LibGuides: COUNTER 5: Home

ProQuest Training COUNTER 5 Modules and Webinars

TRAINING MODULES enable the learner to differentiate and create COUNTER reports on ProQuest platforms. Each video is 5-6 minutes long.

ProQuest Platform - Administrator Resources: Usage Reports for the ProQuest Platform
On that page, you need to scroll down a bit to get to the "Usage Reports for the ProQuest Platform" section (note: the video you can find there may not load properly when using Firefox).
Ebook Central - E-Learning Modules on Usage on the LibCentral Libguide
Alexander Street Platforms - Administrator Resources: Usage Statistics
On that page, you may need to scroll down a bit to get to the "Usage Statistics" section.

WEBINAR RECORDINGS address practical COUNTER 5 applications for ProQuest products. Each runs about 15 - 30 minutes.

ProQuest COUNTER 5 Support Articles

ProQuest Platform: Analysis of a COUNTER 5 Database Master Report Sample and a list of more than 25 additional COUNTER 5 support articles
This page functions as the main entry page for COUNTER 5 usage for the ProQuest Platform databases.
It first provides a detailed analysis of a COUNTER 5 Database Master Report (this being the most important report for the type of databases that are found on the ProQuest Platform).
In addition, at the bottom of the page a list of more than 25 additional support articles about COUNTER 5 usage on the ProQuest Platform is given, covering a wide range of topics.
ProQuest Platform: Platform actions mapped to COUNTER metrics
This support article maps the available actions on the ProQuest Platform that a user can take in regards to an item and shows under what COUNTER 5 metric these actions are counted. Highly recommended.
Congressional products / GIS: COUNTER 5 reporting
Usage numbers for Congressional products are provided in the reports available via the ProQuest Administrator Module (PAM) together with the ProQuest Platform databases. However, the coverage period for COUNTER 5 reporting is different: for the Congressional products, COUNTER 5 reporting is available only from October 2023 onwards (for the ProQuest Platform databases COUNTER 5 data is available from October 2018 onwards). For usage before October 2023 you need to use COUNTER 4 reports or ProQuest's proprietary reports.
Ebook Central: An introduction to COUNTER 5 for Ebook Central
This support article provides an introduction to COUNTER 5 for Ebook Central, including a quick overview of the available reports and their counterparts from Release 4 while also answering several FAQ.
Ebook Central: How to apply a collections filter in COUNTER Reports
This support article is especially relevant for those customers who want to have usage data specifically for their Ebook Central subscription packages.
Alexander Street: Academic Video Online - Compile COUNTER 5 Usage Statistics
This link leads out to a detailed web tutorial on how to get usage for "Academic Video Online" via the Alexander Street adminstration portal as well as via the ProQuest platform's administrator module (the database is available via both platforms). The fundamental principles on how to get the data applies to all COUNTER 5 reports, of course.

SUSHI harvesting of COUNTER usage data

ProQuest Platform: How to set up SUSHI fo COUNTER 5
Ebook Central: COUNTER usage data via SUSHI
This support article explains how to set up SUSHI harvesting for Ebook Central usage data and covers the methods for both COUNTER Release 4 as well as COUNTER Release 5.

PLEASE NOTE:
COUNTER 5.1. introduced some changes to SUSHI harvesting (starting with the name, it is now called COUNTER API). For a short overview of the changes please take a look at COUNTER Metrics' own "Friendly Guide to Changes in Release 5.1". Note that these changes apply especially to the harvesting of COUNTER 5.1 reports. Harvesting of reports from previous COUNTER 5 releases remains unaffected for now but may be adjusted in the future.

Recent changes to COUNTER reports on ProQuest's platforms

The COUNTER format is not a fixed, "set in stone" definition but evolves constantly, even within a major Release version. The most important recent changes are listed below.

Changes in 5.0.2

Counting of searches in subdatabases within a collection (for database-level reports)
Previously: All searches that are initiated on the parent collection level will be counted with the metric type "Searches_Automated" for each of the subdatabases included in the collection. For the parent collection, the search is counted with metric type "Searches_Regular".
Reasoning: The subdatabases are automatically searched when you perform a search in the parent collection but the end user's intent to actually search these subdatabases is not clearly given.
Now: Searches that are initiated on the parent collection level will also be counted with the metric type "Searches_Regular" for each of the included subdatabases of the collection if the platform also allows to select these subdatabases individually. However, if the platform does not allow to individually select a subdatabase in a collection then such a search will be counted with the metric type "Searches_Automated" for the respective subdatabase(s).
Reasoning: An end-user could have chosen to limit the search to one individual subdatabase but was deliberately deciding against it and thereby implicitly expressed his intention to search the collection and all of its individually selectable subdatabases simultaneously.
Impact: Since the ProQuest Platform allows to individually select most of the subdatabases included in a collection you can expect to see significantly higher "Searches_Regular" and lower "Searches_Automated" numbers for these individual subdatabases in the DR and DR_D1 reports.
Implementation:
ProQuest Platform: Implemented late September 2022, first fully affected month: October 2022

