Case Study: Duke University’s Communications Office measures research reach with Altmetric

Duke University tracks 156,707 research mentions with Altmetric

Duke University's Communications Office faced the challenge of measuring the public impact of their research promotion and demonstrating the tangible value of their work to skeptical faculty. Without concrete data, it was difficult to prove their outreach efforts were successful or to show researchers the benefits of collaborating with the press team. They turned to the vendor Altmetric and its Altmetric for Institutions platform for a solution.

Using Altmetric's platform, the team gained real-time insight into the online attention surrounding Duke research, illustrated by Altmetric's "donut" visualizations. This allowed them to monitor reach, identify effective communication channels, and build best practices for promotion. The solution enabled them to evidence the impact of their work, with metrics showing over 156,000 mentions of Duke research, including hundreds in policy documents, helping to communicate their value to faculty and strengthen their outreach strategy.

Duke University