Metrics

Metrics can be a helpful tool for researchers when choosing where to submit their research. Journal-level metrics and metrics for articles, books, and book chapters help to provide a better understanding of the reach of authors’ published research and the attention that it is receiving online. Some metrics also allow you to discover related content.

Oxford University Press (OUP) makes available a range of metrics at both Journal and article-level as well as metrics for books and chapters. Metrics are provided by a range of third-party sources, and are designed to provide insight into the performance, reach and impact at title level or for individual research outputs.

Get help with how to read metrics on Oxford Academic.

OUP is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). As a DORA signatory, we acknowledge that individual scholarly outputs and the contributions of researchers should be assessed on their own merits. Metrics should never be used as a proxy measure for the quality of individual research contributions. When journal metrics are used to inform decisions about where to publish, they should always be considered in the context of how they were calculated.

Journal-level metrics

Here we provide information about the calculation methods for some of the most common metrics used to evaluate the performance of our journals (see more details below). Please note that not all journals will receive all metrics. Journals undergo an evaluation process for indexing by Clarivate Analytics and Scopus. Metrics may not be available if the evaluation process is ongoing, or if a journal has not yet applied for indexing.

Metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics

Find more information about metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics.

Metrics provided by Scopus

Find more information about metrics provided by Scopus.

Understanding article, book, and chapter metrics

OUP’s article, book, and chapter-level metrics are available to view at the top right of journal articles, books, and chapters, and – where there is such traffic – include the number of views, the number of citations, and the relevant Altmetric scores:

                                                   

For a journal article or a book, the headline details are shown in a graphical panel (example above), which you can click into to see a detailed view and explore further. In book chapters, a "View metrics" link will be seen under the “Metrics” heading at the top right of the page, and this leads to a detailed view.

When you click into the detailed view, this can include Total Views, Citations (for Dimensions, and for journal articles, also for Web of Science), and Altmetrics:

Find out how to read and understand:

• Total Views

• Citations data

• Altmetric  data

Total Views

The ‘Total Views’ metric indicates the number of times an article, book, or chapter has been viewed on Oxford Academic. For journal articles and chapters this metric includes both individual pageviews of the article or chapter's full text as well as downloads of the PDF version of the content. The ‘Total Views’ metric for a book is the sum of the ‘Total Views’ of all parts of the book.

Please be aware that ‘Total Views’ may be increased if the same reader views an article or chapter multiple times, or if it is accessed by an automated service.

OUP started measuring total views of journal articles in this way in November 2017, and books in October 2022. This means that for journal articles published before November 2017, and books published before October 2022, you will not be able to see total views before those dates.

Citations data

Dimensions citations

The Dimensions Citations widget is driven by both citations held in the Dimensions database and their larger context in the research landscape.

• Total citations are the number of times that a journal article, book, or chapter has been cited by other publications in the Dimensions database, such as articles, chapters, preprints, or monographs.

• Recent citations are the number of citations that were received in the last two calendar years.

• The Field Citation Ratio is available only for journal articles and indicates the relative citation performance of an article when compared to similarly-aged articles in its subject area.

• The Relative Citation Ratio indicates the relative citation performance of a piece of content when comparing its citation rate to that of other articles in its area of research.

Clicking on the Dimensions badge will take you to information on the article, book, or chapter on Dimensions. From here it’s possible to further explore content citing the article, chapter or book in question, and other references.

Web of Science citations

The Web of Science citation count is only displayed for journal articles, where relevant. Clicking on the number of citations in the box will take you to a list of content citing this work held on Web of Science.

Altmetric data

Traditional measures of impact–counting downloads and citations–don’t capture the full extent of how academic content is read and used, particularly how it’s received beyond the academic sphere.

Alternative metrics have evolved to track mentions and shares of academic articles and other research outputs (such as datasets) across traditional academic publications and across other sources, such as social media outlets, blogs, public policy documents, post-publication peer-review forums, and online reference managers.

Altmetric LLP, who provide the data, collect content metrics, and monitor online conversations around research articles. They do this by tracking a variety of online indicators to give a measurement of digital impact and reach. ‘Mentions’ that contain links to any version of an article, book, or chapter are identified and collated. The result is the Altmetric score.

The Altmetric score

The score is displayed in the centre of the coloured badge, providing a summary of the attention that an article, book, or chapter has received. The score is based on three factors:

• Volume: The more times an article, book or chapter is mentioned, the higher it scores. 
• Sources: Each source contributes a different base amount to the final score. 
• Authors: The account for each source changes how highly their mention is scored. A mention by a doctor sharing a medical article with other doctors scores more highly than a journal account announcing the publication of a new article.

The different coloured bands in the badge icon represent the sources where an article is mentioned: Light blue for Twitter, yellow for blogs, red for mainstream media, and so on. You can access a more detailed breakdown of coverage by clicking on the badge. This includes:

• A list of mentions across all monitored sources, including:

  • mainstream and social media 

  • published policy documents 

  • online reference managers 

  • post-publication peer-review forums.

• Links to conversations surrounding the content.

• Links to other publications that cite the article.

You can also find demographic and geographic information here, letting you see which parts of the world mentions are coming from, and the kinds of roles that the people mentioning have.

Altmetric for authors

Altmetrics can demonstrate the broader impacts of your work, which may increase your chances of receiving grant funding. To make the most of the data around your articles, you can:

• Use the Altmetric details page to identify coverage of your research, for inclusion in CVs or funding applications.
• See who is talking about your research–identify potential new collaborators and build relationships with influential readers.
• Monitor other research in your field to see how it’s being received beyond academia.
• Manage your online reputation–respond to commentary about your work and engage with the conversation.

Additionally, you can:

• Sign up for Altmetric email alerts: You can sign up to be notified when an article receives a new mention online (you'll only get one email a day). Simply click on the ‘Alert me about new mentions’ button on the ‘Show more details’ page.
• Improve your Altmetric score: Read this Altmetric blog article for some ideas and tips.
• Add your Altmetric score to your own website: You can display your article’s Altmetric score on your personal website or blog, or on your departmental or society webpages, by following these instructions.

Missing Altmetric mentions

If you spot any mentions missing for an article, please use this form to report this to Altmetric, who will review your suggestions and add them where applicable. Find more information about why some mentions may not have been picked up on.