The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has announced a new two-phase project to study, propose, and develop community-based standards or recommended practices in the field of alternative metrics. Assessment of scholarship is a critical component of the research process, impacting everything from which projects get funded to who gains promotion and tenure to which publications gain prominence.
Since Eugene Garfield's pioneering work in the 1960s, much of the work on research assessment has been based upon citations. Exemplified by innovative new platforms like ImpactStory, a new movement is growing to develop more robust alternative metrics - called altmetrics - that complement traditional citation metrics. NISO will first hold several in-person and virtual meetings to identify critical areas where altmetrics standards or recommended practices are needed and then convene a working group to develop consensus standards and/or recommended practices.
The project is funded through a $207,500 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The first phase of the project will gather two groups of invited experts in altmetrics research, traditional publishing, bibliometrics, and faculty assessment for in-person discussions with the goal of identifying key altmetrics issues and those that can best be addressed through standards or recommended practices. This input will form the basis of two virtual meetings open to the public to further refine and prioritise the issues.
Additional community input will be sought through an array of electronic and social mechanisms and events coordinated with major community conferences. A report summarising this input will identify the specific areas where NISO should develop standards or recommended practices, which will be undertaken by a working group convened in phase two.
The complete project from initial meetings to publication of standards is expected to take two years. Information about the meetings and other methods for participation will be announced on the NISO website and in the monthly Newsline e-newsletter.
