During the past years the field of altmetrics has been studied as a novel source of impact evidence in the area of Quantitative Science Studies. More recently, new approaches in the area of altmetrics have started to move the focal point from an evaluative perspective (i.e. using altmetrics for evaluative purposes in a similar fashion as citations) towards a more interactive and bi-directional perspective, in which the science-society interactions that can be captured via social media are taking a more central role (Social-media Studies of Science). Accordingly, this project aims at studyinSocialg the African science-(social)media context from a multi-approach perspective, focusing on the study of the different dynamics, interactions, actors and topics as they can be captured via altmetrics and (social) media sources.

Highlights to date

  • The analysis of the research topics that are engaging African scholars and that are receiving a substantial attention on Twitter. Among these we find topics such as maternal mortality, AIDS and malaria transmission, which are important in the research African landscape but are also exhibit a strong social media reception.
  • The first global identification of scholars on Twitter ever, identifying more than 300 000 scholars with a presence on Twitter.

Research team

Research evaluation and the social impact of research

Research area