Use and impact of social networks by rheumatology journals

Introduction: The social networks like Twitter®, Facebook® and YouTube® have become interaction media with visualisation scientific information. Alternative metrics (altmetrics) have emerged that assess the dissemination and the impact of the scientific journals in the social networks. However, it is unknown if there is a correlation between the journal and the traditional measurements of impact based on the number of citations for the journal of rheumatology. Methods: The journals of rheumatology included in Scimago Country and Journal Ranking were identified, and the results of their metrics were collected based on the number of citations. The presence in social networks was determined using metrics, such as the number of followers and tweets. The correlation between them was evaluated using the Spearman correlation coefficient, adjusted for the time elapsed since the account was created. Results: Out of a total of 60 rheumatology journals, 14 had a presence in social networks. The Scimago journal ranking indicator (SJR) was higher in journals with a social network (90.5 vs. 21; p<.05). The correlation between the SJR and Twitter® activity metrics was excellent: with the number of followers (r = 0.85), followers/year (r = 0.83), and number of tweets (r = 0.82). Conclusion: This study suggests that traditional impact metrics based on the number of citations correlate very well with the social network presence metrics of rheumatology journals, especially on Twitter®.