Altmetrics indicators for institutional performance assessment: Does a relationship with traditional indicators exist?

Scientometricians are exploring altmetrics in different contexts.Its potential as an early impact assessment tool and possible predictor of future impact is one of the most widely explored themes in altmetric research.Many studies explored the relationship between altmetrics and traditional indicators.But relationships at the level of actors of science and technology, like individual scholars, institutions, etc., remain underexplored.In this work, we attempt to study the relationship at the institutional level using the top 135 productive Indian institutions.Explorations carried out include both raw as well as derived indicators.Mendeley reads is found to be the most promising raw altmetric indicator.It is also determined as the suitable source to derive many derived indicators.The potential of recently introduced indicators like , x and x d to be used for creating derived altmetric indicators is also revealed.Avenues for further research that may strengthen the usefulness of altmetrics are also discussed.