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Online distribution channel increases article usage on Mendeley: a randomized controlled trial

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Kudlow

    (University of Toronto
    University of Toronto
    MaRS Discovery District)

  • Matthew Cockerill

    (MaRS Discovery District)

  • Danielle Toccalino

    (MaRS Discovery District)

  • Devin Bissky Dziadyk

    (MaRS Discovery District)

  • Alan Rutledge

    (MaRS Discovery District)

  • Aviv Shachak

    (University of Toronto)

  • Roger S. McIntyre

    (University of Toronto
    University Health Network
    University of Toronto)

  • Arun Ravindran

    (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
    University of Toronto)

  • Gunther Eysenbach

    (MaRS Discovery District
    University of Toronto
    University Health Network)

Abstract

Prior research shows that article reader counts (i.e. saves) on the online reference manager, Mendeley, correlate to future citations. There are currently no evidenced-based distribution strategies that have been shown to increase article saves on Mendeley. We conducted a 4-week randomized controlled trial to examine how promotion of article links in a novel online cross-publisher distribution channel (TrendMD) affect article saves on Mendeley. Four hundred articles published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research were randomized to either the TrendMD arm (n = 200) or the control arm (n = 200) of the study. Our primary outcome compares the 4-week mean Mendeley saves of articles randomized to TrendMD versus control. Articles randomized to TrendMD showed a 77% increase in article saves on Mendeley relative to control. The difference in mean Mendeley saves for TrendMD articles versus control was 2.7, 95% CI (2.63, 2.77), and statistically significant (p

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Kudlow & Matthew Cockerill & Danielle Toccalino & Devin Bissky Dziadyk & Alan Rutledge & Aviv Shachak & Roger S. McIntyre & Arun Ravindran & Gunther Eysenbach, 2017. "Online distribution channel increases article usage on Mendeley: a randomized controlled trial," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(3), pages 1537-1556, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:112:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-017-2438-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-017-2438-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Taylor, 2023. "Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow: five altmetric sources observed over a decade show evolving trends, by research age, attention source maturity and open access status," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2175-2200, April.
    2. Paul Kudlow & Devin Bissky Dziadyk & Alan Rutledge & Aviv Shachak & Gunther Eysenbach, 2020. "The citation advantage of promoted articles in a cross‐publisher distribution platform: A 12‐month randomized controlled trial," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(10), pages 1257-1274, October.
    3. Mike Thelwall, 2018. "Early Mendeley readers correlate with later citation counts," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(3), pages 1231-1240, June.

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