Exploring the relationship between traditional bibliometrics and Altmetric scores in the primary care literature

Abstract

Background: There is some evidence that Altmetric scores correlate with citations in medical research, but this is not consistent across different specialties. No previous studies have examined the association between Altmetric score and citations amongst primary care research journals. Aim: To describe the association between Altmetric score and citations for primary care research journals. Methods: We identified the ten most frequently cited articles published in the top 15 highest impact factor primary care research journals. Article and journal metrics were extracted and summarised using descriptive statistics. We used Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs) and log-log linear regression modelling to examine the relationship between citations and Altmetric score. Results: 150 articles were included with a median of 36.5 (IQR 20 to 59; range 5 to 811) citations. We found a positive association between citations and Altmetric score (rs=0.519 (p<0.001)). A unit increase in log Altmetric score was associated with increased log citations in an adjusted (0.175 (95% CI 0.091-0.259, p<0.001)) linear regression model. Discussion & Conclusion: The regression findings indicate that increasing Altmetric score by 10% was associated with a 1.68% increase in citation rate. This has implications for how authors, academic institutions and primary care research journals approach dissemination of articles.