Do online readerships offer useful assessment tools? A discussion around the possibilities of Mendeley readership for scholarly assessment

This report illustrates the relevance of Mendeley readership as a tool for research assessment. Readership indicators offer new possibilities to inform the evaluation of publications and outputs either poorly covered in citation indexes (e.g. non-English language outputs, Global South publications, Social sciences and humanities), or typically excluded from citation analysis (e.g. letters, editorial material, data papers, etc.). Mendeley readership can also inform the earlier impact of scientific outputs, as well as the impact among wider non-academic audiences. All these features are discussed in this report and the relevance of readership indicators to extend the concept of research impact beyond specific acts (e.g. citations) is highlighted.