and the country who that someone is). Rather, one sees precisely WHO blogged. One can even go to the blog and see what was written and respond to it.

Indeed, one of the best things about altmetrics is that they help us connect with our readers. Personally, I am happy to find that sometimes my readers include non-academics. I think it is meretricious simply to dismiss attention from non-academics as irrelevant. Insofar as altmetrics help connect us with all of our interlocutors, I think they are a meritorious idea.


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