Transition to COUNTER 5.1
Does 5.0 data also need to be archived locally as with the 4.0 data?
No. COUNTER requires keeping data from the current year and the two previous years. When we transition to COUNTER 5.1 in January of 2025, data from 2023 and 2024 will still be available in the COUNTER 5.0 format. By January of 2027, 2024 data available in the COUNTER 5.0 format will have aged out, and we still stop supporting the COUNTER 5.0 report format.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/13-transitioning/02-transitioning-to-a-new-code-of-practice.html
Three months of time to compare COUNTER 5 and 5.1 appears to be too short for our Librarian Admins, who are the main users. Will the time frame to support both be extended for the Admins?
Silverchair will follow COUNTER's guidance and stop providing COUNTER 5.0 reports after March 2025. We will communicate changes and provide resources to help librarians prepare for the transition. We recommend using COUNTER 5.1 guides for more information.Documentation: https://www.countermetrics.org/education/
We are already harvesting COUNTER 5 reports from a publisher via SUSHI. In order to harvest the COUNTER 5.1 reports, will we need to set up a new SUSHI connection separate from our COUNTER 5 connection?
No new connection is needed. Use your COUNTER 5.0 identifiers (API key, Requestor_ID, Customer_ID) and add /r51 to the API call to differentiate it from COUNTER 5.0 (ex. sitemaster.fakedomain.com/sushi/r51/reports)Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/08-sushi/01-counter-sushi-api-paths-to-support.html
We typically measure our usage on a fiscal year basis (July - June). We were wondering, from your perspective as a content provider, will it be acceptable, for the year July 2024 - June 2025, for us to add up our COUNTER 5 usage from July - Dec 2024 and our COUNTER 5.1 usage from Jan 2025 - June 2025 in order to obtain our full year's usage?
Yes, but be prepared for differences in counting methods. For example, the counting methods for things like books/chapters will change between COUNTER 5 and 5.1, as will the handling for controlled (paywalled), free, and OA content. Options are: Use COUNTER 5.0 for July 2024 - December 2024 and COUNTER 5.1 for January 2025 - June 2025.
Use COUNTER 5.0 for July 2024 - March 2025 and COUNTER 5.1 for April 2025 - June 2025.
Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/13-transitioning/02-transitioning-to-a-new-code-of-practice.html#compliant-report-providers
Impact of COUNTER 5.1 changes
The COUNTER 5.1 spec says that the item level for books is changing. How does that impact us?
Whole book downloads used to be counted as a single item of Data_Type Book where the item title is the book title. In COUNTER 5.1, whole book downloads will be reported as an item-level count for each Book_Segment where the item title is the segment/chapter title. Item requests and investigations for book segments will go up. There is an exception to this rule for a book that is only available in a whole book download format. In this case, the individual segments are not known on the platform, and we cannot break usage down to Book_Segments. Therefore, we report a single item representing the whole book with Data_Type Book_Segment where the item title is the book title. The item title is also the book title for table of contents views, which are reported as investigations.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/13-transitioning/03-transitioning-from-counter-r5-to-r51.html and https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/07-processing/03-counting-unique-items.html
There is a new Data_Type for conferences. How will that impact my reports?
Conference proceedings are now separate from articles, with their own Data_Types: Conference and Conference_Item. This change will reduce article and journal counts but the total of articles/journals and conference items should match previous totals. TR_J# reports will no longer include conference usage.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#data-types
Since Silverchair has added platform-level support for reference books, how will that impact COUNTER 5.1 reports?
We now support Data_Types Reference_Item and Reference_Work. Standard TR_B# reports include both books and reference works.Documentation: Silverchair Clients can learn more in our SiteManager User Guides.
I see more Data_Types for multimedia. How will these be used?
Previously, standalone multimedia was only represented with Data_Type Multimedia. In COUNTER 5.1, they have broken down multimedia into more granular types: Audiovisual (aka video), Sound (aka audio), Image, Interactive_Resource, Multimedia. You will now be able to see which standalone multimedia gets the most usage by type. These new multimedia types are for standalone multimedia only. Any multimedia that stands on its own within a parent, like a book, will be reported using the Data_Type/Parent_Data_Type pairing.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#data-types
How are Access_Type changes going to impact my reports?
