Twitter Predicts Citation Rates of Ecological Research

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166570
• Publication Date: 2016-11-11T18:35:19Z
• Authors: Brandon K. Peoples; Stephen R. Midway; Dana Sackett; Abigail Lynch; Patrick B. Cooney
• Keywords: Altmetrics; Impact factor; Promotion (chess); Citation impact

The relationship between traditional metrics of research impact (e.g., number citations) and alternative (altmetrics) such as Twitter activity are great interest, but remain imprecisely quantified. We used generalized linear mixed modeling to estimate the relative effects activity, journal factor, time since publication on Web Science citation rates 1,599 primary articles from 20 ecology journals published 2012-2014. found a strong positive (i.e., unique tweets about an article) citations. was more important predictor than 5-year factor. Moreover, not driven by factor; 'highest-impact' were necessarily most discussed online. effect only fifth publication; accounting for this confounding factor critical estimating true use. Articles in impactful can become heavily cited, with lower factors generate considerable also cited. Authors may benefit establishing social media presence, should expect highly cited solely through promotion. Our demonstrates that altmetrics be closely related, identical. suggest both useful impact.