Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 24, 2019
Date Accepted: Mar 29, 2020
“To tweet or not to tweet? This is the question”: A systematic review on the use of social media to increase the impact of health research
ABSTRACT
Background:
Academics in all disciplines increasingly use social media to share their publications on the Internet, reaching out to different audiences. In the last few years, specific indicators of social media impact have been developed (e.g., Altmetrics), to complement traditional bibliometric indicators (e.g., citation count, h-index). In health research, it is unclear whether social media impact also translates into research impact.
Objective:
The primary aim of this study was to systematically review the literature for the impact of using social media on the dissemination of health research. The secondary aim was to assess the correlation between Altmetrics and traditional citation-based metrics.
Methods:
We conducted a systematic review to identify studies that evaluated the use of social media for disseminating articles published in health-related journals. We specifically looked at studies that described experimental or correlational studies linking the use of social media with outcomes related to bibliometrics. We searched Medline, Embase, and CINHAL databases using a predefined search strategy (PROSPERO: CRD42017057709). We conducted independent and duplicate study selection and data extraction. Given the heterogeneity of the included studies, we summarized the findings narratively.
Results:
Out of a total of 18,624 retrieved citations, we included 51 studies: 7 (14%) ‘impact studies’ (answering the primary aim) and 44 (86%) ‘correlational studies’ (answering the secondary aim). Impact studies reported mixed results but suffered from many limitations, including the use of interventions of inappropriately low intensity and short duration. The majority of correlational studies suggested a positive association between traditional bibliometrics and social media metrics (e.g., number of mentions) in health research.
Conclusions:
We have identified suggestive yet inconclusive evidence on the impact of using social media on increasing the number of citations in health research. More and better-designed studies are needed to better assess the causal link between social media impact and bibliometrics. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO: CRD42017057709
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