Publishers will now begin to see three possible Access_Types on reports: Controlled, Open, Free_To_Read. In COUNTER 5.0, OA_Gold was used for open access content, and Controlled was used for both paywalled and free (non-OA) content. In COUNTER 5.1, free content is now its own type, Free_To_Read. If a piece of content is published behind a paywall and later made free, then its usage over time will be go from Access_Type Controlled to Free_To_Read. This distinction will only be visible if users choose to include Access_Type as an attribute in the report or when looking at the standard reports TR_J1, TR_J4, or TR_B1. If publishers have a lot of free content, they may notice their counts for Access_Type Controlled go down.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#access-types
Why do my JSON reports look different?
COUNTER 5.1 uses a new, more compact JSON spec, making files smaller and easier to handle. COUNTER 5.0 reports use the old spec.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/13-transitioning/03-transitioning-from-counter-r5-to-r51.html#a-note-on-json and https://countermetrics.stoplight.io/docs/counter-sushi-api
What are some other changes publishers and report consumers should look out for?
There are some minor changes that Silverchair is excited about.- Data_Type is now required in most reports, simplifying usage breakdowns by type of content.
- All NISO article versions are supported and will display if you choose Article_Version as a report attribute. Note that not all NISO article versions are supported on the Silverchair platform.
- Reports include a link to the publisher's registry page making it easier for report consumers to reach out to publishers if necessary. See links for registry records of all of the Silverchair publishers here - https://registry.countermetrics.org/usage-data-host/951dcf72-b245-493d-9319-93d85d890494.
Standalone Multimedia
Will the COUNTER 5.1 changes to the reporting (particularly standalone multimedia) also account for materials being published via Composer on the Silverchair Platform?
No, Composer content is unstructured and not covered by COUNTER reports, which focus on structured digital resources like journals, books, and multimedia databases.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/01-introduction/index.html#scope
What does standalone multimedia mean?
Standalone multimedia is content that exists independently, not as part of a journal, book, or other parent resource. Examples include video galleries or podcasts. Multimedia within a parent is reported using specific data type pairs seen below. Article Journal
Book_Segment Book
Conference_Item Conference
Reference_Item Reference_Work
Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#data-types
Can multimedia be a part of a parent, like a book or journal?
Yes. Multimedia can be a separate section within a parent resource, but it must follow specific data type pairs, not multimedia types like Audiovisual or Sound. For example, a video in a book is reported as a Book_Segment with a parent Book. This is different than how COUNTER 5.0 handled multimedia with a parent, but the new release seeks to tighten up links between Data_Type and Parent_Data_Type.Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#data-types
How is usage for the new multimedia types reported for COUNTER?
Playable Multimedia (Audiovisual, Sound): An item investigation is logged when a user navigates to the page. Clicking play logs an item request and investigation. Repeated plays log additional requests and investigations, but the double click rule and unique metrics help avoid bloating counts for play action.Static Multimedia (Image, Multimedia): An item request and investigation are logged when a user navigates to the page.
Interactive_Resource: Determined case-by-case with COUNTER and auditors. Presentations with user-controlled slides or responsive 3D images are considered interactive and get logged according to the static multimedia rules.
Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/03-specifications/03-counter-report-common-attributes-and-elements.html#data-types
Miscellaneous
Will downloading a full issue PDF still result in a single usage count regardless of the number of articles in the issue?
Full issue downloads will be reported as a view for each article in the issue at the time of logging. This feature will be implemented in the new analytics system for Theme and won't be immediately available with the release of COUNTER 5.1.
What should the attributes "Platform" and "Publisher" be for single publishers? Aggregators? Data from other platforms?
Historically, these fields have caused confusion. We asked COUNTER directly to get it right for 5.1 and looking ahead for multi-platform reports. For all of the referenced scenarios, "Silverchair" will only be represented as Created_By in the report header as we are only considered the usage data host. Single Publisher: Publisher = Publisher name, Platform = Publisher name
Aggregator: Publisher = Publisher name, Platform = Aggregator name
Data from other platforms: Publisher = Publisher name, Platform = Other platform name
Documentation: https://cop5.countermetrics.org/en/5.1/appendices/a-glossary-of-terms.html
Why might I see denials for a free book segment?
If a user without access to all segments tries to download the whole book, each segment will be reported as a denial.Documentation: We asked COUNTER directly, and will update this space when they have responded in their FAQs.
COUNTER 5.1 offers exciting opportunities to continue to improve our publishing data. We'll continue to share resources and insights about this transition as we work through it with publishers.