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Research data explored: an extended analysis of citations and altmetrics

Author

Listed:
  • Isabella Peters

    (ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
    Kiel University)

  • Peter Kraker

    (Know-Center)

  • Elisabeth Lex

    (Graz University of Technology)

  • Christian Gumpenberger

    (University of Vienna)

  • Juan Gorraiz

    (University of Vienna)

Abstract

In this study, we explore the citedness of research data, its distribution over time and its relation to the availability of a digital object identifier (DOI) in the Thomson Reuters database Data Citation Index (DCI). We investigate if cited research data “impacts” the (social) web, reflected by altmetrics scores, and if there is any relationship between the number of citations and the sum of altmetrics scores from various social media platforms. Three tools are used to collect altmetrics scores, namely PlumX, ImpactStory, and Altmetric.com, and the corresponding results are compared. We found that out of the three altmetrics tools, PlumX has the best coverage. Our experiments revealed that research data remain mostly uncited (about 85 %), although there has been an increase in citing data sets published since 2008. The percentage of the number of cited research data with a DOI in DCI has decreased in the last years. Only nine repositories are responsible for research data with DOIs and two or more citations. The number of cited research data with altmetrics “foot-prints” is even lower (4–9 %) but shows a higher coverage of research data from the last decade. In our study, we also found no correlation between the number of citations and the total number of altmetrics scores. Yet, certain data types (i.e. survey, aggregate data, and sequence data) are more often cited and also receive higher altmetrics scores. Additionally, we performed citation and altmetric analyses of all research data published between 2011 and 2013 in four different disciplines covered by the DCI. In general, these results correspond very well with the ones obtained for research data cited at least twice and also show low numbers in citations and in altmetrics. Finally, we observed that there are disciplinary differences in the availability and extent of altmetrics scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabella Peters & Peter Kraker & Elisabeth Lex & Christian Gumpenberger & Juan Gorraiz, 2016. "Research data explored: an extended analysis of citations and altmetrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(2), pages 723-744, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:107:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-016-1887-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-1887-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Benedikt Fecher & Mathis Fräßdorf & Gert G. Wagner, 2016. "Perceptions and Practices of Replication by Social and Behavioral Scientists: Making Replications a Mandatory Element of Curricula Would Be Useful," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1572, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Xia Nan & Ming Li & Jin Shi, 2020. "Using altmetrics for assessing impact of highly-cited books in Chinese Book Citation Index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1651-1669, March.
    3. José Luis Ortega, 2020. "Blogs and news sources coverage in altmetrics data providers: a comparative analysis by country, language, and subject," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 555-572, January.
    4. Dosso, Dennis & Silvello, Gianmaria, 2020. "Data credit distribution: A new method to estimate databases impact," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    5. Nushrat Khan & Mike Thelwall & Kayvan Kousha, 2021. "Measuring the impact of biodiversity datasets: data reuse, citations and altmetrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(4), pages 3621-3639, April.
    6. Barbara McGillivray & Paola Marongiu & Nilo Pedrazzini & Marton Ribary & Mandy Wigdorowitz & Eleonora Zordan, 2022. "Deep Impact: A Study on the Impact of Data Papers and Datasets in the Humanities and Social Sciences," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-40, October.
    7. Rafael Aleixandre-Benavent & Antonio Vidal-Infer & Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo & Fernanda Peset & Antonia Ferrer Sapena, 2020. "Research Data Sharing in Spain: Exploring Determinants, Practices, and Perceptions," Data, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Kai Li & Jason Rollins & Erjia Yan, 2018. "Web of Science use in published research and review papers 1997–2017: a selective, dynamic, cross-domain, content-based analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 1-20, April.
    9. José Luis Ortega, 2018. "Reliability and accuracy of altmetric providers: a comparison among Altmetric.com, PlumX and Crossref Event Data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2123-2138, September.
    10. Robinson-Garcia, Nicolas & Mongeon, Philippe & Jeng, Wei & Costas, Rodrigo, 2017. "DataCite as a novel bibliometric source: Coverage, strengths and limitations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 841-854.
    11. Rongying Zhao & Mingkun Wei, 2017. "Impact evaluation of open source software: an Altmetrics perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 1017-1033, February.
    12. Mike Thelwall & Marcus Munafò & Amalia Mas-Bleda & Emma Stuart & Meiko Makita & Verena Weigert & Chris Keene & Nushrat Khan & Katie Drax & Kayvan Kousha, 2020. "Is useful research data usually shared? An investigation of genome-wide association study summary statistics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, February.
    13. Droß, Patrick J. & Naujoks, Julian, 2019. "Die Kuratierung sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschungsdaten - Praxisfragen und Beispiellösungen," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 23-38.
    14. Xie, Qing & Wang, Jiamin & Kim, Giyeong & Lee, Soobin & Song, Min, 2021. "A sensitivity analysis of factors influential to the popularity of shared data in data repositories," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    15. Daniel Torres-Salinas & Nicolás Robinson-Garcia & Juan Gorraiz, 2017. "Filling the citation gap: measuring the multidimensional impact of the academic book at institutional level with PlumX," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(3), pages 1371-1384, December.
    16. Hyoungjoo Park & Dietmar Wolfram, 2017. "An examination of research data sharing and re-use: implications for data citation practice," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(1), pages 443-461, April.
    17. Thomy Tonia & Herman Van Oyen & Anke Berger & Christian Schindler & Nino Künzli, 2020. "If I tweet will you cite later? Follow-up on the effect of social media exposure on article downloads and citations," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(9), pages 1797-1802, December.

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