TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of Twitter/X promotion on visibility of research articles

T2 - Results of the #TweetTheJournal study

AU - Betz, Konstanze

AU - Giordano, Melania

AU - Hillmann, Henrike Aenne Katrin

AU - Duncker, David

AU - Dobrev, Dobromir

AU - Linz, Dominik

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Aim: Social media (SoMe) are emerging as important tools for research dissemination. Twitter/X promotion has been shown to increase citation rates in well-established journals. We aimed to test the effect of a SoMe promotion strategy on the Mendeley reader counts, the Altmetric Attention Score and the number of citations in an upcoming open-access journal. Methods: The #TweetTheJournal study is a randomized, controlled study. Articles published in seven subsequent issues of the International Journal of Cardiology Heart & Vasculature (April 2021-April 2022) were randomized to a Twitter/X promotion arm (articles were posted four times) and to a control arm (without active posting). Articles with accompanied editorials were excluded. Primary endpoint of the study was Mendeley reader count, secondary endpoints were Altmetric Attention Score and number of citations. Follow-up was one year. Results: SoMe promotion of articles showed no statistically significant difference in Mendeley reader counts or number of citations at one year follow up. SoMe promotion resulted in a statistically significant higher Altmetric Attention Score in the intervention compared to the control group (RR 1.604, 95 % CI 1.024–2.511, p = 0.039). In the overall group, Altmetric Attention Score showed a correlation with Mendeley reader counts (Spearman's ρ = 0.202, p = 0.010) and Mendeley reader counts correlated significantly with number of citations (Spearman's ρ = 0.372, p < 0.001). Conclusion: A dedicated SoMe promotion strategy did not result in statistically significant differences in early impact indicators as the Mendeley reader count in a upcoming journal, but increased the Altmetric Attention Score.

AB - Aim: Social media (SoMe) are emerging as important tools for research dissemination. Twitter/X promotion has been shown to increase citation rates in well-established journals. We aimed to test the effect of a SoMe promotion strategy on the Mendeley reader counts, the Altmetric Attention Score and the number of citations in an upcoming open-access journal. Methods: The #TweetTheJournal study is a randomized, controlled study. Articles published in seven subsequent issues of the International Journal of Cardiology Heart & Vasculature (April 2021-April 2022) were randomized to a Twitter/X promotion arm (articles were posted four times) and to a control arm (without active posting). Articles with accompanied editorials were excluded. Primary endpoint of the study was Mendeley reader count, secondary endpoints were Altmetric Attention Score and number of citations. Follow-up was one year. Results: SoMe promotion of articles showed no statistically significant difference in Mendeley reader counts or number of citations at one year follow up. SoMe promotion resulted in a statistically significant higher Altmetric Attention Score in the intervention compared to the control group (RR 1.604, 95 % CI 1.024–2.511, p = 0.039). In the overall group, Altmetric Attention Score showed a correlation with Mendeley reader counts (Spearman's ρ = 0.202, p = 0.010) and Mendeley reader counts correlated significantly with number of citations (Spearman's ρ = 0.372, p < 0.001). Conclusion: A dedicated SoMe promotion strategy did not result in statistically significant differences in early impact indicators as the Mendeley reader count in a upcoming journal, but increased the Altmetric Attention Score.

KW - Altmetrics

KW - Cardiovascular articles

KW - Citations

KW - Mendeley reader

KW - Randomized study

KW - Social media

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijcha.2023.101328

DO - 10.1016/j.ijcha.2023.101328

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38419603

AN - SCOPUS:85180948553

VL - 50

JO - IJC Heart and Vasculature

JF - IJC Heart and Vasculature

SN - 2352-9067

M1 - 101328

ER -