Digital Science launches Altmetric MCP
Digital Science has launched the Altmetric Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, enabling AI agents to connect directly with Altmetric’s research attention data and incorporate real-world engagement metrics into AI-powered workflows.
The new Altmetric MCP allows users to access attention data spanning news media, social media, policy documents, clinical guidelines, patents and blogs through AI platforms that support the MCP standard. Existing Altmetric API customers can use the service immediately without requiring an additional licence.
According to Digital Science, the launch is intended to help organisations move beyond traditional citation-based measures of research impact by making broader engagement data more readily accessible through AI tools.
The MCP is compatible with major AI platforms, including Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code and Cursor, allowing organisations to automate research impact reporting without building custom integrations.
Among its capabilities, the Altmetric MCP enables AI agents to surface Altmetric attention scores and engagement breakdowns for individual publications, identify where research is being discussed across news outlets and policy bodies, aggregate engagement across publication portfolios, and highlight research outputs gaining traction in policy or media.
Sebastian Schmidt, EVP Enterprise at Digital Science, said: “Medical affairs teams and enterprise clients do not just need to know if research was cited. They need to know who is engaging with it, how it is being discussed, and what it is influencing. The Altmetric MCP delivers that intelligence directly inside their preferred AI tools – no separate platforms, no manual aggregation. Doing that at scale, across an entire portfolio rather than paper by paper, is where the real value lies for professionals in pharma, biotech, and life sciences.”
Carlos Areia, Senior Data Scientist at Digital Science, added: “Altmetric data helps us understand the lifecycle of research attention, and how it is received and used around the world. It can support medical affairs teams, demonstrating value and strategic impact by seamlessly gathering all research mentions through the Altmetric MCP; showing, for example, how their trials are being used by clinical guidelines, if they are getting a lot of traction by news outlets, or receiving overwhelmingly positive reaction on social media. This information is all in a single place and is often available just hours post publication.”
Digital Science says the platform is designed to support research institutions, funders, publishers, and medical affairs teams seeking to demonstrate the broader societal impact of research. By combining Altmetric’s attention tracking with AI assistants, organisations can analyse engagement across multiple sources more efficiently than through manual monitoring, providing a wider view of research influence beyond academic citations alone.