What is COUNTER compliant data?

A brief overview of Project COUNTER for journal editors

What is COUNTER compliant data? What does COUNTER stand for? Why is COUNTER compliant data important?

In this post, we answer your frequently asked questions about Project COUNTER, and how it affects you as a journal editor.

What is Project COUNTER?

Project COUNTER is an organisation which works with librarians and publishers to report usage of electronic resources, such as journal articles, in a consistent way. This allows libraries to compare usage data accurately across different publishers.

What does COUNTER stand for?

COUNTER stands for ‘Counting Online User NeTworked Electronic Resources’.

What is COUNTER compliant data?

For data to be classified as COUNTER compliant it must comply with the Project COUNTER Code of Conduct.

Publishers must meet the requirements set out in this Code of Conduct, and pass an independent audit, to officially classify their data as COUNTER compliant.

Taylor & Francis report COUNTER compliant data through Taylor & Francis Online, and we also provide COUNTER compliant usage data in our reports to journal editors.

Every few years, the Code of Conduct is updated, so that usage reporting stays up-to-date.

Why is COUNTER compliant data important?

It is very important to librarians that they can compare like-for-like data across different publishers. When it comes to evaluating cost-per-download for renewals, making a new purchase, or generally analyzing product usage, librarians rely on accurate and fair reporting from all publishers in the market. Therefore, the COUNTER compliancy stamp is well-respected by this community.

So, there you have it – COUNTER compliant data in a nutshell. If you want more information on the latest release for the Code of Practice, the Project COUNTER website has further details, or stay on Editor Resources for more detail on understanding research metrics.