Image Credit: Anna Sullivan
Image Credit: Anna Sullivan

Learn how you can use altmetrics data to demonstrate and grow journal impact in this on-demand Scholastica webinar in collaboration with Altmetric. Watch the recording here.

In the increasingly dispersed digital content ecosystem, tracking and reporting on article-level metrics is becoming more imperative than ever to demonstrate the impacts of individual scholarly papers and piece together a more complete picture of how research is being found, shared, and applied both within academia and beyond.

During a recent Scholastica webinar, we explored how journal editors and publishers can leverage altmetrics data to gain insight into a range of article-level impact indicators beyond traditional citations. On March 19, 2026, we hosted “Expanding your journal impact: New opportunities with altmetrics” in collaboration with Altmetric, a leading article-level metrics tracking service, and Scholastica OA Publishing Platform integration partner, to provide insight into the latest data sources tracked by the Altmetric donut, as well as reporting options available through Altmetric tools.

The session featured Kathryn Weber-Boer, Director of Scientometrics at Digital Science. In her role, Kathryn supports clients, colleagues, and researchers using Altmetric and Dimensions products to reveal how research is being used and the sentiments surrounding it.

You can watch the webinar recording here.

If you’re a Scholastica user interested in implementing our Altmetric integration for one or more journals, you can learn how to get started in this blog post.

Below are some quick key takeaways from the webinar.

Webinar highlights

Kicking off the session, Kathryn encouraged editors and publishers to think about altmetrics data as elements of a broader story:

“In the end, the way we like to think about what we offer at Altmetric is that we’re giving you the ingredients for storytelling. From the diversity of attention source types to the sentiment of individual posts.”

She explained that journal teams can get the most out of Altmetric data insights and reports by first homing in on the types of impact narratives they hope to uncover and their intended audiences — from identifying “star articles” to highlight in author communication and publications marketing to developing reports on the outcomes of journal promotion efforts, such as social media or publicity campaigns, to share with publishing stakeholders.

Throughout the presentation, Kathryn walked through case study examples of how journal editors and publishers can uncover stories about the impacts of individual articles, as well as aggregate portfolio performance using various Altmetric tools, breaking down altmetrics sources into “three major kinds of attention”:

  • Engagement or popular attention: Mentions of research on social media or in online forums (Reddit tracking is in the works at Altmetric!)
  • Reach: Instances of research featured in reputable blogs or news outlets
  • Real-world impact: References to research in policy documents, patent applications, and clinical guidelines (one of the newest Altmetric donut impact sources)

Kathryn explained that “the categories of attention make the difference in the story you’re going to tell.” She noted that while field-weighted citation measures usually take two or more years to accrue, altmetrics data is immediately available, making it a powerful tool to explore and communicate the speed at which research moves from publication to generating impact.

Get the recording, plus further resources

The webinar is now available to watch on demand. Click here to register to get the Zoom recording.

For further reading, you can check out Altmetric’s many user case studies. You can also peruse Scholastica’s blogs on journal marketing for data implementation inspiration, including these posts on:

If you’re interested in learning more about the Scholastica OA Publishing Platform’s Altmetric integration option, as well as our broader readership analytics suite, check out this blog post. You can also schedule a personal demo with a member of our team.

Happy impact tracking!