INFORMATION RESEARCH

A Study of the Effect of Academic Paper Readability on Altmetrics: Taking Web of Science Paper Abstract Data as an Example

  • Ou Guiyan ,
  • Chen Pei ,
  • Wu Jiang
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  • School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072

Received date: 2022-09-06

  Revised date: 2022-11-11

  Online published: 2023-03-04

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] This paper aims to analyze the influence of the readability characteristics of academic texts on Altmetrics Attention Score to provide practical references for promoting the exchange and dissemination of academic ideas.[Method/Process] In this paper, 126 304 abstract texts of academic papers published by Chinese scholars on the Web of Science data platform in 2019 were used to measure their readability characteristics using three readability formulas as well as five linguistic complexity metrics, and the impact of different readability characteristics on Altmetrics Attention Score was further verified by OLS regression analysis.[Result/Conclusion] The results of the study find that the overall readability of the abstract texts of academic papers published by Chinese scholars is low, with significant differences among different disciplines. At the same time, different readability features also affect the Altmetrics Attention Score of academic papers to a certain extent, i.e., the degree of public attention that academic results can receive on social media platforms. The findings of this research can help guide Chinese scholars in using different linguistic features to enhance the readability of their academic writing in English and provide a practical basis for promoting the dissemination of Chinese academic ideas in the international arena.

Cite this article

Ou Guiyan , Chen Pei , Wu Jiang . A Study of the Effect of Academic Paper Readability on Altmetrics: Taking Web of Science Paper Abstract Data as an Example[J]. Library and Information Service, 2023 , 67(4) : 102 -113 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2023.04.010

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