Jacqueline Sachse: Nudging attention & shaping relevance. How citation rates influence academic literature assessment

RMZ Science Works · Nov 5, 2026 · 44m

Citations and altmetrics are prominently displayed in academic search systems, but what role do they actually play when researchers decide which literature deserves closer attention? Drawing on an exploratory user study with fifty researchers from the life and social sciences, this talk traces how researchers use scientometric indicators alongside other relevance clues when assessing scholarly articles. Participants evaluated predefined search results while thinking aloud, allowing their interactions with experimentally modified indicators to be examined across the search process.

The…