Enhancing our patents coverage - February 2026

1. What's new?

Patents are a critical signal of real-world innovation and competitive activity. Tracking mentions of research in patents enables research actors across segments to assess which technologies have the most patent applications, identify technology and patenting trends, recognize real world application and commercialisation of research, and much more. With this in mind, Altmetric is expanding its patent coverage, tracking more mentions than ever before, to deliver more insights on practical applications of research.

In February 2026, we enhanced Altmetric's patent coverage, to better align with the patent data offering available in Dimensions. Patent mentions in Altmetric products have now increased by 62%!

2. Value and user impact

With the research landscape evolving to be more and more complex, proving impact is challenging. Mentions from patents are a direct link between research and commercialization, and can be used to prove the value of ongoing work. For example, patents often reference ongoing Clinical Trials, meaning that attention can be demonstrated before work is completed and a journal article is published.

Research administrators at institutions and funding bodies can use mentions from patents to evidence the impact of the research they support or commission, while research authors can leverage them to strengthen grant applications and cases for promotion or tenure, by showing how their work translates into applied innovation.

Publishers can also use mentions from patents to highlight the long-term value and usage of books and journal articles, especially for older content or specialist topics that may not attract attention through news or social media channels.

The increase in patents coverage in Altmetric is especially significant for pharmaceutical companies in functions such as discovery and preclinical, competitive intelligence, R&D strategy and legal roles, to assist with activities such as:

• Discovering which technologies have the most patent applications

• Analyzing which inventions competitors are patenting and improving competitive intelligence

• Identifying technology and patenting trends, to inform innovation strategies

For any further questions, please contact the Altmetric Support team - we'll be happy to help.