Changes in 5.1

COUNTER 5.1. introduced numerous changes and we recommend to take a look at COUNTER Metrics' own "Friendly Guide to Changes in Release 5.1" for more information.
Implementation status (last updated: 2024-12-04)
- ProQuest Platform: Implemented November 2024, available for data from November 2024 onwards. Currently audited by COUNTER Metrics.
- Congressional products / GIS: In implementation
- Ebook Central: Not implemented yet
- Alexander Street Platforms: Not implemented yet

COUNTER Metrics' Resources

COUNTER Metrics' Education page with "Friendly Guides"
COUNTER Metrics - formerly known as Project COUNTER - offers multiple so-called "friendly guides" to facilitate distinguishing, reading and interpreting the different reports and metrics. These guides can be found on the page linked above.
Friendly Guide to Changes in Release 5.1
Direct link to the COUNTER Metrics' "Friendly Guide to Changes in Release 5.1" PDF that explains the most important changes introduced with release 5.1, the reasoning behind them and their impact.
Guide on how to compare Reselase 4 and Release 5 numbers and which reports to use
This guide explains and discusses how the differences between the metrics in Release 4 and Release 5 impact the numbers in the individual reports and how to work with Release 5 reports in comparison to the Release 4 reports.
COUNTER Metrics' Media Library and Videos
Apart from the "friendly guides", COUNTER Metrics (f.k.a. Project COUNTER) also provides additional guides and learning videos as well as recordings of consultation sessions that can be found via the page linked above (you need to click on "Videos" on that page). A sorted list of the "Foundation Class" videos is given below. Be aware that COUNTER Metrics is not using a strict naming convention for these videos. Many of these are also available in French.

Classes

Class 1 Release 5 Metric Types (09:05)
Class 2 Release 5 Reports (14:07)
Class 3 Release 5 Pulling it all together (04:32)
Foundation Class 4: Attributes, elements, and other slightly techy thing (07:33)
Foundation Class 5: Book Reports (07:50)
COUNTER Foundation Class 6: Database Reports (05:21)
Foundation Class 7: Release 5 Journal Reports (11:18)
Foundation Class 8: Understanding the use of open access content (05:58)
COUNTER Foundation Class 9: Completing a COUNTER audit (07:54)
Foundation Class 10 Working with COUNTER 5 reports in Microsoft Excel (23:46)
Foundation Class 11: Platform Reports (07:00)
COUNTER Foundation Class 12: Usage in the time of the pandemic (05:16)

Additional Recordings

Strategic use of COUNTER data - expert panelists discuss how they use COUNTER usage data (56:41)
Privacy and COUNTER Usage Data (09:07)
Reporting to the World: COUNTER for Open Access (08:02)
Using Release 5 reports to understand usage of open access content Webinar on 20 Feb 2020 (23:21)
Community consultation for Release 5.1 (36:14)
This discusses the currently suggested potential upcoming changes for version 5.1

COUNTER Metrics' Code of Practice - Key Points

The COUNTER 5 Code of Practice (COP) for version 5.0.2 is a complex document with multiple audiences (librarians, providers, etc). Here is a list of key points for the Electronic Resource Librarian (or anyone else who is retrieving and analysing COUNTER 5 reports).
Note: A newer COUNTER 5 Code of Practice for version 5.1 is available but this version is not yet implemented on ProQuest's platforms

Section 1.2.4 contains the new elements and attributes that were introduced in COUNTER 5
Section 4.0 defines the specific reports including Report_ID, Report_Name, Details and Host_Types
Section 5.1 specifies that separate consortium reports are not provided under R5 and gives additional detail.
Section 7 has some particularly useful information regarding processing rules for report data
- Double-clicking and what it measures or doesn't (Section 7.2)
- Counting of unique items (Section 7.3)
- Counting of unique titles (Section 7.4)
- When something is in more than one database (Section 7.5)
- Information on federated searches (Section 7.6)
Appendix B illustrates changes from previous releases

Searching the Code: The Code of Practice page offers a search box that is highly recommended when looking for something specific. For example, a search for SUSHI looks like this:

COUNTER 5: Home

COUNTER 5 usage reporting for ProQuest products

ProQuest Training COUNTER 5 Modules and Webinars

ProQuest COUNTER 5 Support Articles

Recent changes to COUNTER reports on ProQuest's platforms

COUNTER Metrics' Resources

COUNTER Metrics' Code of Practice - Key Points