Alternative Metrics for Assessing the Social Impact of Tourism Research

Alba Viana Lora and Marta Gemma Nel-lo Andreu
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Alba Viana Lora: Department of Geography, Rovira i Virgili University, 43480 Vila-seca, Spain
Marta Gemma Nel-lo Andreu: Department of Geography, Rovira i Virgili University, 43480 Vila-seca, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: Alternative metrics are increasingly used to measure the social impact of research. This article seeks to analyze the social impact of research in the field of tourism. For this purpose, we will determine the extent to which the articles in this field reach society by examining the scores they achieve on social media and studying the correlation between scientific impact and social impact. Altmetric information will be used for data extraction and analysis. The results show a low correlation between citations and the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS), as well as a presence that is not captured by most publications in the field of study. Interestingly, publications with higher AASs are concentrated in the same journals. The article concludes by determining that alternative metrics can be used to complement academic impact but cannot be a substitute for it. Further progress is needed in the development of a framework that unifies both impacts.

Keywords: social impact of research; impact assessment; social media; altmetric; tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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