Frequently Asked Questions
What is this metrics dashboard?
This dashboard provides comprehensive analytics and visualizations for book publication data. It allows you to explore metrics by time periods, geographical regions, and various other filters to gain insights into publishing trends and patterns.
How do I filter the data?
Use the filter section at the top of the main dashboard to narrow down your results. You can filter by date range, publisher, language, work type, and more. The charts will automatically update based on your selected filters.
Can I export the data?
Yes! You can export your filtered data in multiple formats:
- • CSV format using the "Export CSV" button
- • PDF report using the "Generate PDF" button
What do the different charts show?
The dashboard includes several visualization types:
- Total Metrics: Overview of key statistics and totals
- Time Series: Trends over time periods
- Continental Distribution: Data breakdown by continent
- Map Visualization: Geographic distribution of metrics
How often is the data updated?
The dashboard data is updated regularly to ensure you have access to the most recent publishing metrics and trends. The exact update frequency may vary depending on data source availability.
Who can I contact for support?
If you have questions not covered here or need technical support, please contact our team. We're here to help you make the most of the metrics dashboard.
General Usage Metrics – What do they actually mean?
What is a “view” or “visit”?
A view or visit typically refers to how many times a book (or a part of it) was accessed. Depending on the platform, this might be a chapter view (like on Open Edition), a full-book access (like Google Books), or a PDF chapter view (like JSTOR). Most platforms count each visit separately, even if it comes from the same IP address.
Measures
Google Books - Views v1.0
This counts how many times a book was accessed. Each visit, even from the same IP address, is treated as a new view. Google only reports two things back to publishers: total Book Visits and Book Page Views.
Open Book Publishers (OBP) - Sessions v1.0
A session is a group of interactions by the same user, tracked using Google Analytics. If someone views a book and keeps engaging within 30 minutes, it's counted as one session. If they return after 30+ minutes, it’s a new session.
Open Book Publishers (OBP) - Downloads v1.0
OBP counts downloads in a similar way: if someone downloads the book multiple times within a 30-minute window, it still counts as one download session.
World Reader - Users v1.0
This metric shows how many unique users opened the book via the World Reader app. Multiple visits by the same person still count as just one user.
World Reader - Pageviews v1.0
This is the total number of unique pages viewed in a book. Multiple views of the same page by one person only count once.
Open Edition - Views v1.0
Each book chapter is presented on its own web page. The view count represents how many times these chapter pages were opened. Each access counts—even if it’s from the same IP.
Open Edition - Downloads v1.0
This tracks how many times the full book was downloaded, again counting each download, even from the same IP address.
JSTOR - Views / Downloads v1.0
These refer only to individual book chapters—not full books. Viewing or downloading the same chapter multiple times will increase the count each time.
The Classics Library - Sessions v1.0
Same definition as OBP: tracked using Google Analytics, sessions last until there’s 30 minutes of inactivity.
Retail and Distribution Platforms (Amazon, Kindle, EBSCO, etc.) - Downloads v1.0
This metric aggregates all free, non-unique downloads across various third-party platforms like Amazon Kindle or EBSCO. It’s not deduplicated per user.
Mentions and Social Engagement - Tweets v1.0
This counts how many times a publication’s DOI or URL was shared on Twitter/X. The data comes from Crossref Event Data and Twitter API.
Mentions and Social Engagement - Annotations v1.0
These are public comments or highlights made using the Hypothes.is tool on the online book pages.
Mentions and Social Engagement - References v1.0
This shows how many Wikipedia articles or WordPress blog posts include a link to the publication (either via DOI or URL).
Crossref - Citations v1.0
This tells you how many works in the Crossref database have cited the book’s DOI.
Continents
Following the international UN M49 standard, the Thoth Metrics Dashboard distinguishes between the following continents (with their respective UN M49 area codes):
- • Africa
- • Antarctica
- • Asia
- • Europe
- • Latin America and the Caribbean
- • Northern America
- • Oceania
Countries
Countries are listed following the nomenclature set in the international ISO 3166 standard.