Abstract: ［Purpose/Significance］This study intends to explore the essence and value of Altmetrics indicators from the perspective of users’ motivation in order to make the application of Altmetrics more reasonable and more efficient.［Design/Methodology］We extracted the motivations from relevant literatures and then organized them in a formal expression type. By introducing the theory of users’ behavior, indicators’ value reflected by users’ motivations were interpreted and analyzed. During the case study, the UGC data of Twitter indicators was explored for illustration by using the method of content analysis. ［Findings/Conclusion］Nineteen kinds of users’ motivations have been refined and gained in total, six of which reduce indicators’ application value while others improve the value.［Originality/Value］This study focuses on the generation mechanism of Altmetrics’ data, which will contribute to testing the usability of Altmetrics indicators to some extent.

Key words: Altmetrics indicator, Social media, User motivation, Scientific research evaluation, Content analysis