AI agents can now surface where research is being discussed, cited in policy, and mentioned beyond academic citations

London, UK – August 6, 2026- Digital Science, a leading technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, today announced the launch of its Altmetric MCP (https://www.altmetric.com/solutions/altmetric-mcp), a new Model Context Protocol server that connects AI agents to Altmetric's research attention tracking data.

The Altmetric MCP brings real-world engagement data across news media, social media, policy documents, clinical guidelines, patents, and blogs into AI workflows. For medical affairs teams, researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers, this opens up AI-assisted analytics across the full societal reach of research – something citation counts alone can’t capture.

Existing Altmetric API customers can connect immediately, with no additional license required.

Research impact, measured where it matters

For research institutions, funders, and medical affairs teams, demonstrating the real-world value of research has never been straightforward. Citation counts remain the default measure of academic influence – but they capture only part of the picture. A paper can inform national policy, generate significant media coverage, or reach clinical and patient communities without accumulating a single additional citation. Manually tracking that broader engagement across dozens of platforms and sources is time-intensive and rarely done at scale.

The Altmetric MCP addresses this directly. By connecting AI agents to live Altmetric attention data through the MCP standard – compatible with Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code, Cursor, and every major AI platform – teams can automate research impact reporting and uncover real-world engagement evidence without leaving the workflows they already use, and without custom integration work.

The Altmetric MCP gives AI agents the ability to:

● Surface Altmetric attention scores, engagement breakdowns, and sentiment across any publication, based on unique identifiers

● Track which news outlets, policy bodies, and online platforms are discussing research outputs relevant to specific focus areas

● Aggregate engagement data across entire publication portfolios for funder impact reporting and communications strategy

● Identify which outputs are gaining traction in policy or press – and act on that intelligence before the moment passes

Proving real-world research value

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, said: “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.”

Discover more about the Altmetric MCP

About Altmetric

Altmetric is a leading provider of alternative research metrics, helping everyone involved in research gauge the impact of their work. We serve diverse markets including universities, institutions, government, publishers, corporations, and those who fund research. Our powerful technology searches thousands of online sources, revealing where research is being shared and discussed. Teams can use our powerful Altmetric Explorer application to interrogate the data themselves, embed our dynamic ‘badges’ into their webpages, or get expert insights from Altmetric’s consultants. Altmetric is part of the Digital Science group, dedicated to making the research experience simpler and more productive by applying pioneering technology solutions. Find out more at altmetric.com (https://www.altmetric.com) and follow @altmetric (https://x.com/altmetric) on X and @altmetric.com (https://bsky.app/profile/altmetric.com) on Bluesky.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is a technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, governments, funders, industry, and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, (https://bsky.app/profile/digital-science.com) on X (https://x.com/digitalsci) or on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-science).

Media contact

David Ellis

Manager, Media & PR, Digital Science

d.ellis@digital-science.com

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