Swansea University Library Guides: Social Networking for Researchers

Social Networking Sites for Researchers There are several sites on the web that encourage researchers to create a profile and publicise their publications. Each has its pros and cons. Whilst it is time consuming to set up a profile on different sites, the benefit is making yourself and your papers easier to find and therefore more likely to be cited. Academia.edu ResearchGate Mendeley Google Scholar Profile LinkedIn On all sites, uploading a photo makes your profile look active & professional – using the same photo and name for consistency across all sites is also recommended. For those sites that allow you to upload published papers, it is vital to check your copyright permissions – we have a PDF guide with easy steps to do this.

Academia.edu http://academia.edu Strapline: “Academia.edu is a place to share and follow research” The site has a social networking emphasis on “following” other people and a news feed based on your interest and connections. Anyone can join (you can declare yourself an unaffiliated “independent researcher”).  See Swansea researchers: http://swansea.academia.edu/ (1831 as of 10/06/14)  Sample profile : http ://swansea.academia.edu/KasiaSzpakowska Academia.edu has its own video playlist on how to get the most from the site: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuvYNk-74GVEtH6DhTc34gVUoTpAdgy1E Building your profile  Including your affiliation and department will enable others at your institution to find you.  Research interests will determine your news feed content. As you start to type, the site will suggest existing terms to add. You can click on a topic to see who else is interested in it.  Uploading a photo is recommended : it makes your profile look more professional and active. The sidebar on the left of your profile page lets you add more links and content:

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Swansea University Library Guides: Social Networking for Researchers 

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You can build up a portfolio of publications, talks, teaching materials – use the “Add Section” link to include different types of materials. You can click on the pencil to change the name of a section if you wish e.g. change “Papers” to “Journal Articles”. “Add Post” is similar to updating your status in Facebook – a way of communicating what you are working on to your followers. “Add CV” allows you to upload a CV in a separate document. Link to other social networking profiles.

Adding Papers You can add papers manually or search for your publications:  On the web (it uses Microsoft Academic Search)  PubMed  ArcXiv It also has an option to import them from your “home page” URL. Ensure that you are respecting copyright when uploading content to Academia.edu. The advice given on their FAQ page is extremely misleading - you need to check your rights for each journal using the Sherpa Romeo database and only upload permitted versions of a publication. Documents can only be downloaded by registered users of Academia.edu. Elsevier’s issue of take-down notices to academics in Dec 2013 generated much debate. This article on Scholarly Kitchen “Is this the end of an era for Academia.edu” (and the comments that follow) illustrate the complexity of the situation.

ResearchGate http://researchgate.net Strapline: “For scientists. Access scientific knowledge, and make your research visible.” In fact, all disciplines are represented. You can only join with a verified institutional email address. The site has its own “impact” scores.  See other Swansea researchers: http://www.researchgate.net/institution/Swansea_University (1419 as of 10/04/14, 5k+ publications)  Sample profile : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giles_Young/ Building your Profile ResearchGate will try to find your publications for you – note that you can « Skip this step » and also that unless you de-select the box, it will alert any co-authors on your behalf :

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