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Scholarly Communications Resources

This guide contains resources and information about Scholarly Communications services provided to faculty and students at Texas A&M University School of Law.

Impact Metrics Overview

Author platforms like Google Scholar, HeinOnline, and SSRN provide engagement and impact data such as citations, downloads, and more. The library takes "snapshots" of this data and can provide reports for you throughout the year. While the data on these platforms is not always complete, it can provide a starting point for engaging with the impact of your work. 

  • SSRN provides author pages with article downloads and SSRN and Crossref citations.
  • SSRN can be used by authors to distribute drafts and recently published papers to different academic networks by subject and topic. Browse the eJournal library here & generate a list you think fits your papers.
  • The law school also publishes a Research Paper Series (RPS) on SSRN, which further enhances the reach of your papers. Professor Peter Yu serves as editor of the law school's RPS.
  • SSRN also maintains a variety of Rankings on its website:

  • HeinOnline provides author profiles that compile engagement data such as downloads in the past 12 months, citations over time, h-index, and more. Details about you and your research interests can be saved to your profile. You can also browse each article on your profile and see citations to your work.
  • Browse Texas A&M University School of Law faculty on HeinOnline
  • HeinOnline maintains a Top 250 Authors list using their ScholarRank system.

 

 

 

Altmetrics & PlumX

TAMU University Libraries provides access to the Digital Science Altmetrics Platform, which can help keep track of social media activity, mentions, and other engagement across a variety of sources:

 

PlumX metrics count five separate categories: citations, usage, captures, mentions, and social media. PlumX data is integrated into Bepress author profiles and SSRN.

  • Metrics_Icons_CitationsCitations – traditional citation indexes, as well as citations that help indicate societal impact such as Clinical or Policy Citations.
  • Metrics_Icons_UsageUsage – signals that someone read the article or otherwise used the research. Usage is the number one statistic researchers want to know after citations (e.g., clicks, downloads, views, library holdings, video plays). 
  • Metrics_Icons_CapturesCaptures – shows that someone wants to come back to the work, possibly indicating future citations (e.g., bookmarks, code forks, favorites, readers, watchers )
  • Mentions – measures references to the article in news articles or blog posts. Mentions is a way to tell that people are engaging with the research (e.g., blog posts, comments, reviews, Wikipedia references, news media.
  • Metrics_Icons_SocialMediaSocial media - includes the tweets, Facebook likes, etc. that reference the research; i.e., “buzz” and promotion.