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A Farewell to ALM, but not to article-level metrics!
Author: Chris Haumesser, Director of Platform and Engineering at PLOS
Understanding the impact of research is of vital importance to science. The altmetrics movement is defined by its belief that research impact is best measured by diverse real time data about how a research artifact is being used and discussed. These metrics serve as “alternatives” to solely relying on traditional shorthand assessments like citation counts and Journal Impact Factor.
PLOS was an early adopter and advocate of these metrics, with its internally-developed Article Level Metrics (ALM) platform among the earliest implementations to launch in 2009. By displaying data from multiple sources, PLOS ALM showed how an article was being read, downloaded, cited, discussed and shared, accessible from the article itself by anyone.