Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals

Introduction: Alternative metrics (altmetrics) have emerged as invaluable tools for assessing the influence of scholarly articles. In this study we aimed to evaluate correlations between Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS), and sources and actual citations in articles displaying the highest AAS within...

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Main Authors: Başak Bayram, Murat Cetin, Önder Limon, Brit Long, Michael Gottlieb
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2025-02-01
Series:Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
Online Access:https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83q1b003
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author Başak Bayram
Murat Cetin
Önder Limon
Brit Long
Michael Gottlieb
author_facet Başak Bayram
Murat Cetin
Önder Limon
Brit Long
Michael Gottlieb
author_sort Başak Bayram
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Alternative metrics (altmetrics) have emerged as invaluable tools for assessing the influence of scholarly articles. In this study we aimed to evaluate correlations between Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS), and sources and actual citations in articles displaying the highest AAS within emergency medicine (EM) journals. Methods: We conducted an analysis of EM journals listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) using the Altmetric Explorer tool. We analyzed the journals that received the highest number of mentions, the sources of AAS, the regions most frequently mentioned, and the geographical distribution of mentions. In the subsequent stage of our analysis, we conducted an examination of the 200 top-ranked articles that had received high AAS and were published in SCIE EM journals from January 1, 2013–January 1, 2023. We sought to determine the correlations between the AAS and the citation counts of articles on Google Scholar and the Web of Science (WOS). Results: Of 40,840 research outputs evaluated, there were 510,047 shares across multiple platforms. The AAS were present for 36,719 articles (89.9%), while 10.1% had no score. In the review of the top 200 articles with the highest AAS, the median score was 382.5 (interquartile range 301.3–510.8). Of the research output evaluated, 38% were observational studies, 13% case reports, and 13% reviews/meta-analyses. The most common research topics were emergency department (ED) management and COVID-19. There was no correlation between AAS and WOS citation numbers (rs = −0.041, P = 0.563, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.175–0.087). There was a weak correlation identified between WOS citations and mentions on X, and a moderate correlation observed for WOS citations and blog mentions (rs = 0.330, P < .001, 95% CI 0.174 to 0.458; rs2 = 0.109, and rs = 0.452, P < .001, 95% CI 0.320–0.566; and rs2 = 0.204, respectively). However, we found a strong positive correlation between WOS citations and the number of Mendeley readers (rs = 0.873, P < .001, 95% CI 0.82–0.911, rs2 = 0.762). Conclusion: While most articles in EM journals received an AAS, we found no correlation with traditional citation metrics. However, Mendeley readership numbers showed a strong positive correlation with citation counts, suggesting that academic platform engagement may better predict scholarly impact.
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spelling doaj-art-59a37d0f383743eaa7ddcfa8ccac10a62025-08-20T01:50:19ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-900X1936-90182025-02-0126235336310.5811/westjem.2120121201Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine JournalsBaşak Bayram0Murat Cetin1Önder Limon2Brit Long3Michael Gottlieb4İIzmir Metropolitan Municipality Eşrefpaşa Hospital, Izmir, TürkiyeDr. Behçet Uz Children’s Education and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Konak, Izmir, TürkiyeIzmir University of Economics, Faculty of Medicine, Medicalpoint Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Karşıyaka, Izmir, TürkiyeSan Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, Department of Emergency Medicine, Fort Sam Houston, TexasRush University Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Chicago, IllinoisIntroduction: Alternative metrics (altmetrics) have emerged as invaluable tools for assessing the influence of scholarly articles. In this study we aimed to evaluate correlations between Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS), and sources and actual citations in articles displaying the highest AAS within emergency medicine (EM) journals. Methods: We conducted an analysis of EM journals listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) using the Altmetric Explorer tool. We analyzed the journals that received the highest number of mentions, the sources of AAS, the regions most frequently mentioned, and the geographical distribution of mentions. In the subsequent stage of our analysis, we conducted an examination of the 200 top-ranked articles that had received high AAS and were published in SCIE EM journals from January 1, 2013–January 1, 2023. We sought to determine the correlations between the AAS and the citation counts of articles on Google Scholar and the Web of Science (WOS). Results: Of 40,840 research outputs evaluated, there were 510,047 shares across multiple platforms. The AAS were present for 36,719 articles (89.9%), while 10.1% had no score. In the review of the top 200 articles with the highest AAS, the median score was 382.5 (interquartile range 301.3–510.8). Of the research output evaluated, 38% were observational studies, 13% case reports, and 13% reviews/meta-analyses. The most common research topics were emergency department (ED) management and COVID-19. There was no correlation between AAS and WOS citation numbers (rs = −0.041, P = 0.563, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.175–0.087). There was a weak correlation identified between WOS citations and mentions on X, and a moderate correlation observed for WOS citations and blog mentions (rs = 0.330, P < .001, 95% CI 0.174 to 0.458; rs2 = 0.109, and rs = 0.452, P < .001, 95% CI 0.320–0.566; and rs2 = 0.204, respectively). However, we found a strong positive correlation between WOS citations and the number of Mendeley readers (rs = 0.873, P < .001, 95% CI 0.82–0.911, rs2 = 0.762). Conclusion: While most articles in EM journals received an AAS, we found no correlation with traditional citation metrics. However, Mendeley readership numbers showed a strong positive correlation with citation counts, suggesting that academic platform engagement may better predict scholarly impact.https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83q1b003
spellingShingle Başak Bayram
Murat Cetin
Önder Limon
Brit Long
Michael Gottlieb
Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
title Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
title_full Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
title_fullStr Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
title_short Analysis of the Highest Altmetrics-scored Articles in Emergency Medicine Journals
title_sort analysis of the highest altmetrics scored articles in emergency medicine journals
url https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83q1b003
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AT onderlimon analysisofthehighestaltmetricsscoredarticlesinemergencymedicinejournals
AT britlong analysisofthehighestaltmetricsscoredarticlesinemergencymedicinejournals
AT michaelgottlieb analysisofthehighestaltmetricsscoredarticlesinemergencymedicinejournals