Measuring and Evaluating the Scientific Journals of Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia based on Altmetric Indicators

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Dept. of Knowledge and Information Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, IRAN

2 Allameh Tabataba'i University

3 Allmeh Tabataba'i University

10.22059/jlib.2025.396693.1782

Abstract

Objective: This research aims to assess and evaluate the indexed journals of Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia based on altmetric indicators in Scopus, and to examine their relationship with the publications’ qualitative performance.
Method: In terms of purpose, application, and perspective, this study is a type of scientometric analytical research. Quantitative altmetric indicators were collected from the Altmetric Explorer database, while qualitative indicators of scientific journals were obtained from the Scopus database at the publication level and organized using Excel software. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied for data analysis, with the Pearson correlation test performed using SPSS software.
Results: The results indicate that Turkey had the highest number of articles indexed in Scopus, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia, while Iran led in publications with Altmetric scores. In Iran, 44.40% of journals, in Turkey 57.61%, and in Saudi Arabia 93.54% had only partial Altmetric scores; full coverage was achieved by 0.95% of journals in Iran and 3.22% in Saudi Arabia. The highest average Altmetric scores were in pharmacy (Iran), health (Turkey), and nursing (Saudi Arabia). Twitter was the most used social media platform, with LinkedIn and Pinterest the least. Attention indices were 1.710 for Iranian journals (92 above average, 223 below), 1.467 for Turkish journals (115 above, 187 below), and 3.689 for Saudi journals (15 above, 16 below). Altmetric coverage indices were 9.636 for Iran, 4.504 for Turkey, and 26.475 for Saudi Arabia. A significant relationship between SJR and the average Altmetric score was found in Iran; in Turkey, a weak but significant relationship existed between SJR, CiteScore, and Altmetric score. No significant relationships were observed in Saudi Arabia between citation indices and either Altmetric scores or coverage, while such relationships existed in Iran and Turkey.
Conclusions: Greater dissemination of scientific journals on social media can enhance visibility and positively influence citation rates in the Scopus database. Publications of higher quality and with greater citation indices are generally more prominent online. The study revealed that Iran’s social media presence and Altmetric scores remain suboptimal. To improve impact, attention should extend beyond medical and pharmaceutical fields to include the social sciences and humanities. Despite restrictions on certain platforms, Altmetric data can effectively complement traditional scientometric indicators, underscoring the need to familiarize publication managers with the benefits of social media for increasing visibility.

Keywords

References

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Academic Librarianship and Information Research
Volume 59, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 1-26

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