1. Make your work accessible
Make all your outputs accessible, early in the research lifecycle, and in a stable location. For material not published under license with an academic publisher (i.e. not journal articles, book chapters), options for hosting outputs include:
Check the Directory of Open Access Repositories for more options.
2. Use a persistent identifier
Include a persistent identifier for your output in any social media or other dissemination about your research. This means your work is findable, and it also means altmetric aggregators such as Altmetric can track mentions of your work. Commercially published work will usually have an identifier such as a DOI (digital object identifier) or isbn assigned by the publisher. For work not commercially published, many hosting platforms can mint DOIs, including:
Many other kinds of persistent or unique identifiers might be appropriate and are recognised by Altmetric.
3. Understand what altmetrics are relevant for your research and when
- The Metrics Toolkit has tools for exploring and choosing relevant metrics for your research discipline and outputs.
- Use Altmetric or PlumX tools to get a picture of online attention in your research area.
4. Join the conversation
Use altmetrics tools to understand who is talking about your research area, then join in the conversation in social media and on academic platforms.
- Use PlumX and Altmetric to track public engagement, as well as citation in non-traditional research outputs such as policy, news media and patents.
5. Develop a dissemination plan
Plan communications about your research to maximise engagement.
- Use Altmetric or PlumX to identify which journals and other research output formats get reach, then publish your research outputs strategically.
- Use Altmetric, Dimensions or PlumX to understand who is publishing in your area, what questions and ideas are gaining attention and target your communications.
- Use a platform such as Kudos, a webpage or your personal blog to link to your research outputs with a plain-language title and explanation. Link to or add associated materials such as datasets, images, videos and blog entries to provide context.
- Understand your non-academic audiences and how to write for sectors such as industry and business, civil society organisations, education and government. See the Library webinar recording on Research Writing for a Broad Audience, or the RMIT Researcher Portal for help on Engagement & Impact (E&I) and on Translating Your Research.
- Do some basic media engagement training to learn how to tell your research story to the public, particularly prior to any publication, so you can be ready with a well-crafted news release.
See also Using Altmetric Explorer to Develop Dissemination Plans: A Guide for Researchers & Institutions.
