Ranking Journals Using Altmetrics

The rank of a journal based on simple citation information is a popular measure. The simplicity and availability of rankings such as Impact Factor, Eigenfactor and SciMago Journal Rank based on trusted commercial sources ensures their widespread use for many important tasks despite the well-known limitations of such rankings. In this paper we look at an alternative approach based on information on papers from social and mainstream media sources
Authors: Tamar V. Loach, Tim S. Evans
Source: Arxiv.org
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Network-based Citation Metrics: Eigenfactor vs. SJR

Is the influence of a journal best measured by the number of citations it attracts or by the citations it attracts from other influential journals?
The purpose of this post is to describe, in plain English, two network-based citation metrics: Eigenfactor[1] and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)[2], compare their differences, and evaluate what they add to our understanding of the scientific literature.
Both Eigenfactor and SJR are based on the number of citations a journal receives from other journals, weighted by their importance, such that citations from important journals like Nature are given more weight than less important titles. Later in this post, I’ll describe exactly how a journal derives its importance from the network.
Authors:  PHIL DAVIS
Source: The Scholarly Kitchen
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Review times in peer review: quantitative analysis of editorial workflows

We examine selected aspects of peer review and suggest possible improvements. To this end, we analyse a dataset containing information about 300 papers submitted to the Biochemistry and Biotechnology section of the Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society. After separating the peer review process into stages that each review has to go through, we use a weighted directed graph to describe it in a probabilistic manner and test the impact of some modifications of the editorial policy on the efficiency of the whole process.
Authors: Maciej J. Mrowinski, Agata Fronczak, Piotr Fronczak, Olgica Nedic, Marcel Ausloos

Source:  Arxiv.org/

URL: Full text

Altmetrics (Chapter from Beyond Bibliometrics: Harnessing Multidimensional Indicators of Scholarly Impact)

This chapter discusses altmetrics (short for "alternative metrics"), an approach to uncovering previously-invisible traces of scholarly impact by observing activity in online tools and systems. I argue that citations, while useful, miss many important kinds of impacts, and that the increasing scholarly use of online tools like Mendeley, Twitter, and blogs may allow us to measure these hidden impacts. Next, I define altmetrics and discuss research on altmetric sources--both research mapping the growth of these sources, and scientometric research measuring activity on them. Following a discussion of the potential uses of altmetrics, I consider the limitations of altmetrics and recommend areas ripe for future research.
Author: Jason Priem
Source: Arxiv.org/
URL: Full text

Tutoring as an academic tool and for the development of transversal competences

The work that we are presenting in this document has its origins in IBEROTEC´s model of tutoring. It evolved from an educational proposal about working with transverse competences that made tutoring a tool for the development of these competences. Tutoring is very important, but secondary, in light of the objectives of the formation that intends to reach a particular graduate profile. In this sense, we saw the necessity of generating four principles to orient academic administration and the actions of tutors and teachers. Thus, what this document proposes is a model of academic administration oriented by the following four ideas: the student is autonomous and Iberotec´s principal idea is to contribute to that; the teachers are “learning provocateurs”, they provoke student´s learning; the work is formative; the institution is facilitating. These principles are more than a declaration of intention; they are a series of criteria for daily decision making and for the design of courses and the action plan for tutoring.
Author: Pàmies García, María Antònia; Galindo Rivera, Carlos Flores
Source: Revista Iberoamericana de Educación
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/554303