  Reading academic publications is a key scholarly activity. Scholars accessing
and recording academic publications online are producing new types of
readership data. These include publisher, repository, and academic social
network download statistics as well as online reference manager records. This
chapter discusses the use of download and reference manager data for research
evaluation and library collection development. The focus is on the validity and
application of readership data as an impact indicator for academic publications
across different disciplines. Mendeley is particularly promising in this
regard, although all data sources are not subjected to rigorous quality control
and can be manipulated.
