We understand that it is disappointing to not see the research you’ve worked so hard on not appear in our Top 100. We use a combination of automated and manual checks to determine the Top 100 research outputs of the year. Research considered out of scope is removed from the Top 100.
In 2020, we used the following criteria to determine the Top 100 list:
Has been assigned a two-digit FOR code (subject category) in Dimensions
Is within the top five outputs in its subject category by Altmetric Attention Score
Published between 01 January 2020 and 31 December 2020
Created by researchers, not journalists
For research outputs that have been assigned more than one subject category, we used the output's final high-level (two digit FOR code) subject, in order to avoid over-assigning research to earlier categories.
For subject areas that are often co-assigned to research outputs (Biological Sciences & Environmental Sciences and Technology & Engineering have a large degree of overlap), we combined these subjects when calculating our list.
To ensure accuracy, we manually double-checked each candidate paper's assigned subjects. If a paper originally was assigned multiple subjects and the subject area being used to determine a paper's inclusion in the Top 100 was not appropriate, we manually confirmed whether the paper would appear in the list of top five articles for the paper's other subject areas. Papers meeting this criteria were included in the final Top 100 list.
We love to hear that researchers take the Top 100 seriously, and that many consider it an honor to be included in the list. However, we’re not able to consider requests to recalculate the Top 100 list in order to include research that we’ve already determined to be out of scope.
If you’d like to learn more about how Altmetric tracks attention to research, this information and this video are a great place to start.