COUNTER 5.1 FAQ

Where can I find a summary of what is new in COUNTER 5.1?

You can read our article about the news and differences in COUNTER 5.1 here. The article also provides links to official information from the COUNTER Metrics.

COUNTER 5.1 in CELUS

Is CELUS ready for COUNTER 5.1? How do I transition to COUNTER 5.1 in CELUS?

Starting with version 8.0.0 released in Jan 2025, CELUS fully supports COUNTER 5.1. To help our users seamlessly transition to COUNTER version 5.1, CELUS provides the option to clone your existing COUNTER 5 credentials with an automatically updated SUSHI URL. Please note that the cloned credentials will only function for publishers already offering COUNTER 5.1 reports. 

Is cloning my credentials going to work for all publishers?

Even though it is recommended by COUNTER Metrics that the publishers keep the same credentials for COUNTER 5.1 API as for SUSHI API of COUNTER 5, some publishers may not adhere to this practice and require users to generate new credentials. Once this information becomes available to CELUS, we will publish it here.

Can I compare my usage stats from COUNTER 5 and COUNTER 5.1 in CELUS?

Yes, you can. Please read the manual on how to compare your usage stats in CELUS Reporting Module here. 

If I harvest both 5 and 5.1 for a particular platform in a given month, will the Dashboard show duplicated data in the Interest widget?

You can harvest both C5 and C5.1. Interest (which is what you see on the Dashboard) is always calculated from the "newest" report type, in other words, C5.1 will always take precedence so there won't be any duplication. The C5 and C5.1 data can be safely stored in CELUS, however, Interest will always show only C5.1 (if both versions exist for the given month).  

Is it safe to delete COUNTER 5 credentials for a platform when 5.1 is working? Will I lose any data?

There is no need to delete your credentials for C5. You can turn the automated harvesting "off" if you don't want to be harvesting C5 data anymore, just go to "SUSHI Management" and edit the C5 credentials. In the bottom left of the Edit dialog, there is an on/off "Automatic harvesting" switch. If you do not want to have C5 credentials in your credentials list, just delete them. When deleting credentials, you can always choose whether to keep the data or remove everything (credentials+data). Both ways are okay. CELUS has no problems in storing your C5 historical data alongside with new C5.1. 

What approach would you suggest to make sure my data is safe and not duplicated?

Questions about publishers and their obligations

Which publishers are already providing COUNTER 5.1 reports?

 You can find out which publishers already provide COUNTER 5.1 reports in the COUNTER Registry: 

You can see on the screenshot above that as of the date of issue of this article (30 Jan 2025), only ProQuest and Cabells are providing COUNTER 5.1 reports. 

When should providers implement COUNTER 5.1?

Providers should implement CoP 5.1 for harvesting January 2025 data starting in February 2025.

How long should COUNTER 5 and COUNTER 5.1 overlap?

There must be at least a three-month overlap between COUNTER 5 and 5.1 data, meaning COUNTER 5 should remain available at least until March 2025.

Are providers required to make past usage data available in COUNTER 5.1?

No, providers are not required to make past usage (from 2024 and earlier) available in CoP 5.1., however, some of them do. You can try to harvest historical data in CELUS to see if they are available.