Digital Science launches Compass to track real-world publication impact
Digital Science has announced the launch of Compass by Dimensions, a new publication impact tracking solution designed for medical affairs teams.
Compass – initially available to publication planners and medical affairs professionals in a beta – combines data from Dimensions and Altmetric into a single, self-service platform. The tool enables users to search, analyse, benchmark, and report within one environment.
The launch addresses a longstanding challenge for publication strategy managers, who often rely on fragmented data sources and external agencies to assess research impact. Compass aims to streamline this process by replacing manual data gathering and static reporting with live, customisable insights that teams can access and act upon.
Compass integrates citation data and attention metrics into a single workflow, allowing teams to monitor publication performance in real time. Users can build custom benchmarking groups based on drug, asset, molecule, or disease area, and generate reports for internal stakeholders without manual intervention.
Key features include:
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Unified data: Integration of Dimensions citation data and Altmetric attention metrics in one view
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Impact and reach tracking: Real-time monitoring of how publications are received and shared
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Custom benchmarking: Comparison against user-defined reference groups, including competitors
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Stakeholder reporting: Tools to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights
Iveta Petrova, VP of Product Enterprise Solutions at Digital Science, said: “Medical affairs teams are facing a shift from reporting on the number of publications to the impact and outcomes of those publications. Demonstrating the value and impact, however, is much more challenging and the data is scattered. Compass changes that. By bringing Dimensions and Altmetric data into a single, purpose-built solution, we’re giving publication planners the information they need, with the clarity and confidence to make smarter decisions – and to communicate impact in a way that resonates with leadership.”
Dr Mike Taylor, Head of Data Insights at Digital Science, added: “Compass is built around the specific needs of medical affairs teams. That means the benchmarking is meaningful, the reporting is actionable, and the insights are grounded in the most trusted research data available. With a clearer picture of where science is having an impact, medical affairs teams can make more informed strategic decisions, helping ensure research translates into real-world benefit for patients.”
Compass forms part of Digital Science’s wider research intelligence portfolio, built on data from Dimensions – described as the world’s largest interconnected global research database – and Altmetric, a leading provider of alternative research metrics.