Metrics
Metrics, sometimes referred to as bibliometrics, provide ways to assess scholarly impact. This Metrics Toolkit provides a glossary of terms and concepts related to research metrics. Created by scientometrics experts, it provides information about how metrics are calculated, what their limitations are, and how best to use them.
Altmetrics
The term altmetrics is often used to refer to alternative metrics, or ways in which scholars and researchers can measure their online impact beyond traditional metrics like citation counts. Examples of altmetrics might include Twitter/X shares, the number of times your online article was downloaded, or how often your work or name is mentioned in blogs.
Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms can help your scholarship reach new audiences, connect you to other scholars and practitioners, and encourage people to seek out your works. Some faculty members communicate regularly using platforms like personal blogs, podcasts, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
To learn more about working within a variety of social media platforms, see two e-books available to Emory Law faculty that offer guidance for academics interested in using social media platforms:
Christopher Schneider, Doing Public Scholarship: a Practical Guide to Media Engagement, Routledge, 2024.
Kelly-Ann Allen, Shane Jimerson, Daniel Quintana, An Academic’s Guide to Social Media, Routledge, 2022.
Social Media Tools
If you are already using social media platforms, additional social media tools can help simplify or improve your social media outputs. A number of tools are available to help manage social media accounts more efficiently though social media automation and social media management including Hootsuite, Buffer, and IFTTT to name a few. Some of these tools allow you to create unified calendars to schedule social media posts, and some of them offer analytics tools. Some of these tools offer free trials, and most of them provide additional features with paid subscriptions.
Several social media management and analytics tools are discussed in these overviews:
Social Media Analytics
A number of different social media analytics tools are listed in the University of Minnesota's Social Media Research Guide in the "Analytics for Marketing" section of the guide. Among the tools described in the University of Minnesota guide are Twitter Analytics, HootSuite, Facebook Audience Insights, and Instagram Insights. If you have social media accounts, these tools will allow you to track your impact. Social media analytics tools are also discussed in the resources listed above, including the News Release Wire summaries.
Emory University Social Media Guidelines
Published by Emory University's Office of Communications and Marketing, the Emory University Social Media Guidelines provide information for those who are managing university-based social media accounts. However, beginning on page 7, the document does offer tips for Emory faculty and staff for their personal social media accounts.
