October 18, 2016, by Lisa Chin
Researcher Visibility
This post is written by Dr Maysoun Mustafa, CFF-UNMC Doctoral Training Programme Manager.
As a researcher, no doubt the value of your work and its contribution to scientific and non-scientific communities depend on how well it is communicated with relevant parties. Researchers play a key role in disseminating information and increasing public awareness on various issues, however making your research discoverable is equally important to your professional advancement.
In the age of digital knowledge, online platforms and social media channels are important tools for sharing your research and connecting with the audience. These tools are increasingly integrated into researchers’ everyday work to nurture their online presence by sharing published articles, conference updates as well as their own scientific thoughts.
These are 10 simple techniques for making your research discoverable to improve your visibility as a researcher and the impact of your research outputs:
- The title of your research paper creates the first impression and should be as captivating as it is informative;
- Keywords on a research paper should not replicate words that were included in the title;
- Publishing in open access journals eliminates online financial barriers, thus making your research more readily available in most online searches;
- Publishers increasingly offer the service to include supplemental material when publishing a paper such as presentations, data set, graphical abstract. Try to make use of these services as they give the audience more visibility to your research;
- Make use of social networking profiles such as ResearchGate and LinkedIn for listing publications – including those in press. Other online platforms and online reference managers such as Google Scholar, Mendeley and Zotero can be useful for listing your publications online;
- Be descriptive when uploading your data online by including the full title, abstract and keywords;
- Maintaining consistency in your profile is very important to ensure that all your different research outputs and research profiles can be linked back to you;
- Participating productively through online social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook groups, blogs etc. will enhance your online presence;
- Twitter can be a powerful tool for sharing your research outputs. Use relevant hashtags such as conference hashtags and tweet to relevant audiences such as potential collaborators, colleagues and key influencers;
- Traditional platforms for engagement such as conferences, workshops etc. are still highly relevant today and could also contribute towards your visibility as a researcher.
Moreover, not only is it important to build your online platform, you also need to track and monitor it. Google is the world’s most popular search engine, and by routinely looking up the Google Search results on yourself and your work, you can monitor your online presence. Moreover, Google Scholar can also track the citations of your publications, along with dedicated scientific platforms such as Scopus and Web of Science.
On a final note, keeping numerous online profiles can be rather testing and exhausting. However, there is nothing worse than a neglected profile. Thus, keep your online profiles to only those that you can commit to maintain and monitor.
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