Publication Use Statistics
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Publication use statistics are unique to publications that are available in electronic format. Many journal publishers and digital repositories have tools that allow for tracking of use of a particular publication. Some journals and digital repositories also offer additional use features such as ranking compared to other publications, number of times printed, number of times emailed, number of times downloaded, whether it was reviewed, and if the work has been cited by another publication. Features vary among publishers and digital repositories with each using different methods and software for assessment. Results from a publisher and a digital repository for the same publication may vary.
Assessment
Assessment of publication use statistics is contingent upon the vendor/source of the online content. Two sources of online content include digital repositories and journal publishers.
Digital Repositories
PubMed Central (PMC)
PubMed Central (PMC) is a digital repository operated by the National Library of Medicine that contains biomedical and life sciences journal literature. NIH-funded authors are required to submit peer-reviewed manuscripts that were generated by NIH-funded research and accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 pursuant to the NIH Public Access Policy.
NIH funded authors can view use statistics for manuscripts that are in PubMed Central. NIH-funded authors should logon to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS), select the eRA Commons route, and enter their eRA Commons account information. This allows for access to NIHMS to view a list of manuscripts that have been submitted to PubMed Central. Under the Status column, the “PMC access statistics” link displays use statistics for each manuscript.
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Sample statistics from PMC |
Journal Publishers
Many journals that are available in electronic format provide statistics for publications ranging from number of times viewed, number of times emailed and number of times printed. One example is the Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics (JCRT). JCRT provides statistics for each publication as well as top ten articles and top cited articles. Elsevier provides most downloaded articles statistics for each journal they publish and number of times an article has been cited. Publishers that offer these statistics provide varying methods of assessment.
Another example of a journal publisher that provides publication use statistics is BioMed Central (BMC). Authors who publish in any BioMed Central journal can track the number of times a work has been accessed. See BioMed Central “Author Central” for more information. In addition, there are options to view cited works for the publication as noted in BioMed Central, Google Scholar, ISI Web of Science, and PubMed Central as well as a notice if the publication was reviewed by Faculty of 1000 Biology or Medicine.
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BMC Journal of Biology page |
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Last updated: April 27, 2009