Are ALMs/altmetrics propagating global inequality?

Presentation given at the ALM Workshop in San Francisco, October 10-12, 2013

Altmetrics/Article Level Metrics (ALMs) may prove to be a disruptive force in today's scholarly communication landscpae, but scholars in the developing world have little hope of benefiting from their increased prevalence. Like with commerically-controlled citation indexes before them, ALM/altmetrics are highly biased towards those in the global North (both in uptake and in the resulting metrics). Yet, these biases are hardly ever acknowledged and even less frequently taken into consideration. As the ALM/altmerics movements consolidate around a group of stakeholders located exclusively in the global North, the rest of the world will once again be left behind and the rest of the world will be forced play catch-up in a race it has no hope of winning.

In a humble attempt to give scholars in the developing world a chance in this race, the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is beginning to roll out an implementation of PLOS' ALM application focused on journals in the developing world. The service has the potential to reach thousands of journals using Open Journal Systems and, if successful, can encourage journal editors to stear their journals towards a broader public. The hope is that by starting at the same time as those in the North, and by becoming heavy users, scholars from developing countries will be able to take advantage of the potential ALM/altmetrics offer, as well as shape their development to suit their needs.

The future of scholarly communication needs to be inclusive of diverse local contexts and tailored to address national development goals, not just serve the scientific elite. As I present PKP's new ALM service and the challenges encountered, I challenge you to think outside of your own context and better understand the implications and needs of scholars in the developing world. And to think about how you can shape the future of scholarly communication to serve the development of higher education systems, to foster a research culture that is responsive to social needs, and to provide a platform to those that have traditionally been excluded from scholarly exchange.

Transcript

1. Are ALMs/altmetrics propagating global inequality? Juan Pablo Alperin (@juancommander)
2. [history repeats itself] the first time as tragedy, the second as farce “ ” (Marx, 1852; ch. 1) @juancommander
3. so... you think the is evil? IF You’ve even signed @juancommander
4. see it from MY perspective @juancommander
5. actually, perspective of the world (% of population that lives in low and middle income countries) 82% @juancommander
6. world according to WoS @juancommander
7. world according to WoS @juancommander
8. it has been this way always @juancommander
9. @juancommander
10. for citation counts means even on just the technical level about what this @juancommander
11. if you’re from the South, and your public is in the South, you are ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanehollingsworth/3510211925 @juancommander
12. but what is worse way way worse @juancommander
13. it undermines science @juancommander
14. it undermines development @juancommander
15. SO WHAT ? @juancommander
16. SO WHAT does this have to do with ALM/altmetrics? @juancommander
17. don’t ALM/altmetrics FIX THIS ? @juancommander
18. Internet penetration @juancommander
19. facebook penetration @juancommander
20. facebook penetration of Internet users a more encouraging picture @juancommander
21. All Exact Location coordinates in the Twitter Decahose 23 October 2012 to 30 November 2012 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4366/3654 are you surprised? Twitter is also skewed @juancommander
22. already showed you WoS Scopus is a little better but still not great @juancommander
23. All Place coordinates in the Twitter Decahose 23 October 2012 to 30 November 2012 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4366/3654 Mendeley is perhaps more balanced @juancommander
24. CrossRef publishers/affiliates and libraries are also not equally distributed @juancommander
25. CrossRef publishers/affiliates and libraries are also not equally distributed @juancommander
26. CrossRef publishers/affiliates and libraries are also not equally distributed @juancommander
27. SO WHAT ? @juancommander
28. how many of you live or work in a developing country? @juancommander
29. • we risk doing it again! (this time as farce?) • revolutionize research assessment and ignore global South • change to new metrics that are still biased towards the North • adapt to new ways of working, leaving the South to catch-up @juancommander
30. who we serve with OJS @juancommander
31. launched an ALM giving priority to the developing world using @juancommander
32. launched an ALM giving priority to the small publishers using @juancommander
33. launched an ALM to try to make the culture shift INCLUSIVE using @juancommander
34. launched an ALM to try to avoid the biases of the past using @juancommander
35. launched an ALM to try to teach new ways of communicating using @juancommander
36. launched an ALM to try to teach new ways of having impact using @juancommander
37. SO WHAT is next ? @juancommander
38. asking all organizations that do advocacy develop tools scholarly publishing revolutions or simply care about ALM/ altmetrics @juancommander
39. to think about about the rest of the world @juancommander
40. to think about about the of the world most @juancommander
41. thank you @juancommander